Kenosha High Rise Finds Anchor Tenant

By Andrew Weiland
Small Business Times

Wauwautosa-based Market Probe Inc. recently moved into the largely vacant, eight-story former Kenosha National Bank building, one of the tallest buildings in downtown Kenosha.

Market Probe is occupying 13,000 square feet of space on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors in the building for a call center. The company previously had a call center in 12,500-square-foot of space nearby at 520 58th St., but wanted a more attractive location, said Market Probe marketing communications coordinator Bob White.

"It's a nicer place to visit if our clients want to come and monitor the call center," White said.

Market Probe is a global research firm with offices in 10 countries. The company has about 100 employees working in the downtown Kenosha call center now and plans to increase that to 200 employees. The number of employees at the call center is constantly in flux because call center work is a transient job for most employees, White said.

"We actually have over 100 employees at the call center right now," he said. "The evening shift is pretty close to full capacity, but as we add more business-to-business projects, as opposed to business-to-consumer projects, which require more evening calls, the day shift will grow. This is how we would ramp up to 200 employees."

Market Probe moved into the building a few weeks ago and is still finalizing its setup. However, the call center is up and running. A grand opening is planned for mid-summer.

The 80,000-square-foot building, located at 625 57th St., was built in 1927. It is a landmark in downtown Kenosha, but it has been mostly vacant since 2001 when Firstar Bank moved out. In 2002, Clovis Point LLC, a real estate investment and management company owned by Paul McDonough, bought the building with plans to restore it.

McDonough is hoping to attract a bank tenant to the building's first floor where a long marble teller counter runs nearly the entire length of the lobby.