Corrected: A major shakeup of downtown Wausau ownership took place last week
Three things to start your week including an arrest in the west-side shooting and a new Kronenwetter administrator
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: 200 Washington Street was incorrectly identified in a previous version of this story. Jefferson Street Inn was not sold. (Good maps identifies 200 Washington Street as the inn, but it is the commercial space next to the Jefferson Street Inn. The Wausonian apologies for the error.)
It was starting to become one of the worst-kept secrets in all of Wausau - that Compass Properties would be selling all of its downtown properties.
Last week all those properties sold on the same day — Thursday — as a pass-through entity associated with Lokre Companies bought millions worth of downtown property from Compass.
That amount totals more than $12 million, if my math is correct. They range from a $150,000 transaction to one that’s nearly $4 million.
I’d been tracking real estate transactions to confirm the sale. I didn’t check on Thursday, and thus missed it. I didn’t expect Compass to make it public so quickly.
Insiders had known it was coming for a while, but there was no way to verify until the sale went through. (It’s not something officials are going to go on the record about until it is complete.) Last I heard, in fact, was that it was delayed. So much for that.
Here are the properties and how much they sold for:
Third Street Lifestyle Center (300 Washington Street):
Commercial building attached to the Jefferson Street Inn (200 Washington Street): This sold from Wausau Gateway Commercial LLC to Downtown Wausau LLC for $2.95 million on Thursday (Oct. 2). Downtown Wausau is owned by Roland Lokre (who many know as Rollie Lokre).
Campbell Haines Menswear building (350 N. Third Street/223 Jefferson Street): This was sold by City Center Investors III, LLC to Downtown Wausau LLC for $700,000 on Oct. 2.
Downtown commercial building next to The Cobblery (325 N. Third Street): This was sold by Compass 325 Third Street to Downtown Wausau LLC for $150,000.
Reflexology and Polito’s buildings (311 and 315 N Third Street): These were sold by Compass Properties to Downtown Wausau LLC for $1.4 million on Oct. 2.
Commercial building next to Jefferson Street Inn (200 Washington Street B): Wausau Gateway Commercial sold this property to Downtown Wausau for $2.95 million
Third Street Lifestyle Center (ie Washington Square) (316 and 322 N. Third Street): Heinemann Ventures sold this property to Downtown Wausau LLC for $3.95 million.
Mark Craig, who managed the Wausau Compass Properties assets for years, announced that he will stay on with Lokre to “ensure a smooth transition.”
Police make arrest in west-side shooting
In fact, police made an arrest very shortly after the initial incident, but kept it quiet until late last week.
Police the evening of the shooting arrested 34-year-old Dustin Stinson shortly after being summoned around 5:40 pm Sept. 14 to a home on the 400 block of Lazy Creek Way on the west side of Wausau.
Police say when they arrived at the residence, they found 31-year-old Jacob Socha in injured with gunshot wounds. He was transported to a hospital where he later died on Friday, Sept. 19.
As of Monday afternoon, no charges have been filed in Marathon County Court against Stinson. Stinson was facing charges of knowingly violating a domestic abuse order and bail jumping, as well as battery domestic abuse charges. In November he’d been convicted of battery (domestic abuse), while a charge of disorderly conduct involving a weapon was dismissed and read in as part of a plea agreement.
Police plan to recommend charges of: “1st Degree Intentional Homicide, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Tampering with a GPS monitoring device, Criminal Damage to Property, Bail Jumping-Misdemeanor and Knowingly violate a domestic abuse order,” according to a press release.
The Wausonian will keep an eye out for the details for a future story.
Kronenwetter names new administrator
The village of Kronenwetter named a new administrator last week.
The board after a closed session voted to hire James Davel as its new administrator.
The move fills what has been a revolving door in the village since the departure of Richard Downey in 2022. The former public works director, Leonard Ludi, served in the role briefly and another candidate, Peter Kampfer, came from Texas only to leave two months later.
Davel is currently working as Shawano County’s administrative coordinator. Davel https://www.tchdailynews.com/2025/07/17/87541/, according to The Community Helper. But according to the press release Kronenwetter put out, Davel will start as administrator in November.
Davel resigned from the Shawano School Board in 2022 along with another school board member, according to The Community Helper Daily News. Reasons for the resignation were not given, but followed a closed session.
This weekend, The Wausonian published pieces on the proposed city of Wausau budget - which could see rotating pool closings:
Wausau considers rotating pool closings amidst budget cuts
When Wausau Finance Director Maryanne Groat announced on Monday that the city was likely going to keep only two pools open at a time next year - a savings of $30,000 - I wondered if that would be controversial.
And on the county budget, which like Wausau’s will see positions eliminated:
The county plans to cut 15 jobs to balance its 2026 budget
Marathon County Administrator Lance Leonhard told members of the Human Resources, Finance and Property Committee Tuesday, “this is a status quo budget.”
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Rollie is a good businessman and has Wausau roots. Probably the best buyer downtown could ask for.