One of downtown Milwaukee's most recognizable office towers is officially for sale again. CBRE has been named exclusive sales agent for the Gas Light Building, the 20-story Art Deco landmark at 626 E. Wisconsin Ave., with its new marketing campaign pitching the 1930 structure as a candidate for a major residential conversion.
The appointment, announced Monday, comes about a year and a half after the building sold for just $4 million at a foreclosure sale, according to Urban Milwaukee. CBRE's Matson Holbrook and Sean Beuche are marketing the property on behalf of the seller. Holbrook described the tower as more than just office space, saying it's “a permanent piece of Milwaukee's identity,” and added that the firm is “positioning this as the premier site for a trophy conversion.”
A Foreclosure Sale That Erased Millions in Value
The building's recent history has been rocky. An affiliate of Chicago-based M&J Wilkow Ltd. bought the Gas Light Building in 2015 for $20.5 million, but a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge issued a $14 million default foreclosure judgment against that ownership group in January, according to BizTimes. The property ultimately sold for $4 million at a sheriff's auction on April 21, 2025, as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported, a steep drop from what the ownership group paid just a decade earlier. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge William Sosnay confirmed that sale on June 23, 2025, according to online court records cited by the Journal Sentinel.
County records list the building's assessed value at $16.8 million, per BizTimes, even as the building has struggled with vacancy. Court documents cited by the same outlet put the Gas Light Building at about 63% vacant, though the Journal Sentinel's reporting separately cited a Loopnet.com figure of roughly 60% vacancy. The building's floor area has also been described inconsistently across sources: BizTimes put it at about 132,000 square feet, Urban Milwaukee's release cited roughly 134,000 square feet, and the Journal Sentinel's reporting cited a figure of 131,727 square feet.
An Art Deco Icon With a Working Weather Beacon
Whatever its exact square footage, the building's architectural pedigree isn't in dispute. Completed in 1930 as the headquarters for Wisconsin Gas Co., the tower is known for its Art Deco design and decorative natural gas flame, a signature of downtown Milwaukee's skyline. Wisconsin Energy Corp., the parent company of We Energies, bought Wisconsin Gas Co. in 2001 and later moved its offices to its headquarters on downtown Milwaukee's west side, according to the Journal Sentinel's reporting.
Atop the building sits a 21-foot weather beacon that signals the forecast through its color and flicker, according to Colliers, which also lists the Gas Light Building as office space for lease. The U.S. Forest Service's Eastern Regional Office anchors the building as a tenant, per the Journal Sentinel.
Could Apartments Be Next?
CBRE's pitch leans heavily on the idea of adaptive reuse. Holbrook said the property offers an opportunity to repurpose its historic architecture and described it as a candidate for a trophy conversion that could shape downtown's next chapter. That framing echoes reporting from mid-2025, when the Journal Sentinel reported the building was being considered by a local developer for possible conversion to apartments — though that report described the idea only as a possibility, not a confirmed project.
Downtown Milwaukee has seen similar transformations before. The 100 East office tower, foreclosed on in 2021, is now undergoing conversion into 373 apartments after being sold to a local development team, according to BizTimes. J. Jeffers & Co. also announced plans in 2025 to convert the historic Mitchell Building into 60 apartment units, per the same outlet. Developer Kendall Breunig, who has completed other historic conversions, said projects like these come with real obstacles — older buildings often involve code issues and may require asbestos and lead remediation — and noted he still has due diligence to complete before proceeding on his own projects.
A Divided Office Market
The timing of the listing follows a mixed picture for downtown Milwaukee's office sector. CBRE Research reported 212,000 square feet of positive net absorption in the market's strongest quarter since late 2021, according to Urban Milwaukee's release. But BizTimes has separately characterized the broader downtown office market as divided, noting that Class A buildings have seen steady tenant demand while Class B and C buildings face a much tougher reality.
No sale price has been disclosed as part of the current marketing effort. The building's ownership traces through Rialto Capital Advisors LLC, a Miami-based firm that acquired the property at the foreclosure sale, and which serves as loan servicer for Wilmington Trust National Association, trustee for the COMM 2015-PC1 Mortgage Trust that held the Gas Light Building loan, according to the Journal Sentinel's reporting. Whether the building's next chapter includes apartments, continued office use, or something else remains to be seen as CBRE begins courting buyers.
