I don’t have the answer to this question but I know I’ve been asking myself this for the past few months.

The good news is that Milwaukee is a city on the move. I think as a visitor over the past few years you tend to notice the changes more then someone who lives in the city permanently. There is development and expansion all around Milwaukee. Seeing this growth and re-investment into neighbourhood’s is encouraging, but leaves someone like myself asking ‘where to set up shop?’.

My original plan while doing research into moving my company to Milwaukee, was to set up an office for a few years in a less expensive area of Milwaukee. I was looking at small offices and incubator programs in the area. Like most plans during the start-up stage, things change - quickly. I found out that due to a supply and demand gap, there were a large number of affordable small offices in the downtown area. Not only is the Milwaukee market considerably cheaper then the Chicago market, but there is more flexibility in lease programs and amenities (i.e. parking, utilities, repairs). So instead of looking at areas like, West Allis, Greenfield and Wauwatosa - I’ve focused on the Milwaukee downtown area.

One listing that really helps in my search was the Milwaukee 7 search engine:
Milwaukee 7 office listings

I am still searching for an office that fits my needs, but I’m encouraged by the ones I’ve seen so far.

my own Hint: I would say one of the hardest things while looking for an office is staying within budget and removing your ego from the equation. I looked at a few places in Milwaukee that were my ‘dream office‘ - These places were top of the line and are what I imagined an IT firm headquarters would look like. It was hard to remind myself that I was looking for a functional office that would be a ’stepping stone’ in my companies growth. If I jumped into a place I could not afford right now, I would not be in business long enough to enjoy it. I’ve simply added this dream office to the list of goals that I want to hit and now I know that there are a few ‘dream office locations in the Milwaukee area. (but I will say, while viewing these high lofted, converted warehouse offices - I was already planning on what arcade games would go in the employee break room and what pictures I would hang in my glass office - it was hard to look at the next place)