Downtown Conversion

Kenosha-based Bear Development LLC plans to spend about $5 million to convert a 57,626-square-foot office building at 700 W. Michigan St. in downtown Milwaukee into an apartment building. Bear purchased the building earlier this year for $535,500. The building currently has a few office tenants, but is mostly vacant. Bear plans to convert the building into a 50-unit apartment building with eight market-rate units and 42 “affordable housing” units for residents with household incomes below the county median. Bear Development will seek low income housing tax credits for the project early next year through the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA). — Andrew Weiland