A building near Milwaukee's Washington Park will be renovated into offices by its new owner — the latest in a series of developments in that near west side neighborhood.

The two-story, 5,726-square-foot former movie theater, 3804 W. Vliet St., was recently sold for $249,000 in a transaction brokered by NAI Greywolf.

The buyer, Phoenix-based Empire of the Sun Holdings WI LLC, is led by Travis Jack, managing member of Metz & Associates, an accounting firm with offices in Phoenix and the Milwaukee area.

The building, which now houses Color Wheel Painting LLC, will be converted into the Milwaukee office for Metz & Associates, Jack told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

It also is to house other businesses, including a digital marketing firm, trust and estate attorneys and an investment advisory firm, and will be known as MKE Business Collective, he said.

Color Wheel eventually will move to a new location, with the building renovations likely to begin in January, Jack said.

The project is expected to have a $300,000 to $450,000 budget, he said.

"We are anticipating a restoration of the building facade to closer to its historic original appearance, polished concrete floors, and modern glass offices and conference rooms," Jack said.

The building was constructed in 1916, according to city assessment records.

It housed the Lyric Theater until 1952, according to cinematrreasures.org, and later was the home of a carpet store.

'A great long-term home'

The Metz & Associates/MKE Business Collective offices will be the latest in a series of new developments along West Vliet Street east of Washington Park.

The others include Triciclo Peru restaurant, which opened in 2019; Empanadas Pachamama frozen empanadas business, which is under construction, and frozen fruit confections maker Pete's Pops, which opened in 2018.

Jack said those developments "and conversations with some of the other business owners around the area made me feel very comfortable about the continued development in the area and it being a great long-term home for our Wisconsin office."

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Office project is planned for Milwaukee's Washington Park area