A Milwaukee law firm is taking a fresh swing at Raleigh’s fast-growing Midtown, leasing space in the North Hills Innovation District and preparing to expand its local team. Foley & Lardner’s move puts another professional-services name into one of the city’s most ambitious mixed-use developments.
The firm plans to relocate its Raleigh office to Tower 5, a move announced Thursday as Foley marks two years in the Research Triangle. The Milwaukee Business Journal reports that the new location is part of a push to grow Foley’s Raleigh headcount quickly.
That growth plan is not exactly modest for a relatively young office. The Triangle Business Journal reports that Foley wants to reach roughly 25 to 30 people in Raleigh within the next few years.
Why Foley Picked North Hills
Foley said the office will move into Tower 5 early next year, giving its Raleigh team a more modern setting near restaurants, retail, fitness spaces and outdoor gathering areas. The firm’s announcement describes Tower 5 as a 342,000-square-foot Class A office building within a 33-acre district designed around walkability and connections between workplaces, homes and shops.
That setup fits Foley’s Raleigh strategy, which centers on health care, life sciences, technology and related corporate work. The firm opened its Raleigh office in 2024 after bringing in a team of lawyers with experience in those fields, and Foley & Lardner says the move is intended to keep the office close to the industries driving the region’s growth.
Another Office Vote Of Confidence In Midtown
The lease arrives as Raleigh’s office market continues sorting out which buildings can pull workers back with more than four walls and a parking deck. Axios Raleigh reported that Kane Realty had been seeing strong interest from prospective tenants seeking amenity-rich space, including significant interest from companies based outside North Carolina.
North Hills is also expanding beyond the office towers themselves, with new apartments, restaurants, retail and greenway connections planned or under construction. Hoodline previously reported on construction of Tributary, a large apartment project near Tower 5, while the North Hills Innovation District says Kane Realty expanded the district’s footprint by 28 acres earlier this year.
For Foley, the move is a practical office relocation with a much bigger signal attached: Raleigh is no longer just a market the firm wants to enter. It is a market where the firm expects to keep hiring, and North Hills is where it wants that growth to happen.
