Astronautics Corporation of America found a buyer for its former headquarters on Milwaukee’s North Side.

The three-story, 115,000-square-foot office building at 4115 N. Teutonia Ave. was acquired by a limited liability company, Teutonia Property, affiliated with Brookfield-based investor Bachan Singh. Also included in the purchase were three properties primarily used as parking lots.

Located just north of W. Capitol Dr., the office building was originally built in 1957 for insurance company Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin. But Astronautics had owned it since 1982.

The aircraft navigation equipment company is relocating much of its multi-site operation to Oak Creek. It acquired the former Master Lock office campus in 2019. Astronautics has several hundred employees and is engaged in the development of avionics equipment for commercial and military aerospace clients.

The properties were listed by Rand Wolf and Kevin Riordan of Cushman & Wakefield | Boerke. The asking price was $900,000.

Astronautics still has other properties on the market. Its 1.6-acre manufacturing campus at 1412-1426 W. National Ave. is listed for $1.86 million. Built in phases starting in 1919, the western Walker’s Point complex includes 99,465 square feet of building space. A 20,772-square-foot building at 135 E. Washington St. is also listed for $1 million. The Harbor District building was built in 1929.

Teutonia Property paid $700,000 for the four north side properties owned by Astronautics. According to city assessment records, the office building is assessed for $599,500. But that’s a figure calculated by the state as it’s designated as a manufacturing property. A change in use would give the city a chance to determine a new value.

Singh’s entity, Teutonia Property LLC, did not immediately disclose its plans for the site. The transaction was recorded on Feb. 4 according to state records. The three additional properties sold are located at 4052 N. 23rd St., 4070 N. 23rd St., and 2200-2236 W. Atkinson Ave. According to a listing brochure they contain space for 240 vehicles.

Singh has bought and sold a number of properties in recent years. He owns the largely vacant four-story office building, 804 N. Milwaukee St., known as Kennedy I. A limited liability company controlled by Singh sold the mostly vacant First Financial Centre, 700 N. Water St., for $4.6 million in 2016 for redevelopment as the Drury Plaza Hotel Milwaukee Downtown.

The Teutonia Avenue facility was originally designed by Eschweiler & Eschweiler and constructed by Selzer-Ornst Construction Company. according to a Wisconsin Historical Society report. At the time of Astronautics’ 1982 acquisition, the state had been considering buying the then-vacant building for conversion into a medium-security prison. The proposal, at least initially, was backed by then-mayor Henry Maier as an alternative to putting a new prison downtown. Nearby residents started a petition drive to oppose this. The asking price for the property then was $1.5 million according to a Milwaukee Journal report. Blue Cross Blue Shield had relocated in 1978 to two downtown office buildings, The Buckler and 501 W. Michigan St., that were just a few blocks south of another potential prison site, the Milwaukee State Office Building. Both sites were ultimately rejected.

Weekly Recap

The Trade Starts To Climb

A new hotel is rising in Milwaukee’s Deer District.

Workers from J.H. Findorff & Son completed the foundation and much of the first level of The Trade, a new nine-story, 205-room hotel across from Fiserv Forum. The name, according to the development team, is a reference to Milwaukee’s blue-collar history.

The hotel is being developed by a partnership of the Milwaukee Bucks and North Central Group (NCG). An affiliate of the team owns the land, addressed as 420 W. Juneau Ave., and is leasing it to Middleton-based NCG.

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City Poised To Use $8.5 Million From TIFs to Combat Reckless Driving

The City of Milwaukee is poised to funnel millions of new dollars towards rebuilding streets as part of an effort to combat reckless driving.

A total of $8.5 million in property tax revenue from four tax incremental (TIF) districts would be allocated to fund traffic calming and safety improvements including protected bike lanes, curb bump-outs, narrower travel lanes, high-impact paving and new pedestrian infrastructure.

The proposed projects are located along N. Van Buren St. in Downtown, near the Midtown Center shopping mall on the city’s North Side and in the the area around Stadium Business Park and Burnham Park on the city’s South Side.

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RINKA Expands to Florida

Milwaukee-based architecture firm RINKA is expanding its operations well beyond Wisconsin.

The firm opened an office in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The new office is led by Elliot Young, a RINKA shareholder and senior vice president.

“Our team has found that our design approach — which combines highly creative solutions and elevated experiences for users with beautiful, yet functional structures — has fostered deep relationships with amazing clients across the country, especially in highly desirable and competitive markets like South Florida,” said founder and partner Matt Rinka in a statement. “We’re pleased our work has been received so well both in and outside of the Midwest. We’re continuing to grow our company with clients that are different and visionary, and this step is part of the evolution of our firm becoming a more national company.”

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Optometry Clinic Opening At KinetiK

Eyes on the Lake optometry clinic will be the first commercial tenant at the six-story KinetiK development, 2142 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.

The new business, slated to open this summer, is being led by Vaugn Schneider.

“I’ve wanted to open my own practice for a long time,” said Schneider in a press release. “I’ve taken my time, done lots of research, and I have a great team of people helping make this a reality. I feel like this is my moment to serve my community, and I know that when I put good energy out into this neighborhood, it’s going to come back around.”

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Gallery With Artist Housing Proposed For West Side

An art gallery with housing for artists is proposed for a fire-damaged, tavern building in Milwaukee’s Merrill Park neighborhood.

“We are excited about the opportunity to bring a beautiful building on the near West Side back to life,” said Amelia Mitcham, the developer behind the project, to members of the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee on Feb. 1.

She would purchase the three-story building at 500-502 N. 29th St. for $25,500 and invest $125,000 in redeveloping the property. The first floor would house an art gallery and the second floor would contain four small apartments.

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City Taps TIF For Affordable Housing

An overperforming tax incremental financing (TIF) district on Milwaukee’s North Side will be used to fund citywide affordable housing efforts to the tune of $450,000.

The Department of City Development is taking advantage of a state law that allows municipalities to extend the life of a successful district by one year to harvest the incremental property tax revenue to fund affordable housing projects.

“This will allow us to use it for any number of housing programs that DCD offers,” said budget director Dennis Yaccarino in presenting the proposal to the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee on Feb. 1.

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El Rey Plans New Cesar Chavez Dr. Building

The owners of the El Rey grocery stores are planning to develop a new mixed-use building on S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr.

El Rey Properties intends to purchase a vacant, city-owned lot at 911-915 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr. and develop a two-story building with first-floor commercial space and two apartments above.

The site is part of one of the South Side’s main commercial corridors and directly across the street from an El Rey store, Nuevo Mercado El Rey. That store, 916 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr., opened in a new building in 2007.

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