The Social Development Commission’s main office, parking lots and warehouse on North Avenue were sold at a sheriff’s auction to the properties’ mortgage lender, Forward Community Investments, on Monday, Jan. 26.
Forward Community Investments, the only party to bid at auction, will take ownership of the properties as collateral for defaulted loans after a judge confirms the sale, according to Ryan Zerwer, president and CEO of Forward Community Investments.
“The auction is the culmination of the foreclosure process whereby a lender takes possession of a property in lieu of repayment on the debt,” Zerwer said in an email.
Ongoing challenges for SDC
The sale is the latest update in a series of financial and legal challenges for SDC, which has been trying to regain funding and restart its social services since it stopped operating in 2024.
Forward Community Investments, a community development financial institution with Madison and Milwaukee offices, filed a lawsuit last year against SD Properties Inc., SDC’s tax-exempt property corporation that owned the properties, and SDC for defaulting on mortgage payments.
In October, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge J.D. Watts ordered a judgment of foreclosure against the properties and ruled that Forward Community Investments was entitled to a money judgment of approximately $3.1 million. SD Properties had an opportunity to sell the buildings or pay off the debt during a redemption period, which was for three months in this case.
SD Properties did not redeem the properties and they were sold at auction on Monday at the Milwaukee County Safety Building, 821 W. State St.
Forward Community Investments bid $3,107,646.36 for the properties, which is the total amount SD Properties owed in the money judgment.
Sale not yet finalized
Judge Watts must still confirm the sale before it becomes final, though a hearing on that matter has not been scheduled yet. SD Properties could still attempt to redeem the properties before then. SD Properties owns a property on Teutonia Avenue that is not included in the foreclosure proceedings.
The five parcels of properties that were auctioned include the commission’s main office at 1730 North Ave., a warehouse spanning two parcels on the 1800 of West North Avenue, and parking lots located at 1701 W. North Ave. and 1729-1735 W. North Ave., according to court documents.
Zerwer said he expects Forward Community Investments will market the properties for sale in the near future following the confirmation hearing.
SDC has already vacated the buildings and removed personal property.
Jorge Franco, the interim CEO of SDC and chair of the SDC board, is also on the SD Properties board. In a statement to NNS, he congratulated Forward Community Investments on the acquisition and said SDC still planned to address to the extent possible its obligations to creditors and others, with SDC employees as a top priority.
Franco also said SDC would welcome the opportunity to partner with one or more nonprofits who could step forward to reoccupy the campus.
“Through appropriate financing, this approach could help make [Forward Community Investments] and others whole while addressing significant unmet antipoverty needs in the densely populated headquarters area, where so many of our community’s residents continue to live in crisis due to poverty,” said Franco.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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