Boston Store building sold

Chicago-based firm pays $25 million for downtown structure

A downtown Milwaukee building that includes Boston Store and corporate offices for the department store’s owner has been sold for $25 million.

The building, 331 W. Wisconsin Ave., was sold to Chicagobased North Wells Capital, the investment management affiliate of Urban Innovations Ltd., the firm said in a statement.

The 428,652-square-foot, mixed-use building features Boston Store on its first two levels and the corporate offices of Bon-Ton Stores Inc. and Boston Lofts apartments on the nine-story building’s upper floors.

The sale comes shortly after Bon-Ton extended its lease of both the retail and office space for at least 10 years. Those operations have 750 employees, with the majority working in the corporate offices.

In return for extending those leases, which now expire in January 2028, the Common Council and Mayor Tom Barrett approved a plan for providing $1.9 million in city funds to help finance $4 million in renovations at the building.

The building was sold by Wispark LLC, the real estate development subsidiary of WEC Energy Group Inc. Wispark announced recently it is winding down its operations.

Urban Innovations will provide property management services for the building, including leasing and construction.

“We’re excited about the acquisition of 331 West Wisconsin because it is both a continuation of the Urban Innovations operating model and our first acquisition in Milwaukee, a market we’re really enthusiastic about,” Howard R. Conant Jr., president of Urban Innovations, said in the statement.

Boston Store has occupied the building for nearly 100 years.

The department store occupies 123,434 square feet on the first and second floors, with Bon-Ton’s corporate headquarters using 170,358 square feet of office space on floors three through five.

Boston Lofts, a 74-unit apartment complex, totals 134,860 square feet on floors six through nine, plus 56,785 square feet devoted to a 129stall underground parking garage. Mandel Group Inc. will continue to manage Boston Lofts.

This acquisition increases Urban Innovation’s owned portfolio by more than 70%, bringing its total to 10 properties of nearly 1,030,000 square feet.

The building’s sale was brokered by Patrick Gallagher of CBRE Inc.