Developers buy downtown Milwaukee office for $17M hotel conversion

A developer group that built the Milwaukee Marriott Downtown on Monday bought a six-story office building next to the Wisconsin Center from Towne Realty Inc. that they plan to convert into a hotel. The building at 744 N. Fourth St. sold for $4.5 million, according to state records. The developers on Monday also sealed an agreement with theWisconsin Economic Development Corp. to receive $3.4 million in state historic restoration tax credits for the $17 million redevelopment, said Mark Maley, WEDC spokesman. In their application for the tax credits, the developers predicted a November 2015 completion for the project. Mark Flaherty of the buyers group, Jackson Street Management LLC, confirmed plans to convert the building into a hotel but declined to comment further. Jackson Street Management also is planning a 200-room Westin Hotel at the U.S. Bank Center in downtown Milwaukee. The Fourth Street sale includes the 92,255-square-foot office building and a neighboring two-deck parking structure, both built in 1927, according to city records. Seller Towne Realty of Milwaukee has owned the building since the 1960s.

Apartment conversion possible for Walker’s Point building

The City of Milwaukee plans to seek development proposals on a prominent Walker’s Point building that at least one firm is considering for market-rate apartments. The four-story, 76,000-square-foot building, at 611 W. National Ave., is owned by Esperanza Unida Inc., a nonprofit group that provides job training programs. Known as the International Building, its mural can be seen by northbound drivers on I-43. But the city has foreclosure proceedings pending against the financially troubled organization, which owes $231,561 in property taxes on its building, including $155,000 in back taxes for 2011 and 2012. The city plans to soon take ownership of the property, and then issue a request for proposals from firms interested in buying and redeveloping it, according to a new Common Council resolution. That resolution would approve an agreement between the city and the U.S. Economic Development Administration overseeing the building’s sale and redevelopment. The agency is involved because it provided a $712,800 grant in 1994 to help pay for a $1.06 million renovation of the building’s first and second floors. That included a 25-year mortgage in case Esperanza Unida breached the grant agreement, the resolution said. The resolution said an unspecified portion of the building’s sale proceeds would go to the federal agency. Cal Schultz, who operates Oshkosh-based Keystone Development LLC, said he remains interested in buying the property. Keystone would use state and federal historic preservation tax credits to help finance the building’s conversion into market-rate apartments. The International Building has housed a restaurant, child care center and other businesses, along with Esperanza Unida’s offices. But building code violations have led most of the tenants to move out. Esperanza Unida’s financial problems are the result of “toxic debt” tied to loans made against the building in 1994 without authorization from the Economic Development Administration, said Manny Perez, the group’s executive director. Esperanza Unida is working closely with the City of Milwaukee to resolve the matter, with the goal of selling the building so the creditors are paid, Perez said Tuesday. A sale and redevelopment of the building also would create jobs and help revitalize the area, he said. “The issue highlights the serious need for government and nonprofit organizations to maintain governance, compliance and financial controls,” said Perez, who was named executive director in 2013.

Solaris sale expected to accelerate firm’s growth

Solaris purchased by European medical devices company

Proposals call for redeveloping buildings on Milwaukee’s north side

King Building five-story apartment development plan abandoned

Earlier this year developer Scott Genke (SG Property Management, LLC) announced plans to redevelop the King Building, 2534 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., to a five-story apartment structure. The project would have involved adding three or four more stories to the building, which has housed Just Add Soap for more than a decade. Genke said that he discovered that adding the extra floors was too invasive and too expensive and that he is returning to his original plan, renovating the “exceptional historic structure prime commercial space in Bay View.” The renovation includes restoring the interior back to the original design that included a mezzanine level, 17 foot ceilings, terrazzo floors, and arched storefronts creating two 3,000-square-foot storefronts. Each of those spaces 2,000 square feet of ground floor space and an additional 1,000 square feet in the mezzanine. An additional 4,500 square feet of ground floor space will be offered plus up to 10,000 square feet in the building’s lower level. Genke plans to offer outdoor, south-facing, patio space, rooftop options, and off street parking for up to 12 cars in the adjacent lot. He said a restaurant, marketplace, brewery, coffee roaster, or distribution center are some of the businesses that would be a good fit.

Judge orders Assembly candidate to pay $27,500 debt

Madison — A Milwaukee County judge this week ruled a Republican running for the state Assembly must pay more than $27,500 to cover an unpaid debt. Court records also show the company suing Scott Espeseth believes he may not live at the address he has listed as his residence as a candidate. Espeseth, who is running against Rep. Daniel Riemer (D-Milwaukee), did not respond to a request for comment. Portfolio Recovery Associates sued Espeseth in Milwaukee County Circuit Court in May. Online court records show Circuit Judge Christopher Foley entered a default judgment against him this week ordering him to pay his bill. Court documents show the firm had difficulty tracking down Espeseth. “On August 6, 2014, our office was notified that the defendant may not live at 169 N. 67th St., Milwaukee, WI,” John M. Hogan, a skip tracer for the company, wrote in an Oct. 14 affidavit. That’s the address Espeseth has claimed as his residence in a campaign filing. Hogan’s affidavit did not explain why he believes Espeseth might not live there, and an attorney for Portfolio Recovery Associates did not return a phone call. Facebook comment The court ruling comes less than a week after news broke that a comment had been posted last year from Espeseth’s campaign Facebook account criticizing a woman for attacking two journalists. “What puzzles me is how any guy would put a (expletive) in that twice to produce children,” the comment said. The comment was removed soon after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel asked about the posting. Espeseth responded in an email that the online comment “pales in comparison to the violence perpetrated” by the woman.

First Financial Centre building sold for $3.28 million

he First Financial Centre, a 14-story office building located at the northeast corner of Water Street and Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Milwaukee, was sold recently for $3.28 million, according to state records. The 153,201-square-foot building, constructed in 1928, was purchased by Brookfield-based 700 North Water Tower LLC. The registered agent for the firm is real estate investor Bachan Singh. The building was sold in an online auction by an affiliate of Miami Beach, Fla.-based LNR Property LLC. The building has an assessed value of $3.9 million, according to city records. Tenants in the building include Capital Investment Services, Lawyertemps Inc., Nicholas Compan, Inc., Lubar & Co., and Weiss, Berzowski, Brady LLP. The office space in the building is only 32.87 percent occupied, according to Loopnet.com.

Real estate donations create tax benefits for sellers

Inappropriate comment posted from candidate’s Facebook page

Madison — When a Washington, D.C., woman used pepper spray and her fists to get rid of a reporter and photographer last year, online commenters had a lot to say, much of it nasty. One comment came from the campaign Facebook account of Scott Espeseth, a Republican running for theWisconsinAssembly against Rep. Daniel Riemer (D-Milwaukee). “What puzzles me is how any guy would put a (expletive) in that twice to produce children. See kids … this is what happens when your brain is on drugs…,” the Nov. 2 post said. The comment was posted on a story on the website opposingviews.com. He is labeled as a “top commenter” and his posts note he is running for the Assembly and link to hiscampaign’s Facebook page. In a brief interview Friday, Espeseth said the comment “didn’t sound like” something he would write. He claimed his Facebook account had been hacked, but he didn’t know exactly when. He said he had to go and hung up on a reporter. Soon after the conversation with a reporter, the comment was taken down from the website. On Saturday, Espeseth sent an email to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that appeared to abandon the claim the comment has been posted because of a hacked Facebook account. “Any post-comment, flippant or otherwise, pales in comparison to the violence perpetrated on the reporter and photographer in the video,” he wrote in his Saturday email. “The only thing that made it worse was the fact that her children were witness to it. “Given the fact we are all faced with so many important issues in our state such as reducing domestic violence, creating an economy to lift the working-poor out of poverty and safer, more effective schools, focusing any more attention on this only serves to obscure the real issues we face.” Joel Gratz, executive director of the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, called the posting from Espeseth’s account unacceptable. “There is no place for someone who would use this kind of despicable language in Wisconsin politics and certainly not the Legislature,” said a written statement from Gratz. “This is an example of the extremism and vitriol that Wisconsin voters have had enough of.” The web story in question generated more than two dozen comments. Two of the postings — though not those attributed to Espeseth — included racial slurs in all capital letters. According to the story, journalists Bruce Johnson and Danielle Gill were interviewing a mail carrier about a home invasion when a woman came out her front door, shot pepper spray and punched both of them.

New soccer bar, Red Lion Pub, to replace Brocach

If this year’s World Cup said anything about Milwaukee’s soccer scene, the new, English-style Red Lion Pub should be a welcome addition to Water Street. Red Lion said in a press release Monday it will replace Brocach Irish Pub & Restaurant at 1850 N. Water St., in Milwaukee. Brocach, a Milwaukee iteration of the Madison favorite, is closing its doors after seven years on Tannery Row. As its name hints, Red Lion Pub is a collaboration between the owners of Water Street’s Red Rock Saloon and owners of Shorewood soccer spot Three Lions Pub. Drew Deuster and J.J. Kovacovich, of Red Rock and McGillycuddy’s Bar and Grill, have formed an ownership group with Three Lions’ David Price and Christopher Tinker. Red Lions’ fare will reflect its theme, featuring house-made pies, pasties and fish ‘n chips, as well as English spirits, cocktails, beers and ales. The new pub is tentatively slated to open in December of this year

Old industrial building given new industrial life