MILWAUKEE (AP) — Bucks owner Herb Kohl was well past retirement age and realized it was time to secure the future of the franchise. The former U.S. senator is banking on New York investment firm executives Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens to follow through after agreeing to sell them the Bucks for about $550 million. Kohl, a Milwaukee native whose family owned a chain of department stores, was hailed as a hometown hero. [...] local and state officials hope the sale will help shift the public discourse for replacing the Bradley Center, the team's downtown home which opened in 1988. In a statement, league commissioner Adam Silver praised Kohl for the "historic and unprecedented" $100 million gift to the city to secure the future of the franchise. Kohl used investment banker Steve Greenberg, of Allen & Co., which is regularly involved in sales of sports teams, to help look for investors. Lasry is chairman and chief executive officer of Avenue Capital Group, while Edens is co-founder and a chairman of the board at Fortress Investment Group.