LACROSSE, Wis. – Gundersen Health System has acquired a 50%-plus stake in a seven-story downtown river-facing office building. The acquisition, which occurred in December, went mostly unnoticed in public documents. The other half interest is the Weber Group, headed by insurance genius and local financier Don Weber. Asked about Gundersen’s intentions, chief executive Scott Rathgaber was vague: “Investments that provide opportunities for future local business expansion and benefit the community are core ideals for the Weber Group and Gundersen Health System. Our approach and vision are very similar.” Rathgaber cited Weber’s mission to leave properties better than it found them and Gundersen’s mission to enhance community health and well-being while “enriching every life we touch, including patients, families, and staff.”
Mini-history
CenturyTel built the seven-story building on an eight-acre site in 2001 as a regional headquarters. In 2011 the company, by then renamed CenturyLink, relocated its regional office to Minneapolis. LaCrosse businessman Don Weber bought the building in 2019 for $11 million. Gundersen joined Weber in the enterprise in 2020 with bit more than a 50% interest for $5.5 million. CenturyLink, again renamed, this time Lumen, has 250 employees in the building. The structure could accommodate 700. The future? Gundersen’s Rathgaber wasn’t saying much: “There is much to discuss, plan and finalize for the former CenturyLink building. More will be shared as these plans develop.” He called it an “investment in downtown LaCrosse for continued economic growth.”
333 North Front Street. Architecturally bland but prime sute. People still call it the CenturyTel Building.