Victor’s Is For Sale
The popular bar is on the market, possibly for redevelopment.
Victor’s, 1230 N. Van Buren St. Photo by Mariiana Tzotcheva.
After nearly six decades of service, Victor’s is seeking a new owner to operate the longtime tavern, or redevelop the property.
Located along a bustling downtown stretch of N. Van Buren Street — across the street from the brand-new Nova apartment building and kitty-corner to Metro Market — the property is a desirable one, and hopeful buyers will have to produce a hefty sum to emerge, well, victorious.
The business, furniture and fixtures are all included in the sale, along with the sprawling, one-story building that has housed Victor’s since the 1960s. The asking price is $1.9 million.
The business and the building were developed by Victor Jones and his son Vic Jones, 68, has been the registered agent and lead operator for several years.
The elder Jones built the current Victor’s structure in 1966 and opened the tavern shortly thereafter, he explained to the Licenses Committee during a July 2020 hearing.
“It’s a family-run business,” he said, noting that four of his seven children, along with numerous in-laws, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren help out at the tavern.
At the time, Jones was more than seven decades into his career as a tavern owner, having dropped out of college at the age of 18 to take over his father Casey’s business. Victor died in 2021 at the age of 91.
Vic is the registered agent for the business, which is technically owned by Victor’s On Van Buren, Inc. according to city license records. The property, according to assessment records, is owned is by Victor’s widow, Mary Ann G. Jones, through a trust.
The business has shifted away from its extensive and highly-regarded food menu and leaned into its high-energy nightclub atmosphere.
On its website, Victor’s notes that its main kitchen is temporarily closed — and has been for a while — which means its highly-praised fish fry is off the table. The tavern does, however, offer pizza.
The 5,752-square-foot structure 1230 N. Van Buren St., sits on a L-shaped. 0.44-acre site. The building has a capacity of 420.
A second, non-contiguous property is located to the north. The 0.14-acre lot at 1238 N. Van Buren St. is used for additional surface parking.
The primary property is assessed at $1.1 million.
The listing touts the properties as ideal to operate as-is, or to purchase as an investment or for development.
Someone pursuing redevelopment would likely also want to purchase the dividing property, 1232-1234 N. Van Buren St. It’s a 2,685-square-foot grass lot owned by an affiliate of Katz Properties. Combining the Katz and Jones properties would yield a 0.64-acre site.
Jones did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
As of Friday morning, Victor’s did not announce any upcoming changes to its operations. The bar is open Tuesday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. and Friday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. The bar also opens on select Sundays during Packers games and the Super Bowl. The place really shines on New Year’s Eve, in part because it doesn’t close until Jan. 2.
To read more about the tavern’s history, see our 2014 Bar Exam column.
The property is listed with Russ Sagmoen, Isaac Berg and James McKenna of Colliers International.
2014 Photo Gallery
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Ugly building, ugly surface parking lot. I hope for redevelopment.
I’m ready for “Victim’s” to simply become a memory.