An affiliate of Milwaukee-based Phoenix Investors LLC recently purchased the 289,000-square-foot former Sigma-Aldrich Plant for $650,000, and plans to renovate the property in hopes of attracting new tenants.
The property, located at 4143 N. 27th St. and 2905 W. Hope Ave. in Milwaukee, includes approximately 13 acres and was purchased from Aldrich Chemical Co. LLC.Phoenix Investors has assumed the property management of the complex, and will manage the renovation and leasing of it.
The property was the former home of Sigma-Aldrich Chemical and originally the home of Evinrude Motors. It is located in the 30th Street Industrial Corridor, which has been a major redevelopment focus for city officials as they try to attract jobs to the central city.
“We are excited by the industrial leasing opportunities afforded by the Sigma Industrial Complex,” said Kurt Jensen, senior vice president of acquisitions for Phoenix Investors. “The renewed interest in this industrial corridor with the City of Milwaukee’s investment into the Century City Business Park, dovetails with our redevelopment of the former Sigma-Aldrich plant. Our redeveloped space will provide industrial companies with affordable, quality and clean industrial space.”
The transaction was brokered by Patrick Dedering and Jim Babiasz of The Boerke Company.
The deal demonstrates how the industrial real estate market in the Milwaukee area continues to gain momentum. The southeastern Wisconsin industrial space vacancy rate fell to 4.86 in the first quarter, according to Xceligent. Milwaukee County absorbed nearly 600,000 square feet of industrial space in the first quarter and its vacancy rate fell to 7.56 percent.The Colliers International|Wisconsin first quarter industrial market report said: “Perhaps the most notable and encouraging (first quarter) gain came from the central sub-market (city of Milwaukee) with just shy of 600,000 square feet being absorbed. We believe this is due to a continued shortage in supply of product in the outlying submarkets, forcing users to re-visit the central submarket that was the most hard hit from the last downturn. We find this encouraging as the activity has reinvigorated the development community and local/regional invests to invest in this submarket.”
Phoenix Investors hopes to take advantage of those trends with the former Sigma Aldrich complex.
“As our industrial footprint continues to grow in the Milwaukee metropolitan area, we continue to look at value opportunities that fit our investment strategies. In the case of the Sigma Industrial Complex, we worked closely with Aldrich Chemical over the last two years to facilitate its orderly exit from the property,” said Frank P. Crivello, executive vice president, Phoenix Investors. “We expect to immediately commence with the rehabilitation and repositioning of the property to prepare it for prospective tenants.”
