Paddy’s Pub, 2339-2345 N. Murray Ave. Photo by Carl Baehr.

A well-known East Side tavern was sold this week as part of a larger real estate transaction.

Keren Properties acquired the three-unit house, tear-down-ready duplex and two-story tavern building, home to Paddy’s Pub, at 2339-2345 N. Murray Ave. for $522,500.

“Prime East Side corner ready to develop,” said a 2021 listing from Shorewest Realtors agent Jim Schleif. “Buy the corner and develop your dream investment.”

But the new owners, David Keren and Benjy Keren, won’t immediately be redeveloping the property.

The tavern owners, husband-and-wife team Orlen “Woody” Wood and Patricia “Patty” Phillips, will continue to operate the bar until at least the end of 2022.

The news of the sale was first reported by Tom Daykin. Urban Milwaukee, in September, was the first outlet to report on the bar being listed for sale.

Wood, 79, and Phillips, 63, were looking to retire according to the listing.

As of 2019, a foreclosure action had also been initiated by National Exchange Bank & Trust. The couple sold two East Side houses that year to partially satisfy the $1.03 million claim and sold another Murray Avenue duplex in 2021 to further pay off the claim.

In August they listed the three-building property for sale for $699,900.

The tavern has been heavily remodeled, inside and out, to look like one found in the old country. The drink menu and entertainment has also been designed to match, with an array of Irish whiskey, Irish coffee and Guinness beer offered alongside live Irish music.

A large patio on the south end of the property features multiple fountains, stone tables and space for the musicians to set up. The interior of the bar is lined with decorations, some more than 200 years old. The upstairs features a small hall that can be rented for events and is popular with politicians for fundraisers. It’s also been used for a number of wakes.

The couple, in a 2013 profile by Urban Milwaukee, took pride in having built most of the tavern themselves, having remodeled the building in phases from its prior use as a home for Patty’s pet grooming business. The legal entity behind the bar was “Paddy’s Pet ‘N Pub, LLC,” reflecting a one-time vision to allow pets.

The neighborhood has seen plenty of change since the bar opened in 1998. To the west of the bar, The Standard at East Library apartment building opened in 2014 with a new library branch on its first floor. To the east across N. Murray Ave., the Greenwich Park Apartments apartment building opened in 2017. A Whole Foods grocery store opened in 2006 two blocks to the east as part of the expansion of the Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital. But all of those developments occupy much larger sites than the 8,683-square-foot parcel the couple sold.

A potential redevelopment of the Paddy’s property, without acquiring more land, is likely to be more in line with the townhome developments that can be found in the blocks to the north than the developments along E. North Ave. to the south.

The new owners’ portfolio includes a number of one to four-unit buildings on the East Side and other surrounding neighborhoods, almost all of which are at least a century old. Keren’s holdings include the property that houses The Gig tavern in Riverwest.

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Weekly Recap

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It is building three structures, beginning with a four-story, 159,308-square-foot office building along the north side of W. Freshwater Way on a site that overlooks the South Menomonee Canal and Harley-Davidson Museum. The signature curved shape of the building’s upper floors is now clearly visible.

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The nonprofit organization awarded the arena its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification in a ceremony in the building’s lobby.

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