Wisconsin: Northwestern Mutual Abandons Franklin, Wisconsin Facility And On-site Data Center

Northwestern Mutual is abandoning its campus in Franklin, Wisconsin, on the outskirts of Milwaukee, as part of a $500 million effort to relocate to an office complex in downtown Milwaukee. Per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, this is partially due to the fact that the corporation no longer needs its on-site data center. The Journal Sentinel cited Steve Radke, vice president of social and government relations for Northwestern Mutual, as stating that a number of the reasons that contributed the company to Franklin twenty years ago are no longer applicable. He added that cloud computing had eliminated the need for a separate data center. 

In 2001, Northwestern Mutual relocated to the Franklin campus to distribute the company's "concentration of talent" and also because Franklin was an ideal location for the company's data center. According to reports, the complex at West Drexel Avenue and South 27th Street consists of approximately 880,000 square feet of office space in two buildings and 16 undeveloped acres. Northwestern Mutual, like many other businesses, realized that the pandemic necessitated a migration to remote working, which decreased the danger of talent concentration and altered the company's IT requirements. 

The move to Milwaukee, projected to be finished by 2027, would result in the loss of 2,000 jobs at the Franklin campus, and Northwestern Mutual has requested governmental funding for the refurbishment of its downtown office building, which will cost $500 million. The corporation will also vacate two other office buildings in the municipality of Milwaukee County.