Historic building in Wisconsin gets new life as luxury apartment complex

APPLETON, Wis. (WLUK) — A historic building in downtown Appleton, Wisconsin, is getting new life as a luxury apartment complex.

The 90-year-old Zuelke Building, which has been filled with office spaces for years, opened Monday asResidences at Zuelke, a 66-unit apartment building.

The first floor will remain a commercial space, but the other 11 stories will become luxury living.

Whilethe building's renovationwas extensive, the design team said maintaining historical significance remained a top priority throughout the process. Because of this, some of the original features, like the marble floor, have been preserved.

New features include a fitness room, golf simulator and a theater.

City leaders believe the new complex will attract more people downtown andaddress a community need.

"If you look at Appleton specifically, there's been great apartment complexes that have been opened up here downtown. They're all absorbed really fast, there's waitlists," said Matt Cremer, COO of Tegethoff Development. "People have told us that they're having a hard time finding exactly what they wanted, so that really helped give us some confidence that this project would be well demanded by the market right away."

After nearly two years of renovations, many of the apartments are available now, with monthly rent ranging between roughly $1,000 and $2,000.