The apartment building rising in the 200 block of Water Street in Eau Claire has a new owner – or at least most of it does. The Blugold Real Estate Foundation – an arm of the UW-Eau Claire Foundation – announced April 7 that it had struck a deal with developers John Mogensen, Lisa Aspenson, and Michelle Mogensen to buy the apartments on the upper three floors of the building at 222 Water St.

In addition to apartments that will house up to 201 students, the agreement also includes all associated underground parking spaces in the complex. However, Mogensen’s development group will still own the first-floor retail space in the building. As part of the purchase, Blugold Real Estate is seeking a conditional use permit from the City of Eau Claire to alter the location of parking for apartment residents.

Originally, those residents would have used both underground parking at the building as well as a yet-to-be-built parking lot at the corer of Third Avenue and Chippewa Street. Now, instead of building the new parking lot, Blugold Real Estate wants to allow apartment residents to use the university’s nearby Water Street and Human Sciences and Services lots. On April 17, the Eau Claire Plan Commission approved that parking request.