BMO Harris Moves into New Sherman Park Branch Office
Developed by Compass Properties, the New Building is BMO Harris’ first “Smart Branch” in Wisconsin.
BMO Harris opened its new branch in the city’s Sherman Park neighborhood this week, continuing the company’s long time presence there and replacing its former location across the street. The former branch, acquired by BMO in 1959, was damaged in August of 2016 during the civil unrest that rocked the community. The new branch was developed by Compass Properties and is the bank’s first “Smart Branch” in Wisconsin.
The newly constructed, state-of-the-art, 2,200 square foot branch at 3637 W. Fond du Lac Avenue in Milwaukee offers customers the conveniences of drive-through banking, video conference capabilities to provide on-demand access to a wide variety of specialized bank professionals, and Smart ATM services that include Mobile Cash withdrawals without the use of a debit card.
“We are pleased that our efforts helped to keep BMO Harris in the Sherman Park neighborhood, and equally pleased to get this project completed on time and within budget,” said Sheldon Oppermann, Executive Vice President for Compass Properties. “A project like this doesn’t happen without a partner like BMO Harris – they were determined and committed to stay in this community, and worked closely with us to make it happen. We also appreciate the great support we received from the Sherman Park community — our new neighbors.”
Adam Krebs, Devin White and Brian Miller of JP Cullen join Sue Ducheck of BMO Harris on a quick tour of its recently opened branch office in Sherman Park. JP Cullen served as the General Contractor for the project.
Compass Properties broke ground for the project in May of this year. At that time, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett applauded BMO Harris and Compass Properties for undertaking the project. “What we are seeing here is a commitment to this community,” Barrett said. “This is all about believing in this community, investing in this community and moving this community forward.”
Plans are underway to transform the former BMO Harris branch at 3536 W. Fond Du Lac Avenue into a neighborhood based entrepreneurial hub called Sherman Phoenix, which will create an economic hub for 12 small businesses owned by entrepreneurs of color.
The developers for the project — Juli Kaufmann of Fix Development and entrepreneur JoAnne Sabir – hope the project can serve as a “model for healing by generating positive economic and social returns in communities of color.” A crowdfunding campaign and other charitable pledges are bringing the costs of the project within reach, which has attracted neighborhood investors creating community ownership, building wealth in the neighborhoods and supporting for the locally owned businesses that will locate within the Sherman Phoenix project.
For more info on this project, check out these recent news articles.