Sung Kang recently purchased the 20,450-square-foot, two-story building at 200 W. Wisconsin Ave., located at the northwest corner of Wisconsin Avenue and North 2nd Street, in downtown Milwaukee from the Plankinton Family Trust for $1.46 million.
The sale price was significantly higher than the property’s assessed value of $703,000, according to city records.
Kang was represented by Dan Jessup of Grubb & Ellis|Apex Commercial and the Plankinton Family Trust was represented by Devin Piehl of First Weber Commercial.
The property had been owned by the Plankinton family dating back to around the Civil War, Piehl said. John Plankinton was Milwaukee’s most prominent meat packer in the 1800s and he was one of the city’s wealthiest residents at the time. He sold his company to his partner and long-time general manager, Patrick Cudahy, who later moved the company, today known as Patrick Cudahy Inc., to an area outside of Milwaukee that became the City of Cudahy.
Kang is a real estate investor and a wholesale beauty supply dealer, Jessup said. Kang bought the Wisconsin Avenue building as an investment and plans to lease the space to tenants and make improvements to suit the tenants’ needs.
Currently, the building is completely vacant. The eastern half was last occupied by Aladdin Middle Eastern Cuisine and before that was occupied by Taco Bell. The western half of the building was last occupied by Pak’s Jewelers.
Jessup is also representing Kang in leasing the building. He said they are talking to "a handful" of potential tenants, "primarily retail users."
After Kang’s purchase offer for the property was accepted, he received another, higher verbal offer, but turned it down, Jessup said.
"He was not interested in flipping it," Jessup said. "He’s bullish on the west side of downtown. He believes (the property) is a solid long-term investment."
