Milwaukee developer Rick Wiegand has sold his entire portfolio of apartment buildings to Chicago-based investors, and will use the proceeds to help finance his hotel development on the Near West Side.
Wiegand said he recently sold a parking lot and 12 buildings with a total of 232 apartment units total for $16.15 million. State records indicate Wiegand sold them to groups owned by Zio Pekovic and Sal Becovic of Chicago-based
Becovic. The company operates numerous apartment properties on Chicago's north side.
The apartment properties are located on the Near West Side. The largest among them are the buildings at 2435 W. Wisconsin Ave. and 2807 W. Michigan St.
The 55-unit building on Wisconsin Avenue sold for approximately $2.35 million, and the 36-unit on Michigan Street sold for $1.44 million.
Wiegand owns the
Ambassador Hotel at 2308 W. Wisconsin Ave., and is looking to develop more just down the street.
He plans to convert a former school building at 2708 W. Wisconsin Ave. into an "active lifestyle" hotel called Grand Avenue Suites. A courtyard called Liberty Square will also be developed at the site.
Wiegand said in an email that site work on the Grand Avenue Suites and Liberty square began last Friday. It is the first phase of a larger hospitality campus he's working on.
"I made a commitment to develop a hospitality campus at 27th and Wisconsin," he said. "I have sold my entire portfolio of apartment buildings … to provide the funds to continue with the first phase of that development, the Grand Avenue Suites and Liberty Square."
Becovic did not immediately provide a comment on the transaction.
