Esperanza Unida International Building Reopened For Business

Tenants finally allowed access to the Ezperanza Unida International building after a 14-day lock-out and were prohibited to enter by the city.

By H. Nelson Goodson

July 10, 2014

Milwaukee, WI - On Thursday, the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services around 2:00 p.m. finally allowed tenants of the Esperanza Unida International building to go back into their offices after a 14-day lock-out. The third floor area remained closed due to a lack of ventilation (air conditioning system), but the issue is being remedied,  according to Manuel "Manny" Pérez, the executive director of Ezperanza Unida, Inc.

Last Monday, Pérez notified the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services that the International Building at 611 W. National Ave. had repaired a faulty electrical wiring that disabled the fire sprinkle system compressor that resulted in a 14-day lock-out of all the tenants due to a fire hazard or the building was unfit for human habitation. Esperanza Unida was also required to provide ventilation on the third floor, according to the Commissioner of the Department of Neighborhood Services. Plans are set to comply with the ventilation issue, which will not be an issue to open the rest of the building. 

The 611 building on W. National had been closed since, June 25 after a three-day notice by the city. All the tenants were prohibited to enter or conduct business, unless authorized to enter by the city building inspectors and Esperanza Unida.

With the finished repairs in new exit signs, Esperanza Unida building at 611 is expected to open its doors within days and tenants can return to business as usual. Esperanza Unida did an inspection of the water fire sprinkle system and discovered it wasn't operational and notified the city, according to Pérez.

The Ezperanza Unida International building accepted an offer to sell in early June from Callan Shultz, of North Pointe Holdings ll LLC and President of Keystone Development from Oshkosh who offered $1.3M. The Oshkosh developer will invest a $7M project to convert the 611 building into a 55-unit apartment complex, according to Pérez.

The developer is expect to go public once the plans for the new apartment complex project are finalized.