An affiliate of Phoenix, Ariz.-based U-Haul International Inc. purchased the 395,000-square-foot former Harley-Davidson plant in Wauwatosa, which the company shut down in 2011, for $5.25 million, according to state records.
The building sits on a 21.6-acre site northwest of U.S. Highway 45 and Capitol Drive. The property, which has an address of 11700 W. Capitol Dr., sold for less than its assessed value of $6.7 million, according to Milwaukee County records.
The building was built in 1946 and has been vacant since Harley consolidated local manufacturing operations at its Menomonee Falls plant.
The property was listed for sale by James T. Barry III, Kevin Barry and David Buckley of Milwaukee-based DTZ Barry. James T. Barry III declined to comment on the deal.
A representative for U-Haul could not be reached for comment.
The deal is one of the largest recent industrial real estate deals to occur in the region, and it eliminates one of the few large industrial spaces that were available in the market. Southeastern Wisconsin had a 4.86 percent industrial space vacancy rate in the first quarter, according to Xceligent data, and Milwaukee County had a first quarter industrial space vacancy rate of 7.56 percent.
