Several key downtown Milwaukee office buildings are for sale, according to Daniel Jessup, president of Brookfield-based Grubb & Ellis|Apex Commercial Inc. Downtown Milwaukee buildings that are on the market include: the Milwaukee Center at 111 E. Kilbourn Ave., the 789 N. Water St. building, the Associated Bank building at 401 E. Kilbourn Ave., the Wells Building at 324 E. Wisconsin Ave. and the Clark Building at 633 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Jessup talked about the buildings during the Institute of Real Estate Management’s (IREM) annual forecast breakfast. Jessup spoke about the Milwaukee office market.
The Milwaukee Center is about 94 percent occupied and is one of the largest office buildings in the state. The 21-year-old, 28-story building has about 378,717 square feet of space and an assessed value of $41.36 million, according to city records. The building is owned by Chicago-based Transwestern Investment Company.
The Clark and the Wells buildings are owned by Milwaukee-based Zilber Ltd. The buildings are under contract to be sold to Minneapolis-based Hempel Properties Inc., which is conducting due diligence for the purchases, said Mike Mervis, the assistant for Zilber Ltd. founder Joseph Zilber.
According to city records, the 106-year-old, 15-story Wells Building has 117,166 square feet of space and an assessed value of $6.6 million. The 44-year-old, 20-story Clark Building has 230,495 square feet of space and an assessed value of $12.1 million, according to city records.
The asking price for the Wells Building is $7.2 million, or $61.43 per square foot, and the asking price for the Clark Building is $15 million, or $65.38 per square foot, according to Jessup.
Mervis decline to provide more details about the potential sale of the buildings. Zilber has owned the Wells Building since 1970 and the Clark Building since 1985.
"We’re constantly re-evaluating our portfolio," Mervis said. "Our commitment to downtown Milwaukee is still strong and is stronger than it has ever been because of our work at Pabst (redeveloping the former brewery site)."
The five-story, 9-year-old 789 N. Water St. building has 73,250 square feet of space and an assessed value of $4.2 million, according to city records. The building is about 96 percent occupied and is owned by members of Heartland Advisors Inc., the building’s anchor tenant. The asking price for the building is $11.54 million or $172.83 per square foot, Jessup said.
The four-story, 12-year-old Associated Bank building has 46,607 square feet of space and an assessed value of $4.26 million, according to city records. The asking price for the building is $6.5 million or $139.46 per square foot, Jessup said.
Vacancy rates for class A office space in the eastern half of downtown Milwaukee is 14.8 percent, down from 15.2 percent in 2006, but vacancy rates for class B office space in that area is 26 percent, up from 23.3 percent in 2006, Jessup said.
Vacancy rates for class A office space in the western half of downtown Milwaukee is 13.9 percent, up from 12.1 percent in 2006, but vacancy rates for class B office space in that area is 43.7 percent, up from 39.8 percent in 2006, Jessup said.
