The historic Pabst Boiler House building at The Brewery complex in downtown Milwaukee, comprising of the most antique equipments has been sold to a Sheboygan investment group for $5.7 million.
Milwaukee developer PBH Redevelopment LLC sold the building on Wednesday to J. Vollrath LLC, which appears to be affiliated with The Vollrath Company LLC, a Sheboygan-based manufacturer of stainless steel and aluminum small-wares and equipment that was founded by Jacob Vollrath in 1874.
The 40,744-square-foot brick and timber loft office building is located at 1243 N. 10th St. It was the first retrofitted office building in the former Pabst brewery complex. The building is assessed at $4.8 million by the city of Milwaukee.
The building is 100 percent occupied by seven office tenants including law firms Borgelt, Powell, Peterson, & Frauen S.C. and Ogletree Deakins. All tenants will remain in the building.
“Investor interest is simply following the tenant interest in this real estate cycle,” said Tom Shepherd, a partner at Colliers International|Wisconsin, which brokered the deal. “Office tenants want to be in urban space that has character, and in buildings that have walkable, dynamic features, and abundant amenities.”
The approximately 21-acre brewery closed in 1996 and was vacant for more than 10 years before being purchased by real estate developer and philanthropist Joseph Zilber.
The Colliers Milwaukee office, then known as Inland Companies, was located at the Pabst Boiler House building after it was redeveloped into an office building.
“We are proud to be part the Zilber vision and help bring this part of Milwaukee back to life,” said Scott Welsh, CEO of Colliers International | Wisconsin. “(The) Pabst Boiler House was the perfect building that allowed our team to be the first pioneers in The Brewery.”
A team of investors led by Max Dermond and Charlie Trainer purchased Pabst Boiler House building with plans to renovate it into boutique loft brick & timber office space in 2007.
“We are pleased to transfer ownership of the Boiler House to a Wisconsin investor who we believe shares our appreciation for this beautiful, historic structure and its context in the newly-restored, mixed-use neighborhood,” Trainer said.
Shepherd, Welsh, Lyle Landowski and Jennifer Huber-Bullock of Colliers represented the seller in the transaction and Colliers was the sole broker in the sale. Colliers will continue to manage and lease the building for the new owner.
