Bay View’s Most Polarizing Home For Sale

Bay View‘s most controversial, and possibly most valuable, house is for sale.

The Jay Schmidt Group will list former alderman and 2020 mayoral candidate Tony Zielinski‘s newly-constructed Superior Street home on Tuesday. Asking price? $2,095,000.

Three bedrooms and four bathrooms are spread over the home’s 6,000 square feet of living space near the intersection of E. Oklahoma Ave. and S. Superior St.

“Fit and finishes in this home is spectacular. Straight out of Architectural Digest. This home could be on the water in Miami. Instead it’s in hip Bay View with views of Lake Michigan!” wrote real estate agent Jay Schmidt in a Facebook post.

“This contemporary style home ticks all of the boxes for modern luxury living. Incredible first-floor study with fireplace, all-glass stairway railings all the way to the third level, elevator, floor to ceiling windows with remote shades, home gym, and second level Great Room / Kitchen that is absolutely stunning. Third-floor Master that features 2 separate closets off the hall, 2nd laundry space, and massive lux bath, with fireplace,” says Schmidt’s firm’s post.

Zielinski, 59, purchased the property with his wife Annette, a real estate agent, in 2017 for $331,000. The couple then demolished the 1921 home on the 0.12-acre property and began construction of the new house. Including the purchase price of the former home and construction of the new home, the Zielinski’s spent over $1 million on the new property according to city records. It is assessed for $1.71 million.

The 39-foot-tall home was designed by RH Architecture. It became a hot topic in 2019 when Brent Bublitz posted a drone video of the then-unfinished home accompanied by the AC/DC song “Big Balls”.

It’s not the only home the former politician owns in the area. He still owns his long-time home on the 2400 block of S. Superior St., which has been leased out in recent years. That 1,563-square-foot property is assessed at $262,400.

The couple also owns a home in Florida where Annette is licensed as a real estate agent. In Wisconsin she worked for Keller Williams, the same brokerage Schmidt’s group is part of.

Why is he selling? “No comment,” said Zielinski via text message.

Zielinski gave up his aldermanic seat to challenge incumbent mayor Tom Barrett in the spring 2020 election, but finished third behind Barrett and state Sen. Lena Taylor in the February 2020 primary.

The alderman finished out his term as alderman in late April, appearing remotely via video conference from the new home once the pandemic set in.

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