Two Realtors Make Bid to Sell Historic Firehouse

No matter how , it's seems the Port Washington Common Council is ready to get down to business Tuesday by hiring one of two realty firms to try to sell the building.

 of Port Washington and Milwaukee-based Grubb & Ellis Apex Commercial are both in the running for the sale contract.

Both have experience with commercial realty in Port Washington. Grubb & Ellis points to it's experience in the sale of the former Wind Rose Wine & Martini Bar building, and Re/MAX points to recent sales of commerical properties including buildings that now house , and .

The historic fire engine house, 102 E. Pier St.,  the . The building earned state and national recognition as an historical site in 2009.

The city initially sought bids for the building, but after , officials decided to hire a real estate broker.

Troy Bretl, a realtor with Re/MAX, would be in charge of the account if the council chooses his company.

"If the city’s going to list and market the building with a real estate agency, this is where we do our business and we’d like to be a part of that," Bretl said.

And while choosing Re/MAX would be an obvious way for the city to support local, Kristian Sydow, vice president with Grub & Ellis, said the local aspect might be a disadvantage.

"Potentially, it may not be a local investor that decides to buy that (property), and we have kind of a presence regionally … and I think that there are benefits to having a company (who has a larger) reach than the local real estate groups," Sydow said

He added that through the sale of the Wind Rose building, he has had conversations with potential interested buyers of the fire engine house.

"I understand what the plight is to try to reanimate the street," he said. "You’re really looking at a new adaptive use for that space."

He sees possible transformations of the building to for-profit uses, private uses, office space or a work-live space.

The sale of the building will likely include an exception period for specified interested parties to come forward with a bid to the purchase the building. One of those interested parties would be the Port Washington Historical Society, which . The typical exception period would be 30 to 60 days, City Planner Randy Tetzlaff said in a letter to the council.

Re/MAX proposed a listing price of $249,900 with a 6 percent sales commission. That price, Bretl said, was based on selling prices of comparable Port Washington properties.

Grubb & Ellis proposed a listing price of $225,000 with a 7 percent sales commission, meaning if either company sells the building at its listed price, their commission would be about $15,000.

Grubb & Ellis proposed a lower listing price because of the condition of the fire engine house when compared with other Port Washington properties that sold in a more turn-key ready state.

"When you really are fair with any buyer that is going to ... invest in that property — there’s a significant investment there to get that property up and running and up to code," he said.

The Common Council will meet in the at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night to make its decision.