1345 N. Astor St. Photo by Dave Reid.

A 97-year-old building at the northern edge of Downtown sold in late October for almost twice its assessed value.

Raham LLC acquired the three-story, mixed-use building at 1345 N. Astor St., which includes 27 apartments and a number of leased first-floor commercial spaces.

The building is located at the southwest corner of N. Astor Street and E. Ogden Avenue. A station for The Hop is located immediately in front of the building.

A number of commercial tenants fill its first floor, including Downtown Veterinary Clinic, Almost Home Cat Rescue, Maria Campbell Photography and Denisse Studio.

The property, assessed for $1.37 million, was sold by Scott Miswald‘s RSM Financial LLC for $2.63 million. Raham lists psychiatrist Dr. Khazi Muqeet of Brookfield as its registered agent.

Nathan Glaisner of Verde Investments brokered both sides of the transaction.

The building was originally developed by the Lillydahl Corporation in 1926. Similar to many commercial buildings of its era, it was built with a Mediterranean architectural style.

Beerline Apartment Complex Sold

One of the original apartment buildings developed as part of the creation of the Beerline neighborhood along the Milwaukee River has a new owner.

Brookfield-based MLG Capital acquired the Trostel Square complex, 1818 N. Commerce St., and two Brookfield apartment complexes, Norhardt Crossing and Norhardt Apartments.

The 99-unit Trostel Square complex was originally developed in 2002 by the Mandel Group. The property was sold in 2016 by Mandel to Inland Private Capital Corporation (IPC). IPC specializes in offering what are known as Section 1031 property portfolios to investors who recently sold real estate and are seeking to defer capital gains taxes.

IPC reported that the complex is 93% occupied and that it delivered a 154.5% return to its investors in selling the three properties.

A sale price was not disclosed, but the two–building Beerline complex is assessed for $17.2 million. JLL had listed the three similarily-sized properties for $66.3 million.

“MLG Capital is thrilled to announce these recent acquisitions near our headquarters. We are excited to make a sizeable investment in the Milwaukee area as we know first-hand its desirability to live in and continue to see the area draw key employers and attractions,” said MLG senior vice president Daniel Price in a statement. “With the economic growth of the area and the strong locations of these properties, we expect these acquisitions to perform very well.”

MLG acquires properties through private investment funds. Its most recent fund, MLG Private Fund VI, is seeking to raise $400 million.

The sale did not include the three Trostel Square condominium buildings facing the river.

Nonprofit Moves Office For First Time

VIA CDC is on the move.

The southside-focused community development organization is now located in Silver City at 3524-3526 W. National Ave. According to state real estate transfer records, the organization acquired the property in May for $230,000.

Prior to VIA, the three-story building was home to coworking space 5Wise Workshop.

VIA, previously known as Layton Boulevard West Neighbors, was created in 1995 by the School Sisters of St. Francis and has been housed in its St. Joseph Center since its inception. The complex is located at the southwest corner of S. Layton Boulevard and W. Greenfield Avenue.

In addition to several southside-focused community improvement programs, VIA has recently expanded its housing efforts. VIA started on housing with its Turnkey Renovation Program, which has rehabilitated 33 vacant, city-owned homes since 2008. But it’s now renovating properties for the Milwaukee Community Land Trust and building new homes for early childhood educators through the Community Development Alliance (CDA). It’s also piloting a new factory-built housing model.

Weekly Recap

New Bay View Plan Envisions Redevelopment of 3 Key Sites

A new Bay View land use plan attempts to chart a shared vision for the future of the neighborhood. It also includes conceptual plans for the redevelopment of three catalytic sites, but misses one that is likely to become a hot topic of discussion given the recently revealed planned closure of a large distribution facility.

“It’s the beginning of us writing the next chapters for ourselves and being the architects of our future,” said Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic in endorsing the plan, which includes everything from how to redevelop a vacant five-acre site to looking at where murals could be painted.

The proposal is an update to a broader 2008 effort, the Southeast Side Area Plan. Since then, the southside neighborhood has seen substantial rises in residential property values and investment in its commercial corridors. In 2020, Dimitrijevic called for the plan to be updated so the neighborhood could move from being “reactionary” to “visionary” when it came to increasing development pressure.

“This plan reflects a truly collaborative approach to placemaking. While we may not agree on every single aspect of it, we can be proud of it because all voices were heard and all positions were respected,” said Dimitrijevic when the City Plan Commission reviewed it on Sept. 24. “Some elements are visionary and forward-looking and envision changes, and some are intended to preserve certain unique aspects of our neighborhood that provide value and benefit our neighborhoods.”

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New Couple Attempting To Build House On Tricky Historic Site

A proposal to build a new house in a historic district on Milwaukee’s East Side is on hold, but perhaps only temporarily this time. The proposal is expected to be able to proceed after a series of minor revisions between Historic Preservation Commission staff members and the couple seeking to build the home.

Anna Goldman, a nurse practitioner, and Johnpierre Minchillo, a contractor, are seeking to build a 4,400-square-foot house at 2409 N. Terrace Ave. near Lake Michigan and the eastern end of North Avenue.

It’s the second home proposed for the grass lot in two years. Real estate developer Juli Kaufmann and partner Mike Maschek proposed to build a personal residence on the site in 2022, before walking away after the historic commission twice delayed the proposal and the staff member assigned to the project changed.

The latest proposal, according to Minchillo, comes after the couple and architect Shawn Purnell of Purnell Architecture first met with commission staff four months ago to get guidance on designing the house.

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Fight At City Hall Over Control of Board of Zoning Appeals

The future of an often-sleepy city board has become a hot topic at Milwaukee City Hall.

Through a budget amendment, the Milwaukee Common Council blocked Mayor Cavalier Johnson‘s attempt to place the citizen-led Board of Zoning Appeals (BOZA) under the administrative control of the Department of Administration (DOA) and its director Preston Cole. It’s also holding the mayor’s choice of a new chair and the reappointment of another member.

Council members insist it’s not personal and instead about the independence of the board.

“It just needs a strong chair and a strong secretary,” said Common Council President José G. Pérez in introducing his budget amendment on Oct. 26. “The fix for it isn’t moving it to a department.”

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New Development Coming To S. 27th Street

A vacant lot on busy S. 27th Street could soon house a commercial building.

“This will not be an inexpensive, boilerplate strip mall,” said architect Shannon Liggett in presenting the proposal to the City Plan Commission on Oct. 16.

Jaggi Singh Ghotra and Lakhwinder Kaur acquired the site at the corner of S. 27th Street and W. Abbott Avenue in September 2022 for $190,000. They are now pursuing a zoning change, from residential to the city’s LB1 commercial designation, for the western portion of the site that faces the commercial corridor and have divided the house on the eastern end of the site into a separate parcel.

An approximately 3,100-square-foot building is proposed and would run parallel to W. Abbott Avenue, but open to the south, away from the street. It could be divisible for up to four tenants. Parking would be located south of the building.

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Changes To Milwaukee’s Zoning Code Would Encourage More Development

A proposal from the Department of City Development (DCD) would make it easier, faster and possibly cheaper to build more housing in Milwaukee. It would also help expand the number of housing types available in Milwaukee.

Components of the effort, known as Growing MKE, would be enacted over the next two years and would include zoning code changes to allow more housing to be developed without public meetings and multi-step approval processes.

The proposal supports Mayor Cavalier Johnson‘s vision of growing Milwaukee to one million residents, a 400,000-resident increase. It also aims to make the city’s neighborhoods more vibrant and walkable. Growing MKE follows a national effort to make zoning codes less of an obstacle to developing new housing, particularly “missing middle” housing like townhomes.

A key component of the plan calls for expanding the number and types of buildings that can be constructed without legislative approval, instead allowing code-conforming projects to advance through what is commonly called “by right” development.

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