Fate of PFG CEO Wasendorf's Estate Decided; Bid is in on myVerona

A retired couple from Iowa has purchased Russell Wasendorf Sr.'s Cedar Falls estate.

Ken and Linda Alberts have purchased the Peregrine Financial Group founder's former home. The 3,753,-square-foot house sits of 20 acres of land just north of town and includes a wine cellar, carriage house, woodworking shop and indoor pool with a retractable glass-paneled roof.

Wasendorf, meanwhile, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison on charges he embezzled $215 million of his customer's money and lied to authorities for 20 years while he was CEO of the Cedar Falls-based international brokerage firm.

The property was originally listed at $750,000, and the couple paid close to the reduced asking price of $595,000, KWWL reported.

According to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Ken Alberts worked for 30 years at Cedar Falls Utilities before moving to Rochelle, Ill., in 1998. Now he and his wife wanted to move back to Cedar Falls, and Wasendorf's property caught their eye.

Another of Wasendorf's properties, the once popular Main Street restaurant myVerona, is also on the market, and bidding has begun.

What would you do with the empty space that once housed myVerona? Tell us in the comments what you would like to see in the downtown space.

The building was listed in October for $995,000. An initial bid from an undisclosed party has come in at $675,000. Bidding remains open until noon on Feb. 25.