You can own this 1880s Milwaukee building for $5,000

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Some of the most iconic places and brands trace back to 1889. That year, the Eiffel Tower opened, the Wall Street Journal first went to print and Coca-Cola was incorporated as a business.

It's also the year Milwaukee granted building permits for the construction of a three-story Romanesque-style building that still anchors the intersection of W. Center Street and what is now N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. 

These days, the city of Milwaukee owns the building, and it's trying to sell it for a price cheaper than most used cars: $5,000.

The listing price is indicative of a building that has fallen into extreme disrepair. The cream city brick and ornate burgundy trim blends with blue wooden boards that cover most of the windows.

"It's rough, and it'd just be nice to finally get an owner in here who could get this fixed up and bring it back to life and what it should be," said Tim Askin, a senior planner for the Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission. 

The city has owned the building since 2010 when it took control of the property through a tax foreclosure. 

From a pharmacy to a dressmaker to different restaurants, the ground level of this 1889 Milwaukee building has hosted all kinds of businesses.

Ray Hill, executive director of the Historic King Drive Business Improvement District (BID), said the hope was that a cheap upfront cost would attract an ambitious developer who'd embrace the work needed to restore the 130-year-old building.

"Thinking about multi-family, multi-use. Some office, some residential," Hill said. "Something that brings activation and people."

Askin said the building has roots in the Schlitz family, although it was never a brewery or tavern. When it first opened, the first floor was a pharmacy.

Later, it housed a dressmaker with residential space above. From there, Askin said a fairly steady stream of different occupants followed.

"Lots of other quick turnover things after about the '20s and eventually, a cafe by the '70s," he said.

Ald. Milele Coggs, whose district includes the Bronzeville and Harambee neighborhoods, said she has distinct childhood memories of going there with her mom when the ground-level restaurant was the Fireside Lounge.

"Miss May was the cook at the lounge, and she used to flip the best burgers and make the best fries," Coggs said.

Because of that emotional connection, as well as a desire to see life return to one of the most distinct buildings on MLK Drive, Coggs said she hoped a developer would be drawn to this particular challenge.

"I think there are folks that have an affinity and an understanding of the value of history in a million different ways, but definitely in architecture," Coggs said. "And just by looking at this building, you see the beauty that is not replicated in new buildings."

Restoring the building will be a significant undertaking. During a visit Friday, Department of City Development (DCD) staff told a CBS 58 crew the public could only step about five feet inside the front entrance. 

Due to the building's state of disrepair, most of the structure is off-limits to the public.

The rest of the building was closed off for safety reasons. With fairly heavy rain falling, water poured in through holes in the ceiling. 

To help attractive prospective buyers, the city is offering as much as $50,000 in an escrow grant from the Historic Infrastructure Preservation Fund. That money is earmarked for repairs to the building's historic exterior.

Hill said the ideal buyer would see an opportunity to not only repair a building; they can also help rejuvenate the north end of the King Drive corridor.

"Someone who is willing to take a risk and a chance," she said. "I think that's very important to think outside the box and be innovative in what those opportunities could be."

Repairs to the exterior, as well as any new construction or demolition would require the Historic Preservation Commission's approval.

According to the DCD website, the MLK Drive property is one of 16 city-owned commercial buildings currently for sale. Another 12 commercial buildings have pending proposals.