Downtown office buildings has new owner

La Crosse Tribune, Jun 27, 2004 by Cahalan, Steve

Two of the premier office buildings in downtown La Crosse have a new owner and soon will have a new name.

Steven Lindeman of La Crosse bought the Sampson Square building at 700 N. Third St. and the Sampson Galleria Building at 600 N. Third St. from VSC Corp. on June 7 for $4.32 million.

He soon will rename them Times Square.

"It's a beautiful opportunity," Lindeman said of his decision to buy the two buildings. "La Crosse has a great business environment. Being near the courthouse and having convenient traffic access, this is a natural business center," he said of the two buildings.

"I'd like to compliment them on the changes they made in the buildings," Lindeman said of VSC, which is owned by Phil Quillin, Fred Wakeen and George Parke III. VSC repainted the buildings green last summer and spruced up their interiors and exteriors. VSC had owned them since 2002.

Lindeman plans to automate the buildings' heating and cooling systems, so temperatures can be controlled by computer.

The buildings' tenants have been "very cooperative," he said. One of them, Advantage Credit Union, financed the purchase of the buildings.

Lindeman was born and raised in southern Minnesota, and he came to LaCrosse in 1979 to attend the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He quickly became a real estate investor, buying his first house when he was a sophomore. He owned three houses by the time he was a senior.

In 1983, when he was a UW-L senior, he bought Murphy's Pub in La Crosse and renamed it Lindy's Pub.

And in 1984, he founded Lindy's Subs at 311 N. 13th St. "I developed the formulation for the sandwiches," Lindeman said. "I started the business and built it by delivering sub sandwiches on my bicycle. I plan on devoting the same focus to the Times Square buildings."

Lindeman sold both Lindy's Pub and Lindy's Subs in 1990, to different buyers.

Today, Lindy's Subs and Salads is owned by Mike and Deanna Wolf. Ironically, their La Crosse restaurant is at 700 N. Third St., one of the two buildings Lindeman bought this month. The Wolfs also have a Lindy's in Onalaska. "They've done a great job of maintaining a good, consistent product and managing their business," Lindeman said of the Wolfs.

Lindeman has spent much of his career in real estate investment and management and, he joked, as "an all-around go-fer." The real estate primarily has been residential, but over the years also has included some commercial properties.

Lindeman owns a number of singlefamily rental homes in the La Crosse area. But the two office buildings he just purchased are his only commercial properties at this point.

"This is the primary focus of my time right now," he said of the office complex.