Bergstrom Properties will purchase the former Eagle Nation Cycles motorcycle repair shop in downtown Neenah from Steve Erato, ending Erato’s plan to reopen the business as Eagle Nation Power Sports.
Erato told The Post-Crescent on July 16 that he will sell his boarded-up property at 206 Main St. for $475,000. City records show the property has an assessed value of $137,000.
John Hogerty, general counsel for Bergstrom Corp., said he expects the closing will happen within the next two weeks.
What will happen to the property is unclear.
“We don’t have a specific objective with the property at the moment,” Hogerty said.
Businessman John Bergstrom said in May that he hoped the property would become “part of a larger project.” The west end of downtown Neenah is a prime spot for redevelopment.
City officials are negotiating with T. Wall Enterprises of Middleton to construct a mixed-use development with commercial space on the first floor and market-rate apartments on the upper floors at the northwest corner of Main and Millview Drive.
The city also is trying to kickstart the development of nearby Arrowhead Park.
Eagle Nation Cycles closed in 2021. Erato intended to reopen and rebrand the business by July 1 to focus on Honda motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and utility task vehicles. Health concerns, he said, prevented him from doing so.
“It’s Vietnam-related,” Erato said. “I’ve had health problems, and I just found that I could not open the shop up.”
After he announced his plans to reopen, Erato said Bergstrom came forward with an offer to purchase. Bergstrom had been renting the building for the past five years, though the building has remained vacant.
Eagle Nation Cycles once served as the clubhouse of Hell’s Lovers motorcycle club. It had a troubled past before it closed.
Erato was disappointed not to reopen but said it was the best outcome under the circumstances.
“It needed to go,” Erato said. “It needed to be sold. My health problems were just too much.”
Erato has owned the property for more than 25 years.
Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X at @DukeBehnke.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Bergstrom will buy Eagle Nation Cycles property in Neenah | Exclusive
Reporting by Duke Behnke, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Duke Behnke, Appleton Post-Crescent | USA TODAY Network
