December 13, 2021 – West Bend, Wi – The building, formerly home to Chase Bank, 801 W. Washington Street, in West Bend, WI sold Monday afternoon, December 13, 2021.
The buyer is listed as 801 W. Washington Street Property LLC. Jeremy and Lester Hahn are the owners.
“My realtor recommended the location, and the main attraction is the development going on in the area,” said Jeremy Hahn.
“This spot has rental units available; those are already rented out but three years down the road there could be change. Who knows?”
Hahn mentioned possible development of a downtown grocery. “I just wanted to grab it for the rental potential,” he said.
Hahn already owns several restaurants/bars on Main Street in the downtown including Garden Lounge, Boardroom, and Vino con Volo.
“We don’t plan on putting on bar in there,” he said. “The grocery would be a good idea because where do people downtown go if they need bread, eggs, or milk? That would be a huge undertaking because the site used to be a bank.
“One step at a time,” said Hahn.
Another idea may be to bring in food trucks in the parking lot off Cedar Street and Eighth Avenue. “We’d be a block away from downtown and have a controlled environment with our private parking lot. Food trucks are cool; there’s lots of stuff we can do.” said Hahn.
A bit of history on the old bank property:
- May 3, 2019, the bank sent letters to customers notifying them the branch would close August 1, 2019.
- January 2020 the parcel was sold to Chris Wenzel, Founder and CEO of Alexssa Enterprises, LTD. Wenzel said the new building would serve as headquarters for his company. Wenzel closed on the purchase Friday, January 31, 2020, for $575,000.
- Hahn closed on the parcel for $600,000.
- In October 2020 Wenzel sold Alexssa Enterprises, LTD to River Run.
The current 2021 assessment is $585,000. The 2021 property tax is $12,866.34.
On a history note: That bank location has been through several name changes. Records in the City assessor’s office show it was Marine Bank in 1972 and Banc One in 1992.
On another history note: Remember when the factories, West Bend Company, Amity Leather, and Enger Kress, were in West Bend and on Fridays the banks were open late because people lined up to cash/deposit their checks. At noon some tellers even noticed customers had a little beer on their breath after having a 10-cent tapper during lunch.
This is a working story, and more information will be posted when details become available.