Here's an update about the building. My friend and I went back to it to get the address to see if we could find out any information about the building. The building and the restaurant next to it was sold in the spring of 2008 to a assisted living company that was going to develop the land into an assisted living facility. Here's an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talking about the sale:
Restaurant bought for assisted-living site
Capitol Drive eatery, apartments to be razed
By Tom Daykin of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: May. 8, 2008
The Riverbrook Family Restaurant building and a nearby apartment complex in Shorewood have been sold, paving the way for their demolition and replacement by a $15 million assisted-living facility.
Sunrise Senior Living Inc., a McLean, Va., company that runs over 450 facilities in the United States, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, bought the properties Tuesday for $4.85 million, according to the Milwaukee office of C.B. Richard Ellis Inc., which brokered the transaction.
The Riverbrook building, 1111 E. Capitol Drive, for over 50 years housed the Pig 'n Whistle Restaurant, a hub for teens as well as families looking for a good, cheap meal. The Pig 'n Whistle closed in 1992 and reopened a few months later as the remodeled Riverbrook Family Restaurant.
Sunrise will begin building its 83-unit center by fall, said broker Andy Stefanich of C.B. Richard Ellis. Sunrise plans to have the center open by the summer of 2009.
The Riverbrook property was sold by BGA LLP, a partnership that names George Panagiotopoulos as its registered agent. Sunrise paid $2.5 million for the 1.71-acre site, said John Visser of C.B. Richard Ellis.
The apartments next to Riverbrook, at 3907-3909 N. Sherburn Place, were sold by John and Barbara Toohey for $2.35 million, Visser said. The apartments sit on 1.41 acres, and 0.9 acres will be given to the Village of Shorewood for a future bluff-top path overlooking the Milwaukee River, he said.
Riverbrook's last day of business was Tuesday, said Dino Antonopoulos, BGA's attorney. He said the restaurant's owners wanted to thank customers for their patronage over the years.
But the assisted living company, Sunrise, got caught up in the credit crisis in the fall of 2008 and had to abandon their plans. Here's another article talking about it:
Plans dropped for assisted-living complex in Shorewood
By Tom Daykin of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Nov. 14, 2008
The credit crunch has killed plans to build an assisted-living complex in Shorewood - a development that would have replaced the former Riverbrook Family Restaurant and some nearby apartments.
Sunrise Senior Living Inc. has canceled several projects, including the Shorewood proposal, because it couldn't obtain capital, according to a Friday announcement from the Shorewood Community Development Authority. The 83-unit Shorewood facility would have been on E. Capitol Drive, just west of N. Sherburn Place.
Sunrise is now seeking buyers for the Shorewood parcels, Village Manager Chris Swartz said.
The Riverbrook building for over 50 years housed the Pig 'n Whistle Restaurant, a hub for teens and families looking for a good, cheap meal. The Pig 'n Whistle closed in 1992 and reopened a few months later as the remodeled Riverbrook restaurant.
Along with the former restaurant building at 1111 E. Capitol Drive, Sunrise also bought the former Sherburn Place Apartments at 3907-3909 N. Sherburn Place. The combined parcel is about 2 acres, Swartz said.
Sunrise could hold the property and revive plans to build the assisted-living complex once credit conditions improve, Swartz said.
But the McLean, Va.-based company is in financial trouble and needs cash.
Last week, Sunrise reported a third-quarter loss of $68.7 million, compared with net income of $38.2 million from the year-earlier period. For the first three quarters of 2008, Sunrise lost $133.6 million, compared with net income of $53.7 million.
More significantly, Sunrise said it expects to violate some of its financial covenants by the end of December, which would cut off financing from a bank credit arrangement. As a result, Sunrise and its lenders hope to revise the credit facility by Jan. 31.
Meanwhile, Sunrise is looking for other ways to raise cash, including a sale of parcels tied to abandoned projects, the company said. Sunrise dropped 54 proposed developments in the third quarter, which resulted in a $47.5 million charge.
A company spokesman couldn't be reached for comment as to whether the canceled Shorewood project was among those that contributed to the earnings charge. The Shorewood facility would have been the first in Wisconsin for Sunrise, which operates 448 senior living facilities in the United States, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Sunrise bought the Shorewood parcels in early May for $4.85 million.
Apparently there was also some kind of shady financing deal worked out where the parcel of land with the apartment building on it was undervalued so the new owners didn't have to pay as much in taxes on the land. You can read more about that
here.
What's interesting is the Google Earth maps still show the apartment building with cars around it.
