Rick Wiegand, the owner of the Ambassador Hotel and the Ambassador Inn, is planning another redevelopment project to transform the former F. Mayer Boot and Shoe Co. building into an apartment complex.
The building, constructed in 1892 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is located at 100 E. Pleasant St. near the Schlitz Park complex near downtown Milwaukee. The six-story, 193,988-square-foot red brick building is known as the Milwaukee Fortress Building.
The cost of the redevelopment project is estimated at $52.7 million. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. in January agreed to provide up to $9.15 million in historic preservation tax credits for the project.
Work is expected to begin this year and be completed by 2019. Once completed, there will be 176 apartment units in the building.
The building is currently used for office space, but is only about 40 percent leased.
The building is located near an area that is attracting a significant amount of new apartment development including Mandel Group Inc.’s North End project and Rhythm, a seven-story 140-unit apartment development planned for a site at 1632-1640 N. Water St.
Wiegand could not be reached for comment.
