Park Towne : News & Notes, Development and Government News for Madison & Wisconsin

To continue receiving News&Notes, please add our ‘From’ address (editor@parktowne.com) to your address book. This will help ensure against overzealous spam filters. If you no longer want to receive News & Notes send us an email at optout@parktowne.com. If you have questions or comments about News & Notes or if you would like to be added to the mailing list please email Joe Ring, at editor@parktowne.com. Thanks!

The business of growing up

University Research Park began offering space this month in its new Accelerator building. Designed for start-ups that have outgrown smaller suites in the park's incubator building, the 80,000-square-foot Accelerator boasts cutting-edge air-exchange systems, space designed for lab build-outs, and features that could help tenants shave thousands of dollars off their energy bills. Facilities like this are becoming more common in Madison, where a growing number of parks offer young firms networking opportunities and shared resources such as research equipment and phone systems. They have helped breed companies including Jellyfish.com, Mirus Bio Corp., NimbleGen Systems Inc., Third Wave Technologies and TomoTherapy Inc., which have become some of Wisconsin's biggest entrepreneurial success stories. In addition to an expanding University Research Park, Madison start-ups can choose from among tech parks created by real estate developers who share some of the entrepreneurs' risk by taking a stake in a company in exchange for rent payments.

If you blinked, you might have missed it last night: the Madison City Council voted to approve the development plan for a Target retail store at Hilldale Mall on the city's near-west side in a Tuesday night meeting that lasted about 20 minutes, at best. And that time included the council passing a resolution to make members of the band Wilco honorary citizens of Madison as well as dispatching with dozens of other business items. The quick passage Tuesday night included a few glowing words about the process that Target went through to get to the City Council -- words that certainly stand in stark contrast to the lengthy, sometimes-painful process that the Edgewater Hotel redevelopment is going through currently.

A proposed grocery store project on the Far East Side could kick start development in a neighborhood that has planned for it all along. Plans for a Copps store in the Grandview Commons development were brought before neighborhood residents last week. The Urban Design Commission was scheduled to discuss the proposal Wednesday night. "We do really think there is a need for an anchor of something in the area," said Alisa Allen, president of the McClellan Park Neighborhood Association. "Development has been a little slow. People have been waiting for something to happen."

Madison is exploring the first use of a new $5 million fund to acquire the blighted Union Corners development site on the East Side. The 11.5 acres at the corner of East Washington Avenue and Milwaukee Street, one of the central citys largest vacant parcels, are assessed at $4.55 million. “There have been some discussions” with the parcel’s owners, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said of using the money for the site. “These discussions have not come to any conclusion.” He didn’t elaborate. City officials have also identified other properties in the East Washington Avenue corridor and the 27-acre Royster Clark property as possible targets to use the new land banking fund, created in the 2010 budget with city tax dollars. The fund isn’t big enough to pursue all opportunities and it’s unclear how the city would handle multiple demands. “I think we have to be very careful,” Cieslewicz said. “We do not want to be in the business of real estate speculation. We want to be very strategic and surgical about it.”

Madison's ambitious and powerful Community Development Authority may soon have its own manager. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and others are proposing a paid executive director for the CDA, which is responsible for big projects like the redevelopment of Allied Drive, Villager mall and Truax public housing. The CDA also runs public housing and the federal Section 8 voucher program for low-income people. Currently, the director of the city's sprawling department of Planning and Community and Economic Development serves as CDA administrator. But a human resources department review shows the planning director lacks time to do the work, and the CDA board has been pushing for its own manager. "Given the intensity of our current and planned improvements to the affordable housing stock of the city. . .we need a full-time, dedicated executive director," CDA Chairman Gregg Shimanski wrote the City Council.

It was built as a facility to produce an anti-wrinkle product that would rival Botox. But before it began operations, Mentor Worldwide LLC decided to abandon the Madison lab, which is valued at $16 million. The company announced Wednesday that they would donate it to the Morgridge Institute, a private research partner with UW-Madison. Mentor built the two-story, 37,000-square-foot building in University Research Park in 2007 as a factory to produce PurTox, a botulinum toxin designed to erase frown lines. The product was based on UW-Madison research and Mentor already had a smaller lab in the research park. It was one of the largest private investments in the research park, adn about 40 people were expected to work at the facility. But after Johnson & Johnson purchased Mentor last year, the company decided they didn’t need such a large building and could manufacture the drug in existing facilities, said Mark Bugher, director of University Research Park.

The Dane County Regional Transit Authority Board, which on Thursday meets for the first time, faces several questions as it shapes local public transit for decades to come. Among them: Will the transit system focus only on expanded bus service or include more controversial commuter rail? How soon will these changes happen? And how much will all of this cost? The RTA board is expected to review three transit options this summer that will likely form the basis for a referendum, local transportation planner Bill Schaefer said: Expand Metro Transit bus service throughout the RTA area, add a bus rapid transit system using dedicated lanes and express service.Expand bus service in tandem with commuter rail between Middleton and Sun Prairie. The board could ask voters for a half-cent sales tax to fund the whole system up front, or start with expanded bus service and ask for support for a commuter rail system in the future. Either way, public buy-in will be critical, said Paul Larrousse, director of the National Transit Institute at Rutgers University.

Dane County officials have been talking about commuter rail for decades, and in the last few years a proposal for a $250 million line between Middleton and Sun Prairie with a $10 million annual operating cost has been developed. When the local proposal was submitted for federal funding in 2008, the Federal Transit Administration said it needed a local funding source to be viable. That prompted the state last year to authorize the creation of the Dane County RTA with the power to raise up to a half-cent sales tax, which would generate about $40 million a year. The proposal will need to be tweaked now that the state is upgrading tracks for Amtrak service from Milwaukee, with possible pluses or minuses, Madison transit planner David Trowbridge said. For example, the cost might increase if the tracks on Madison’s East Side need to be doubled to accommodate both trains. But the intercity line could make it feasible to extend commuter rail service to downtown Sun Prairie. Though Madison doesn’t have the population density of other cities with rail systems, its isthmus geography limits expanding road capacity, Trowbridge said. Commuter rail also would encourage dense development along the rail corridor, helping to preserve farmland and protect water quality, Trowbridge said.

In case you were wondering, that tall, skinny tower on the west side of the city is not a flagpole or an antenna. Tucked away amid the farmland, it's a 197-foot (60 meter) meteorological tower on the Epic campus designed to study the feasibility of using wind power. Epic officials, who have been busy planning a third campus - even while the second one was just getting started last year - informed city staff last month they were considering alternative sources of energy for their massive, growing facility on Verona's west side. Among the possibilities were wind, solar, biomass and solarthermal (using sunlight to produce steam). Both Campus 1 and Campus 2 already use a geothermal system for heat, and the Learning Center campus has the infrastructure in place to switch to it. "We are in the feasibility stage of looking at alternate energy that's right for the environment," Epic director of facilities and engineering Bruce Richards said Tuesday. "We are not looking at alternate energy that uses natural resources. ... And what we're doing we're going to consume on site."

Verona's request to prepare the southwest side of the city for development took a big step forward Monday. It's hard to say how much farther it has left to go, however. A committee charged with evaluating stormwater standards all over Dane County has all but finished its work, setting the stage for Verona's application to finally get a vote at the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission as soon as next month. The commission's Environmental Resources Technical Advisory Committee held its final meeting Monday and will be forwarding its four-page recommendation to CARPC after all of its members have given it a final look.

While the city waits to get its hands on a draft of the new zoning code ordinance, planners and the city attorney did their best to answer questions about the weeklong charrette last month that helped create it. Wednesday's monthly Committee of the Whole meeting was almost exclusively dedicated to the zoning code rewrite, with staff giving an overview of the new "smart code" and a status update before fielding questions from members of the Common Council. On the final day of the charrette, Feb. 12, planners from consulting firm PlaceMakers told an audience of about 40 people that the city needs two more zoning classifications - "general urban" and "urban center" - in order to properly implement its comprehensive plan.

The Stoughton Common Council last week approved purchase options on two properties that would represent the first acquisitions in redeveloping the downtown railroad corridor. Tax incremental financing funds will be used to acquire the massive multi-story former Stoughton Trailers building at 501 E. South St. from Stoughton Trailers owner Donald Wahlin for $150,000. The property would be owned by the Redevelopment Authority (RDA), which plans on demolishing the building, decontaminating the property and finding a developer for the site. "The city needs to take ownership of the property in order to apply for the environmental grants" to clean-up the property, which has not been in active use for decades, said Finance Director Laurie Sullivan. Demolition and clean up costs are an estimated $700,000. State grants could reimburse the RDA $200,000 toward clean up costs. Once a developer is secured for the property additional grants may be available for demolition. Depending on resulting development, the property could eventually be valued at $4.3 million. The property is currently at assessed $87,000. Paying the $150,000 purchase price would be deferred until the property is redeveloped. The council approved the purchase option except for Ald. Dave McKichan who dissented.

The Madison Area Builders Association (MABA) has been watching with great interest the recent progress and deliberations of the Capitol Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC) regarding the Future Urban Development Area (FUDA) mapping process. To get a clear picture about expectations regarding the FUDA process, MABA representatives have met with CARPC staff and many of the appointing authorities of the CARPC commissioners to discuss the FUDA mapping process. During the course of these discussions, several fundamental questions repeatedly arose. These questions centered on three main issues--whether the CARPC has the authority to mandate FUDA planning, whether the CARPC has the authority to impose penalties on municipalities that do not perform FUDA mapping by a certain time, and how potential FUDA plans would interact with municipal Comprehensive Plans.

One year ago, near east side Ald. Bridget Maniaci and former Ald. Brenda Konkel were locked in a fierce battle for the citys District 2 seat, which Konkel had held for eight years. Now the two find themselves as tentative allies in Maniacis effort to push back the November downtown rental rush by reviving discussions about when landlords can start showing and leasing occupied apartments for next years rental cycle. Maniaci says the time is right to revisit the decade-old issue, with the downtown rental market changing as more young professionals choose apartments over buying houses. Konkel, a housing advocate who has worked in Madison for nearly 20 years, agrees with the effort and says past legislation has not been working well. But, as in years past, large landlords and industry leaders have come out in full force against the proposal, saying it would only delay and exacerbate the inevitable housing rush and could create unintended negative consequences, particularly for inexperienced student renters.

Bringing spirituality to science, the 14th Dalai Lama will attend the public opening of UW-Madisons Center for Investigating Healthy Minds during the weekend of May 15-16. The center was established by UW-Madison neuroscientist Richard Davidson to try to discover how healthy minds develop. Davidson began exploring the intersection between Western science and Eastern philosophy after meeting the Dalai Lama in 1992, he said. He studies how meditation changes people’s brains to encourage happiness, compassion and kindness. The Dalai Lama, whose name is Tenzin Gyatso, visited Davidson’s lab at the Waisman Center in 2001. The political and spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, this will be his eighth visit to Madison since 1979. The two will speak at 2:15 p.m. on May 16 at the Overture Center. Daniel Goleman, author of “Emotional Intelligence” and “Ecological Intelligence” will moderate the discussion. Tickets are free and will be available to the public in mid-April.

The Milwaukee School Board has granted a purchase option for the former Jackie Robinson Middle School, which Gorman & Co. plans to renovate into apartments. Gorman would buy the school, 3245 N. 37th St.., for $600,000. As I earlier reported, Gorman plans to build 64 apartments for seniors in the three-story building. Also, Gorman plans to build 14 single-family homes on the school property, which covers 4.6 acres. Those homes would be rented to families under a program that will allow them to eventually build up equity and buy the houses. The firm hopes to begin construction by spring 2011. Gorman is seeking federal affordable housing tax credits to help finance the project. Those credits are given to development firms that agree to lease apartments, at below-market rents, to people earning no more than 60% of the area's median income. The board granted that option just days after the Oconomowoc School District accepted a $1 million offer from Gorman to purchase the former Oconomowoc Middle School building. The firm plans to convert that building into 61 apartments.

Johnson Controls Inc. said Tuesday it has acquired a Georgia lighting services company that specializes in upgrades in lighting to reduce energy costs for manufacturers and corporations. The company said it has acquired National Energy Services of Roswell, Ga. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The acquisition expands Johnson Controls’ lighting services focus beyond the school, health care and government markets that it specializes in, adding lighting upgrades and maintenance services for retail, commercial and industrial customers, the company said. “Their offerings complement ours and are advantageous for building owners interested in lowering energy and operating costs," said Bruno Biasiotta, vice president and general manager, Johnson Controls Energy Solutions, Americas, in a statement. Energy efficiency in lighting is achieved through technologies like higher efficiency fluorescent lamps and ballasts, occupancy sensors, lighting controls and light emitting diodes or LEDs. These technologies provide improved lighting quality and consistency while reducing a building's carbon footprint.

Executive Center IV, a three-story, 85,612-square-foot building located just west of Brookfield Square Mall, has been sold for $5.8 million. Endeavor Cos., a privately held Chicago-based firm, bought the building, at 235 N. Executive Drive, from an investment group affiliated with Brookfield-based VK Development Corp. The sale was brokered by Inland Cos. and Inland principal Tom Shepherd. Endeavor owns commercial properties in Illinois and other states. VK Development, owned by the Vincent Kuttemperoor family, has developed housing in Brookfield and elsewhere, but is facing foreclosure on a large development in Florida.

It's like another sign of spring: the rush of proposals from developers to obtain federal tax credits to help finance affordable apartments. The latest comes from Gorman & Co., which is behind two other recent proposals that have surfaced on Milwaukee's north side, and in Oconomowoc. This one is for another north side site, at W. Atkinson Ave. and N. 16th St. Gorman, in conjunction with the nearby St. Mark AME Church, wants to build between 50 and 60 apartments. The apartments, with one to three bedrooms, would be on the upper levels of the four-story building, according to plans filed with the Department of City Development. The ground level would be used for the church's community center. The development would include 40 to 50 underground parking spaces, as well as surface parking. The proposal needs zoning approval. The city Plan Commission will conduct a public hearing at its Monday meeting, which begins at 1:30 p.m., at 809 N. Broadway. Gorman, based in Oregon, Wis., and other developers apply for federal affordable housing tax credits.

In case you missed it, my colleague Don Walker reported Tuesday that a former Menards store, at 8365 N. 76th St., might be converted into an indoor bike park. Check out Don's blog post on the plan, from a Cleveland investor who operates a similar facility in that city.By the way, Mallory Properties, which owns the former Menards building, also owns the former Milwaukee Gas Light Co. buildings in the Menomonee Valley. Part of that complex is leased to 4 Seasons Skate Park, and another building there is being converted into the new headquarters for Zimmerman Architectural Studios. The former Menards is now used on weekends as a flea market.

The Department of City Development is taking steps to preserve the Art Deco office building at the former Tower Automotive site, says Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux. The city Redevelopment Authority acquired the building when it bought an 84-acre portion of the former Tower site, which will be redeveloped into the "Century City" business park, and new retail and housing. The city plans to repair the building's roof, and seal some gaps left by broken windows to keep out the elements, Marcoux told me. The building will then be moth-balled while department officials study plans to preserve it, he said. The problem is that preservation will likely be very expensive, and the city will need to find some funding sources for that effort. The good news is that once the roof and windows are sealed, the building can be moth-balled indefinitely, Marcoux said. The office building is just north of where Talgo will be operating its train assembly facility.

The passenger train factory to be developed at the former Tower Automotive plant on Milwaukee's north side will create around 125 jobs, Gov. Jim Doyle and other officials said Tuesday morning. Spanish train manufacturer Talgo will use a refurbished building at the former Tower site to assemble passenger trains that will be used in Wisconsin, Oregon and possibly other states. Around 60 positions will be needed to build the trains, with another 65 jobs tied to maintenance work. Talgo had initially been expected to have around 80 positions at its Wisconsin plant. Doyle said the factory at the Tower site will also indirectly create an estimated 450 jobs at companies located throughout the Midwest that will provide supplies, equipment and services to Talgo. That initial number of 80 jobs was based on Wisconsin's $47.6 million controversial no-bid deal with Talgo to build two 14-car trains for use on Amtrak's Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line. That contract includes an option to buy two more trains for a planned extension of that route from Milwaukee to Madison. Since that Wisconsin deal was announced, the Oregon Department of Transportation said it would buy trains made at the new Talgo factory.

So it turns out there are two rival business development associations in that slice of Walker's Point known as the Fifth Ward, the area around S. 1st, 2nd and 3rd streets south of the Milwaukee and Menomonee rivers.Who knew? I didn't, until I wrote this story last week about developer Tim Dixon's plans for a 73-unit apartment building near S. 1st St. and E. National Ave. Dixon will use affordable housing tax credits to finance the project, something opposed by the 5th Ward Development Association, led by developer Randy Nass. Nass, association president, told me the group believes the area already has enough apartments financed with the affordable housing tax credits, and wants a more diverse housing mix, His comments drew an email from Ursula Twombly and Jennifer "Kya" Espenscheid, co-presidents of the Walker's Point Association. Twombly is president of Contiuum Architects + Planners, and Espenscheid is an artist who operates thesomagallery.com.The email, sent to myself, Ald. James Witkowiak and others, says the 5th Ward Association and the Historic Walker’s Point Association in November agreed to merge and become one organization, named the Walker’s Point Association. Nass "has not been the president or co-president of (the) 5th Ward Association since November 2008 – in fact he has not been a member of the organization since that time," the email read.

Both of the leading Republican gubernatorial candidates say they could shut down construction of a high-speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison if taxpayers are expected to pick up its operating costs. But both Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann said they were not opposed to the train route, and both left the door open for finding other ways to fund it. Neumann said he would take the same approach in deciding whether to continue state support for Amtrak's existing Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line. Walker said his comments applied only to the new route. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the likely Democratic nominee, accused Neumann and Walker of putting ideology ahead of economic development. In January, the federal government awarded the state $810 million in federal stimulus money to build a passenger rail line between Wisconsin's two largest cities as an extension of the Hiawatha. Service on the Milwaukee-to-Madison route would start with six round trips at 79 mph in 2013, increasing to 110 mph in 2015. Another $12 million in federal cash would be used to upgrade the Milwaukee-to-Chicago line.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's plans to spend $36.6 million in federal aid for "bus rapid transit" routes got a rough reception Wednesday, with a County Board panel delaying action on designation of the first BRT route. The board's transportation committee on a 4-2 vote delayed consideration of creating the first such route on Fond du Lac and National avenues. Supervisor John Weishan Jr. said the BRT line amounted to an expensive express bus route. He said the money would be better spent on buying more "clean" diesel-powered or hybrid diesel-electric buses. Supervisor Michael Mayo Sr. cautioned against the delay, saying it might put the federal money at risk. The $36.6 million in federal money, plus $6.5 million in local funds, would be used for new buses and shelters with electronic signs showing the wait time for the next bus. The money is the county's portion of a $91.5 million pot of money earmarked for the city, which Congress divided between a city streetcar line and the county rapid transit links. Walker has been a proponent of the BRT and opponent of the streetcars. The County Board deleted from Walker's 2010 budget proposal a BRT line on Wisconsin Ave., stretching from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus through downtown and to Wauwatosa.

A developer has decided not to fight a foreclosure proceeding involving a Franklin parcel that had been planned as a shopping center site. Fountains of Franklin LLC, owned by developer David Hintzman, is delinquent on a $1.6 million loan from M&I Bank, according to the lawsuit filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. The loan is secured with a 9.5-acre parcel at 5610 W. Rawson Ave., where Hintzman had hoped to develop the Fountains of Franklin retail and office center. Hintzman is no longer contesting the bank's foreclosure suit, according to court records. That led Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Dennis Moroney to recently award a default judgment to the bank. A separate phase of Fountains of Franklin was built a few blocks to the east, and includes a Sendik's Food Market that opened in 2007 at 5200 W. Rawson Ave. That part of the development is not involved in the foreclosure action.

Charles Sykes, of talk show fame, asked me what the grand total is for publicly financed "incentives" for the recent Talgo train factory and Ingeteam wind turbine factory developments. I told him that it depends on what you consider to be incentives. Here's the rest of my email response to Mr. Sykes: "As I reported, the Common Council and Mayor Barrett last fall approved plans to spend around $35 million to buy and redevelop the 80-plus acres of the former Tower Automotive site. Of that amount, around $4 million will be spent to renovate the building that the city Redevelopment Authority will lease to Talgo at a market rate. "While that is a public expenditure, I'm not sure that I would characterize it as an incentive, which traditionally takes the form of a tax credit, labor training grant or similar such funding source, and since the proposed rent is around what a private building owner would charge. So far, there have been no other discussions of such items, although I suppose something could surface in the future

Downtown Milwaukee's partially built Staybridge Suites hotel has seen some action lately. But it's been happening at the Federal Courthouse, not at the construction site at N. Water St. and E. Juneau Ave. Some of the latest from the litigation front includes last week's dismissal of a motion by some of the project's owners, led by Economou Partners, of Park Ridge, Ill., to get the lawsuit tossed out of the court. The suit was filed by SJ Properties Suites Buyco EHF, SJ Fasteignir EHF and Askar Capital HF, a group of Icelandic investors that helped fund the project. The Icelandic investors say they provided $17.4 million to finance the Staybridge project, which also received a loan from Atlanta-based Silverton Bank (which later went belly up). Their suit accuses Economou of improperly diverting at least $310,189 from the Staybridge project to a project in Fort Myers, Fla. Economou has denied those claims, and filed a counterclaim saying the investors didn't honor a promise to provide $4 million needed to complete the Staybridge development. The investors have denied that counterclaim. Economou's motion to dismiss the investors' suit was prompted by a claim that Askar Capital was taken over by an Icelandic receiver after the global financial crisis took hold in the fall of 2008

The numbers are stark: Registrations of new cars and light trucks fell by nearly half in Wisconsin last year compared with a decade earlier, a sudden collapse whose shockwaves are still being felt throughout the state. New vehicle registrations were down 48% in metro Milwaukee last year from the total in 2000 and down 46% statewide, according to industry tracking groups. At the same time, North American vehicle production also collapsed, from a peak of 17.7 million vehicles manufactured in 2000 to 8.6 million last year - the lowest total since 1961.The recession was the most obvious culprit. As cheap and easy credit dried up and unemployment rose, car sales crashed. But improved quality also has meant that cars last longer, allowing consumers to delay that next trip to the showroom - especially in Wisconsin, where many of us like to drive our cars until they die.The result has been a stunningly fast upheaval in the auto industry at the retail level, with a record 1,603 dealerships nationwide closed in 2009. That upheaval also is taking its toll on Wisconsin manufacturing, where thousands of jobs have disappeared as auto plants and their suppliers adjusted to the new reality.

When the largest banks -- M&I and Associated -- in conservative old Wisconsin manage to post 2009 losses of $235 million and $167 million, respectively, you know things are not good. And if the job market is rebounding, how come Congress is fighting over an extension of unemployment benefits? But despite the onslaught of negative data, mainstream economists continue to echo the official U.S. government view that "the recovery is still on track.

Water quality in the Rock River basin will be the focus of a special meeting called by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The meeting, set for 1 p.m. March 10 at the community center in Lake Mills, will look at a long-range plan to limit pollutants entering the watershed. The DNR and the federal Environmental Protection Agency want to develop a Total Maximum Daily Load plan for sediments and phosphorus entering the Rock River and its tributaries, setting limits on how much of each can enter the waterways without harming water quality. The Rock River basin takes in all or part of 10 Wisconsin counties in eastern and south central Wisconsin, with tributaries including the Yahara River and the connecting Madison lakes. The river starts above the Horicon Marsh in Fond du Lac County and flows through Fort Atkinson, Watertown, Janesville and Beloit, before crossing northwestern Illinois and emptying into the Mississippi River.

The plan for Central Park in the heart of Madison's east isthmus heads to the City Council next week, but one critical issue lies beyond members' reach. The conceptual plan hinges on construction of a new crossing over the rail tracks that slice through the site, and the city is asking the state to approve it just as the railroad is pressing the state to close crossings on the isthmus. City officials say they're developing a top-notch safety plan for the new pedestrian and bike rail crossing they are seeking at Few Street for a gateway to the park, slated to stretch from Brearly to Baldwin streets. But Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Co. officials insist that there already are too many crossings on a half-mile stretch of track through the heavily populated area. A park of the kind envisioned for the site would only heighten safety concerns, they say. The envisioned gateway to the park at Few Street is key to establishing the identity of the park and providing access to it from the south, city officials say. Without the new rail crossing, they add, it will be back to the drawing board. "We'll have a park one way or another," says Bill Barker, chairman of the Central Park Design and Implementation Task Force. "We'll just have a different park without the crossing."

While much focus in town has been on filling vacant land at Hilldale Mall or the squabble over the downtown Edgewater Hotel, a big development is coming to the far west side that has sort of floated under the radar -- the addition of a second University Research Park, or, as its backers call it, "URP2." I talked with Mark Bugher, research park director, who says they will break ground on a undetermined date this spring and that he foresees the first occupant there late in 2011 or early 2012. After city approval last fall, Bugher says the project has been moving along and it was decided to name new streets within the park after the five UW faculty members who won Nobel Prizes while at the university.

Changes in zoning for a proposed two-level Target at Hilldale Shopping Center were approved Monday night by the citys Plan Commission and will move on to the City Council. Under the rezoning, the store, which would be Madisons third Target, would have its own planned unit development (PUD) site at 4609 University. Ald. Chris Schmidt, whose 11th District includes the site, said the project’s planning has gone remarkably smoothly. The district’s former alderman, Tim Gruber, called the silence caused by lack of opposition at the meeting "overwhelming." One concern raised was the proximity of Metro bus stops to the store’s proposed entrance on Hilldale Way.

Jaci Bell, senior development manager for Target, said she was not opposed to eventually moving the nearest stop closer to the store’s entrance, but the store’s busiest times needed to be identified first and compared to Metro’s current schedule.

A new building at University Research Park is open and ready for takers. Known as the Accelerator building, it is intended for use by companies whose success is helping them outgrow smaller spaces, said Greg Hyer, the research parks associate director. “It is part of the general series of options we have in the research park for science and technology companies,” he said. The 80,000-square-foot, three-story building, at 5602 Research Park Blvd., could house eight companies or more, Hyer said. It sits behind the MGE Innovation Center, which is the research park’s main incubator for young, tech-oriented businesses, and is equipped with laboratories, a conference center with room for up to 100 people and smaller conference rooms on each floor. Construction of the $7 million project began in November 2008 and was completed last month. There are no prospective tenants at this point, Hyer said.

The project is funded through a conventional mortgage taken out by the research park, which is a private, nonprofit corporation, director Mark Bugher said. He said no taxpayer dollars are used. Of the 38 buildings in University Research Park, the corporation owns 19.

The ad hoc committee of UW-Madison faculty members charged with examining the university's research enterprise finally made its report public. The "Report of the Ad Hoc Committee to Determine the Needs and Structure of UW-Madison's Research Enterprise," which is dated Feb. 19, states in part: "The principal recommendations of this committee are: Retain a close relationship between research and graduate education within the Graduate School; create a new position of vice chancellor for research and dean of the Graduate School; expand and support the roles of the four divisional associate deans of the Graduate School; and move the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, and responsibility for compliance and safety to the vice chancellor for administration. "Prior to the start of the 2009-10 academic year, UW-Madison Provost Paul DeLuca proposed reorganizing the research enterprise at the university, much to the chagrin of many on campus.

The rush to find new drugs to fight cancer is spurring big growth for a Madison company. SAFC Pharma is moving equipment and staff into a new building in the Verona Technology Park, off Highway PB. It will be the companys second building in the Madison area and is expected to begin manufacturing in April. The mission for both locations: to make the primary, potent ingredient in pharmaceutical drugs. The Verona site, at 1101 Kettle Moraine Trail, is 51,000 square feet — almost as big as the company’s existing 63,000-square-foot building in University Research Park at 645 Science Drive in Madison. That building was constructed in 2000 and expanded in 2005. But it’s the size of the equipment that’s more important. The new building is being outfitted with glass-lined steel reactor tanks that are a lot bigger, said Dave Bormett, director of operations. “We can make batches that are eight to 10 times larger than we currently do at the Madison facility,” Bormett said. Each batch can produce up to 1,000 pounds of an ingredient, produced as a powder and then combined by other manufacturers into a form that can be swallowed or injected.

The new building on South Park Street that houses the Urban League of Greater Madison was stuffed to the rafters Friday noon as people from around the city came together to celebrate what could well be a benchmark to the future of south Madison. Charles Taylor, who as the league’s vice president came up with the idea to raise money for a new Urban League home back in 2004, said he was told that if the board decided to take on the challenge, he would have “to come along for the ride.” He likened the past six years to what it must have been like working for the Pony Express. The rider had to go on until the mail was delivered. “Well, today, the mail has been delivered,” he said. That Madison’s Urban League needed a new home was beyond dispute. Its one and only headquarters in a century-old house on Gorham Street didn’t have the room or the equipment needed to service the league’s employment, educational and housing programs, all of which had come into higher and higher demand as the city grew and problems became acute.

It will be harder for a restaurant to morph into a nightclub and easier for the city to address problems that might accompany such a change after an ordinance goes into effect April 15. The law will require establishments with a capacity of more than 49 patrons to have an entertainment license to host live bands or DJs, city officials said. Currently, establishments with a capacity of more than 99 patrons must have an entertainment license to present live entertainment.The change comes after police and neighboring residents have battled problems with noise, fights and other issues at establishments like Africana Restaurant & Lounge, 2701 Atwood Ave., which started offering entertainment last spring, spilling crowds onto residential streets at bar-closing time. Katherine Plominski, the city’s alcohol policy coordinator, said the move is seen as a way to prevent other establishments from opening as a restaurant, then turning into a nightclub without adequate security plans or in residential areas where neighbors would not have supported a late-night venue.

If you are looking for a family-friendly, yet modern and fun pizzeria, Roman Candle in Fitchburg fits the bill. The 1,600 square-foot restaurant at 2685 Research Park Drive recently opened and is already seeing a steady flow of business. The new location is the third Roman Candle pizzeria in the Madison area. Owners Tom Cranley and Breuer Stouffer opened their first Roman Candle on Madison’s east side in 2005. Cranley said the new restaurant has received a “great reception from the Fitchburg community.” “We have had some great reviews and heard a lot of positive things,” Cranley said. “People have really thanked us for bringing Roman Candle here.” The Fitchburg location not only serves the Fitchburg community, but also offers delivery service to Oregon and Verona. The restaurant features a mix of different lighting styles, multi-colored ceiling tiles and light covers. “Our color scheme is playful, fun and energetic,” Cranley said. “We have a very modern look and are a mixture of cozy and modern.” The dining room also has plenty of bench seating with low backs in order to offer a more “interactive environment,” he said. The purpose of the open seating is to offer people a better chance to converse with friends and family, while seeing what else is going on in the restaurant. “We have lots of cross-speaking interaction in our restaurants.”

MyMenu will close two of its five Madison-area stores, at 2862B University Ave. and 6636 Mineral Point Road, on March 1. But Gary Decatur, president of the Canadian food company, said Tuesday he hopes to find new locations closer to where the bulk of the business' customers live: in Middleton and Cottage Grove. But Gary Decatur, president of the Canadian food company, said Tuesday he hopes to find new locations closer to where the bulk of the business' customers live: in Middleton and Cottage Grove. Decatur said MyMenu looked at shopping patterns, based on the company's rewards cards, and found that consumers were traveling quite a distance to get to the West Side stores. "It was eye-opening to us," he said. Nine employees will be affected by the closings, but four of them will be moved to other Madison area MyMenu stores, Decatur said, and the others are expected to be offered jobs when the new locations open.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday that record-low interest rates still are needed to ensure that the economic recovery will last and to help ease the sting of high unemployment. In his twice-a-year report to the House Financial Services Committee, Bernanke struck a confident tone that the recovery should endure. But he also sought to tamp down expectations. The moderate economic growth the Fed expects will lead to only a slow decline in the nation’s nearly double-digit unemployment rate, he said. He offered no new clues about the timing of an interest rate increase. Most economists think it is months away. Bernanke said rates will need to stay at exceptionally low levels for an extended period “as the expansion matures.” Investors seemed buoyed by Bernanke’s commitment to low rates. In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average gained about 91 points, roughly 0.9 percent, despite a government report showing sales of new homes fell to a record low last month.

Milwaukee attorney Robert Levine, his son Michael Levine and a group of investors are working on plans to build a 6-story office building on the block southeast of Wisconsin Avenue and Broadway in downtown Milwaukee.
Michael Levine is also an attorney and is the owner of Next Generation Real Estate Inc., which is the developer for the project. Current plans for the $35 million project includes 130,000 square feet of office space, 17,000 square feet of first floor retail space and 270 structured parking spaces. The developers say the building would have environmentally-friendly “green” features and a fitness center. Robert Levine proposed a larger office development for the site several years ago, but that project never materialized. The developers will need to secure an anchor office tenant to get financing for the project. Several potential anchor tenants are in the market for office space and could anchor a new downtown building including: Von Briesen & Roper S.C. (seeking about 75,000 square feet), Godfrey & Kahn S.C. (seeking about 90,000 square feet), Baker Tilly and CH2M HILL.
The Levines declined to say which potential tenants they are talking to, but said they are talking to tenants interested in their project.

RedPrairie Holding Inc. announced today it will abandon its plan to become a publicly held company and instead has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by a fund affiliated with New Mountain Capital LLC, a New York private equity firm. Officials at RedPrairie, which is based in the Town of Brookfield, said the acquisition will enable the company to accelerate its rapid growth rate while enhancing its commitment to customer success. “Our objective is to be the leading provider of productivity solutions for manufacturers, distributors and retailers,” says Mike Mayoras, chief executive of RedPrairie. “Our relationship with New Mountain Capital will allow us to reach our strategic goals quickly, efficiently and with certainty. We believe there are significant opportunities to provide more value to our customer base by expanding our product portfolio and entering new markets.” Alok Singh, managing director of New Mountain Capital, said, "We are delighted at the prospect of being able to add RedPrairie to our family of companies. They have consistently, over their long history, been committed to the success of their customers. We aim to work closely with RedPrairie's management team and help them accelerate their growth and strategic development, making them an even more valued partner to their customer base." David Golob, chairman of the RedPrairie board of directors and partner at Francisco Partners, said, “RedPrairie has a strong vision, proven set of solutions and talented management team. I believe RedPrairie and New Mountain Capital will be a great combination. I wish them continued success.” With the acquisition, the RedPrairie name will be retained, as will the company’s management team and employees.

A groundbreaking for downtown's Moderne high-rise apartment project won't happen in February as planned. Developer Rick Barrett told me he's still waiting for final approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a guarantee on the main loan that will help finance the 30-story tower's construction. HUD's Milwaukee office granted preliminary approval last fall for the guarantee, which applies to a $41.4 million loan from the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. The Common Council in November approved $9.3 million in city loans for the Moderne, which will have 203 apartments and 14 condos at the southwest corner of W. Juneau Ave. and N. Old World 3rd St. Barrett filed additional paperwork with HUD on Jan. 28, said Sheila Ashley, spokeswoman for the agency's Milwaukee office. That filing gives the agency until April 6 to make a final ruling on the loan guarantee, she said. The final ruling could come before that deadline. Barrett is confident HUD will provide final approval soon, and wants to wait until that happens before staging the groundbreaking ceremony. Barrett also was waiting for We Energies to finish utility work near the site. That work was completed last week, he said. Along with the loans, the Moderne's financing will have $4.3 million in equity financing from Barrett and his partners. The project will take about two years to complete.

The Oshkosh Common Council approved a request to create a $5 million tax incremental financing (TIF) district to help Oshkosh Corp. finance construction of a high-tech paint shop. The city’s assistance matches $35 million in incentives from the state and $11.5 million from the company itself. The company needed the paint shop, called an e-coat plant, and the state and city assistance to submit a bid that secured the right to build the U.S. Army’s Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles for the next five years. That contract is worth $3 billion to the company.

Mandel Group Inc. is planning to expand its downtown North End apartments, and work could begin on that project later this year. That's according to the firm's president, Barry Mandel, who sat down with me recently for an interview on a variety of topics. A story based on our talk is to run in this Monday's Journal Sentinel. Mandel said the firm is "very anxious" to begin work on The North End's second phase. "We hope to be in the ground either some time at the end of this year, or early spring next year," Mandel told me. The second phase will have around 160 units in two buildings. Mandel hopes to obtain tax-exempt bonds to finance around 30 units that would be offered at below-market rents. Those units would be available only for people earning no more than 60% of the Milwaukee area's median income. "You need to be able to appeal to a very broad section of the market," Mandel said about plans to offer units at different rental rates. The North End's 83-unit first phase opened last year, between N. Water St. and the Milwaukee River, south of E. Pleasant St. The site once housed the Pfister & Vogel tannery. The first phase quickly leased out all of its apartments, and is now landing tenants for the building's retail space. Mandel said there's strong demand from people in their 20s and early 30s for new downtown apartments. (By the way, the topics of how more and more people in that age group are renting for longer periods of time, and are increasingly renting in urban areas, is the subject of an upcoming Journal Sentinel story by my esteemed colleague, Bill Glauber.) Mandel plans to eventually develop around 500 housing units at The North End, which is receiving $8.5 million in city financing.

Plans to develop stores on a former City of Milwaukee landfill in Cudahy are moving forward. Developer Cobalt Partners in 2006 first disclosed plans to buy the site from the city and develop commercial space. The land is between the Lake Parkway and S. Pennsylvania Ave., south of E. Layton Ave. Cobalt initially agreed to pay $1.75 million for the vacant site. That price would be reduced to $1.25 million under an agreement recommended for approval this morning by the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee. The price cut reflects the fact that a survey shows the land is around 20 acres, not 24 acres as originally believed, said Dan Casanova, of the Department of City Development. The price also is being reduced because the land will need an environmental cleanup, he said. The revised agreement gives Cobalt until May 31 to complete its purchase of the land. Scott Yauck, Cobalt principal, told committee members that it would still take "a couple of years" to develop the site for retail use. Yauck said Cobalt is negotiating with Cudahy for a tax incremental financing district to help pay for the cleanup, which he said would cost an estimated $7.5 million. City funds would be repaid through property taxes generated by the development. Cobalt's proposal to develop five retail buildings, totaling 235,000 square feet, was approved by the Cudahy Plan Commission in 2008. I called both Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue and Sara Eberhardy, chair of the Cudahy Community Development Authority, after the zoning committee vote. Neither returned my calls before this item was posted. But I hope to have more details later at JSOnline.com, and in Wednesday's Journal Sentinel. It appears, however, that contentious issues over the TIF have been largely resolved. The Cudahy Common Council last year voted to drop talks with Cobalt about helping to finance the development.

Clysmic Properties LLC plans to build a 4-story residence hall for Carroll University students, with 11,000 square feet of first floor retail space, northwest of Grand and College avenues in Waukesha. A strip mall on the site will be demolished to make way for the new building. The new building will be built along Grand Avenue and will be located adjacent to a four-story residence hall that Clysmic built last year along College Avenue. The company leases the residence hall along College Avenue to the university, and plans to do the same thing with the proposed building along Grand Avenue.

The sales center for The Bay, an 18-unit condominium development proposed in Whitefish Bay by New Land Enterprises, has closed. Listing agent Jack Smith, of Shorewest Realtors, told me this morning that the sales center was closed last week after the project was put on hold. He referred further questions to New Land, but Tim Gokhman, the firm's marketing director, couldn't be reached for comment this morning. The sales center was located in the Fox Bay Building, on E Silver Spring Drive. New Land bought the property in 2005 for $10 million, and a year later proposed a four-story building with 93 luxury condos for the Fox Bay parking lot and an adjacent publicly owned parking lot.Those plans drew opposition from nearby homeowners, who said it was too big, business operators who feared a loss of customer parking, and community officials, who questioned New Land's request for $12.5 million in public financing for the $60 million project. New Land proposed the smaller project, which would be built just on the Fox Bay Building parking lot, in September 2008. It won village approval last year, but demand has dropped for higher end condos. The Fox Bay Building is one of three large properties targeted in a recent foreclosure suit filed against New Land partners Boris Gokhman and Walter Shuk by Madison-based AnchorBank, which claims they defaulted on loans totaling around $15 million.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held on Friday, March 5 to celebrate the start of construction for a 5-story, 115,000-square-foot Marquette University engineering building on the south side of Wisconsin Avenue between 16th and 17th Streets, on the MU campus in Milwaukee. The building, which is being designed and built by Opus North Corp., is expected to be complete by August of 2011. It will have several laboratories, common areas for students and office space. The $35 million building is the first phase of a $100 million, 250,000-square-foot Discovery Learning Complex. “This new facility will foster the development of the skills we need in the 21st century – innovative thinking, creative problem solving of real world issues, and experience in team dynamics,” said Rev. Robert A. Wild, S.J., president of Marquette University. MU has raised $70 million in cash and long-term pledges for the project and is fundraising for an additional $50 million in cash so the entire Discovery Learning Complex can be completed as soon as possible, said Dean of Engineering Stan Jaskolski. “The time is now to innovate,” he said. “This facility, a gift to the Milwaukee community, will focus on building an enhanced workforce for Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the United States -- graduates who know and understand engineering innovation and how to quickly embed the appropriate innovation in products the marketplace desires. Our students and faculty will work with local industries and businesses in the development and design of innovative, real-world products, processes and services. In addition, this showcase facility will inspire elementary, middle and high school students to consider engineering careers as they participate in hands-on, exciting projects and innovative discoveries.”

The amount of tax revenue collected for the Wisconsin Center District and the Miller Park stadium district plummeted in 2009, a direct result of a deep recession and lower consumer spending, according to new figures released Wednesday. Franklyn Gimbel, chairman of the Wisconsin Center District board, which operates the Midwest Airlines Center, the Milwaukee Theatre and the U.S. Cellular Arena, didn't mince words about the tax collections, the lifeblood of the operation. "It was the worst year we've had since 1996," he said of the drop in tax collections. "It was a horrific year. Business travel was way off." For all of 2009, overall tax revenue went down 17.28% to just over $16 million. The news wasn't much better for the stadium district. The Miller Park stadium district received just over $1.85 million in sales-tax collections from December 2009, 18% below the same time period a year ago. For all of 2009, the district finished the year 9.45% behind 2008's sales-tax collection amount. The district collected $24.16 million in 2009; in 2008, $26.68 million was collected.

The number of troubled banks in the United States jumped to 702 in the fourth quarter, according to the latest report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The FDIC said U.S. banks essentially broke even in the October-December period. They earned $914 million in the quarter, compared with a $37.8 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2008. For all of 2009, U.S. banks earned $12.5 billion, up from $4.5 billion in 2008. Still, the number of banks on the FDIC's confidential "problem" list increased to 702 from 552 in the third quarter, the most since the height of the savings-and-loan crisis of the early 1990s. For the first time in three years, more than half the 8,000 federally insured banks and thrifts reported higher income compared with the year-earlier quarter. However, delinquencies on commercial real estate loans remain a source of concern, and a wave of defaults on such loans could cause more banks to fail, FDIC officials warned. Last year, 140 federally insured banks failed and were shut down by regulators. The FDIC expects U.S. bank failures to cost the insurance fund around $100 billion through 2013.

First-time unemployment insurance claims in Wisconsin declined again last week to 16,644 from 16,992 in the previous week and 18,755 in the week before. The total of first-time claims for the week ending Feb. 20 also was down 23.7 percent from the 21,801 claims filed in the same week of 2009, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. The total number of unemployment claims in the state fell last week to 167,831, which was down from 168,745 in the prior week and down from 179,238 from the same week a year ago.

Energy Composites plans to build a 535,000-square-foot wind energy manufacturing plant in Wisconsin Rapids, which will create more than 600 jobs, the company says. The 119-acre campus would include a research and development center and a storage facility for wind turbine blades. The plant will cost about $112 to build.

Beverage wholesalers General Beverage Sales Co. and GB Sales Co. have agreed to lease 60,550 square feet at 16055 W. Stratton Drive, New Berlin. The 120,000-square-foot building was developed by a joint venture between Towne Investments and James T. Luterbach. The facility gives General Beverage and GB Sales, which together have over 100 employees, more space than their former distribution center in West Allis. The lease was brokered by Tom Bernacchi and Michael Kleber, of Towne.

A pizzeria will receive a $39,000 city grant to open in a south side building, owned by Ald. James Witkowiak, under a proposal approved by the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee. Witkowiak is chairman of the zoning committee, but abstained from voting Tuesday when the proposal was reviewed. The grant also needs full council approval. The start-up business is Paesano's Pizza LLC, owned by Susana Rodriguez, of Brookfield. Paesano's plans to occupy a building at 551 W. Mitchell St. owned by Witkowiak--which he disclosed before the committee discussed the grant proposal. It will cost a total of around $135,000 to open the sit-down restaurant, according to the Department of City Development. The $39,000 grant would be repaid through property tax revenue generated by the business, and by other new developments within the Mitchell St. neighborhood tax incremental financing district. The city has provided similar grants for other retail businesses, said Jim Scherer, a department official. Neighborhood residents and business operators have long wanted to see a sit-down pizzeria open on the street, said Judi Keller, executive director of the Mitchell Street Business Improvment District. Keller's group approached the Department of City Development about providing a grant for the project, said Martha Brown, deputy development commissioner. The restaurant operator approached the business improvement district for help after realizing that she needed additional cash, beyond what was originally budgeted, to do the project, Brown told me. The grant is coming from a business assistance fund established with city money for the Mitchell St. neighborhood. The pizzeria project meets the fund's goal of strengthening retail activity on the street, Brown said.

The Columbia St. Mary's Hospital campus adjacent to University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee might be worth around $10 million, says UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago. UWM is negotiating to buy the hospital complex, which will be vacant once Columbia St. Mary's Inc. consolidates operations at its Lake Drive campus at the end of 2010. A hospital system spokeswoman said Columbia St. Mary's wouldn't comment on those talks. Santiago made his remarks at a recent meeting of the Faculty Senate, which passed a resolution asking the UWM administration to quickly buy the property. The UW System Board of Regents in January authorized spending $31 million for buying the hospital complex, and converting it to other uses. Santiago says UWM hasn't yet created a specific plan for the Columbia campus. He has said Columbia could provide student housing and other student services that generate revenue for UWM, as well as 962 parking spaces, and green space. Santiago told the Faculty Senate that UWM once considered Columbia as a housing site for 1,200 students. But the university no longer needs such a large amount of student housing because of two new residence halls developed just north of E. North Ave., overlooking the Milwaukee River, he said. Part of the Columbia property also has been mentioned as a site for a possible new basketball arena. That would involve demolishing a portion of the hospital complex to make way for the arena. Some faculty want to see the new School of Public Health at the Columbia site, instead of at the former Pabst brewery. A Faculty Senate resolution supporting that goal was referred last week to several university committees for further study. That move effectively postponed action on another resolution that asked Santiago to immediately suspend plans to put the school at the Pabst site. That came after Santiago told the group that delaying plans to put the school at the Pabst site could cause school benefactor and Pabst developer Joseph Zilber to withdraw a $10 million donation.

Austin-Texas-based Golfsmith International Holdings Inc. announced it will open its first Golfsmith Wisconsin store in Brookfield. The new store will be located on Bluemound Road across from Brookfield Square Shopping Center next to a former Circuit Store and the Storms driving range. The new store will span 25,000 square feet and will include an indoor driving range and custom fitting studios. The store is planned to open by June 2010. The growing golf retail chain also will open a new store in Brea, Calif. "We are very excited about these two new locations that will both open this spring," said Marty Hanaka, president and CEO of Golfsmith. "We are very proud to bring our golf retail concept to Milwaukee where we believe golfers deserve an inspiring golf retail experience, and our Brea store location helps us continue to fill out the Los Angeles market. This is just another step in continuing to execute our strategy and continue to grow our market share." Golfsmith International Holdings is a 42-year-old specialty retailer of golf and tennis equipment, apparel and accessories. The company operates more than 70 stores across the United States.

In a major concession to critics of a controversial plan to renovate The Edgewater hotel, the Hammes Co. on Wednesday unveiled plans to move a proposed eight-story hotel tower farther from Wisconsin Avenue. The move, along with new plans to build a second parking structure for the hotel, got good reviews from critics and members of the Urban Design Commission, although questions remain about the tower's height. "My opinion is, this is not perfect," said Fred Mohs, who along with a group of Mansion Hill residents and historic preservationists has panned the $93 million project. "It's not ready to sign off on, but definitely it has changed, which is really, really good." Hammes Co. President Robert Dunn indicated two weeks ago that he was not likely to budge on two main objections to the Edgewater project - the location and height of the proposed hotel tower. On Tuesday, he reversed course on the first of those, saying talks with National Guardian Life, which owns adjacent land, had resulted in letting the building move 15 feet to the east. Moving the building would further open up the view of Lake Mendota from the Capitol. During informal vote counts at the commission meeting Wednesday, members were generally comfortable with most aspects of the new plan, including architectural features, proposed parking and setback from Wisconsin Avenue.

Dane County total home sales in January were up compared to a year ago, continuing a trend of increased house and condominium sales from the latter half of 2009, while median sale prices remained down . "Buyer activity is very brisk right now," said Dan Miller, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty who tracks multiple listing service (MLS) home sales data at DaneCountyMarket.com. "We're expecting sales volume to exceed last year's levels for at least the next several months." One of those new buyers is Kayla Skolaski, 23, who's moving into her first home, a condominium in Waunakee, with her fiance next week. Her offer to buy the condo was accepted Jan. 2, and she's using the federal first-time homebuyer's federal tax credit to save $8,000 on the deal. "I'm very excited," said Skolaski, who coaches swimming at Waunakee High School and teaches art in the district. "We're getting married in May, and we wanted to take advantage of the tax credit (scheduled to end in June) and not have to worry about moving around the time of the wedding. So we're getting it done a little bit sooner."

A project to establish high-speed passenger rail service between Madison and Milwaukee cleared its final obstacle Tuesday as the Legislature's budget committee signed off on the project, which could cost up to $810 million. The 12-4 party-line vote means the state can use federal stimulus money to begin construction work by the end of this year and to start passenger service as early as 2013 -- the first such service in Madison in four decades. Democrats on the Joint Finance Committee pointed to support from business groups who say the line will create thousands of construction jobs in the early years as well as increasing commerce and investment. "It's going to be very positive for the region and for the entire economy," said committee chairman Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison. Republicans criticized the train between the state's two largest cities as, in the words of Rep. Robin Vos, R-Caledonia, a "train to nowhere" that will be a waste of federal money and will require ongoing state subsidies once it begins. "Let's be realistic. We don't have $8 million a year to contribute to this," Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said of the future subsidies. "This is not a priority right now."

Pleasant View Road is little more than a dirt path in places right now. Drive west on Mineral Point Road past Target and it is easy to miss the beginning of Pleasant View’s southern extension, which will connect it to Valley View Road and the city’s burgeoning southwest side. But stand at the intersection of Pleasant View and Mineral Point at 5 p.m. on any weeknight and look east toward Madison, and it’s easy to see why Pleasant View may become one of the most important new roads in the city. Cars turning left from Mineral Point onto Junction Road (County M) to head south back up nearly to the Beltline at rush hour, and it’s not unusual to have to wait through two light cycles before making a left turn anywhere at the intersection. And that’s before most of the area west of Junction Road has even been built up, which will bring even more traffic. The majority remains farmland, waiting for the recently approved University Research Park II to be built as one of the city’s largest new economic development projects. Neighborhoods that surround the research park site are still in their infancy, with developers’ signs dotting the landscape for future houses and apartments.

A proposed three-story senior-citizen housing development on Mineral Point Road is drawing fire from neighbors who say the building would be too big for their quiet neighborhood. Many residents are angry and fearful that the housing project on the site of the former Mount Olive Lutheran Church would transform the area, said Beverly Flanigan, whose Hammersley Avenue home stands on a lot adjacent to the Mount Olive property. "This is a really popular neighborhood, it's family oriented, people like their properties, the trees, there's no noise, and this has the possibility of changing all of that," Flanigan said. "It comes clear back to our property line." Stone House Development Inc. Vice President Richard Arnesen said he is attempting to address concerns by decreasing the number of apartments to 84 from 89 and reducing the height of about 15 percent of the building.

A controversial plan to build six stories of affordable housing in affluent Shorewood Hills in the nearly vacant Pyare Square building was torpedoed by the village board 6-1 Monday night. Village Board President Mark Sundquist, who supported the plan that would replace the 14-story cylindrical tower at 4610 University Ave. just west of the UW-Madison campus, said the other members of the board were concerned that it would be difficult to provide fire services to the to the 69-unit residential apartment building. In addition, Sundquist said the project, first submitted in October, moved through the approval system too fast for most village members to learn about and embrace the concept of multifamily housing in a lakeside village of mostly single-family homes. "There wasn't anything threatening about the apartments," Sundquist said Tuesday. "There were just a lot more people to consider. People needed to have time to become comfortable with the idea. If we'd had another two to three months, we would have been able to finish our studies." Developer David Bornstein, principal in Andover Hill Investments, Warrenville, Ill., had proposed using low-income housing tax credits to finance the construction but needed village approval of the general concept by next month to meet a deadline to apply for the tax credits. "It was troublesome," Sundquist said. "The development needed to have an approval of the concept by a late March deadline.

T. Wall Properties was recently recognized with the prestigious Governor's Award for Excellence in Energy Efficiency. Presented at the Energy and the Bottom Line Conference & Expo in Wisconsin Dells, the award honors outstanding contributions made by organizations to protect Wisconsin’s environment and provide clean power through renewable energy and highlights T. Wall Properties tangible success in green development. To earn this recognition, the commercial real estate developer retro-commissioned a 200,000 square-foot, 3-story office building in Middleton resulting in substantial energy savings and a reduction of $33,500 in annual energy costs. T. Wall Properties saved more than 386,000 kWh of electricity and 3,000 therms of natural gas, enough energy to power 42 homes for a year. This year the firm is working to triple its efforts by retro-commissioning three additional facilities totaling over 700,000 square feet. By creating more energy sustainable communities and places where people can interact, T. Wall Properties is a positive example for other developers to follow. T. Wall Properties has focused its efforts on energy management and making green building practices top of mind in numerous projects by developing industry leading use of sustainable resources and environmental awareness.

The city of Milwaukee’s Board of Zoning Appeals last week approved a special use permit for an Everest College campus in the Haymarket Square project. Everest College is a private college owned and operated by Santa Ana, Calif.-based Corinthian Colleges Inc., The Everest College campus will be the anchor for the 5-acre, $16 million Haymarket Square redevelopment project at the northwest corner of 6th Street and McKinley Avenue along the Park East corridor in downtown Milwaukee. The college will occupy the entire first floor of the 2-story, 67,500-square-foot former Journal Sentinel garage building on the site. Corinthian Colleges has about 93,000 students in about 90 schools in the U.S. and about 20 schools in Ontario. Some city officials expressed concern about the company’s business practices. But college officials said they would provide a benefit to the community. “We look forward to being part of the Milwaukee community and bringing another educational option to students,” said Mark Sullivan, president of the Everest College Milwaukee campus. “We are also pleased to bring additional jobs to the area, and we hope our presence will spark further downtown development. We look forward to reaching out to and working with all of our neighbors and community leaders to build positive relationships and live up to Everest’s role as a quality educational institution.” The developer for the Haymarket Square project, Dan Druml, has been granted $11 million in tax exempt bonds by the city’s Redevelopment Authority.

A 24-unit apartment building - which also might house an existing neighborhood farmers market - is being proposed for the corner of W. Mitchell St. and S. Muskego Ave. on Milwaukee's south side. The four-story building, dubbed Mitchell Street Market Lofts, would include 2,000 square feet of street-level commercial space and an indoor parking garage. and three-bedroom units would range from about 1,100 to 1,600 square The two- feet, according to the Department of City Development. The project developer is Mitchell Street Market Lofts LLC, a group that will be formed primarily by Tina Anderson, Orlando Neal and Sherry Terrell-Webb, who are graduates of Marquette University's Associates in Commercial Real Estate program. Other owners include Robert Lemke, an instructor in the Marquette program, and Todd Hutchison, both principals in Wisconsin Redevelopment LLC. Most recently, the site has been used for the seasonal Mitchell Street Farmers Market, operated by Growing Power, a nonprofit urban farm headed by Will Allen. The developers have been talking with Growing Power about having the market continue to operate at the site, Lemke said. The market could move indoors and use part of the development's commercial space, with farmers selling their products throughout the year, he said.

The White House announced today that the city of Milwaukee will receive $21.5 million in stimulus funds to rebuild the Juneau Avenue lift bridge and to rehabilitate the Wisconsin Avenue lift bridge, both located in downtown Milwaukee. The funds are part of the $1.5 billion TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) discretionary grant program, which is part of the federal stimulus package, announced today by President Barack Obama and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The U.S. Department of Transportation received more than 1,400 applications for the TIGER funds, and 51 of those projects were selected for the funding. The total cost of the Juneau Avenue bridge and the Wisconsin Avenue bridge projects is $29 million. The Juneau Avenue bridge, which was built in 1953, spans across the Milwaukee River between Water and Old World Third Street. The new bridge is expected to last for 75 years and serve more than 257 million vehicles during the course of its life, according to the White House. The Wisconsin Avenue bridge spans across the river between Water Street and North Plankinton Avenue. The rehabilitation of the Wisconsin Avenue bridge is expected to last for at least 45 years. City officials learned about the stimulus grant funding today. Engineering and design work still needs to be done, and a detailed schedule has not been set yet, said city engineer Jeff Polenske. Construction will likely begin next year, he said.

Bilbao, Spain-based Ingeteam, a renewable energy company, will purchase an 8.1-acre site in the Menomonee Valley to build a $15 million, 114,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. The facility will also serve as the company’s North American headquarters. The site is located at 3757 W. Milwaukee Road, just south of the new Charter Wire plant, in the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center. The Menomonee Valley Industrial Center is an industrial park that was created by the city on a site at the west end of the valley, near Miller Park, that the city acquired from Chicago-based CMC Heartland Partners in 2003. The city spent millions to clean up and attract development to the industrial park. Several businesses have built facilities in the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center including Palermo Villa Inc., Derse Inc., Charter Wire, Badger Railing, Caleffi North America Inc. and Taylor Dynamometer Inc. Ingeteam is purchasing the 8.1-acre site from the city for $120,000 an acre, or about $972,000 total, said Department of City Development Commissioner Richard “Rocky” Marcoux. When first created, the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center had 60 acres available for private development. With Ingeteam’s purchase only 12 acres are still available.

Moments before I took the stage to moderate the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce Future 50 program at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center last September, an economic development official who shall remain nameless wanted to tell me something. “Today is very important day. There are representatives from a company from Spain in the room. They’re here to get a feel for what our business community and our business climate are like. They’re thinking of moving jobs here,” the official whispered to me. With more than 500 people in the room … As if I wasn’t nervous enough! A month or two later, the chief executive officer of a local manufacturing company told me that local economic development officials had arranged for some people from a foreign country to tour his plant. The mysterious, unidentified visitors wanted to learn more about potential vendors or partners in the region, in case they decided to move here. Weeks later, I learned that Richard “Rocky” Marcoux, commissioner of the Milwaukee Department of City Development, would not be able to attend the BizTimes Commercial Real Estate & Development Conference because he needed to travel to Spain on a business recruitment mission.

City financing help for Ingeteam Inc.'s new $15 million wind turbine generator factory, planned for the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center, might include a bond issue by the Redevelopment Authority. City financing help for Ingeteam Inc.'s new $15 million wind turbine generator factory, planned for the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center, might include a bond issue by the Redevelopment Authority. The authority, at its Thursday board meeting, will consider the bond issue. It would not involve a loan by the city. Ingetech would be responsible for repaying the debt to investors that buy the bonds. By selling the bonds under the city's name, Ingetech could take advantage of their tax-exempt status and pay a lower interest rate to the bond purchasers. Cities in Wisconsin and other states often provide such tax-exempt bond issues for developments, including the recently approved plans to build a downtown Milwaukee campus for Everest College. Department of City Development officials are also considering a low-interest loan, and providing federal New Markets tax credits, to Ingeteam. Specific amounts havn't been proposed yet to the Common Council.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will not use state tax dollars to either build a new on-campus arena or renovate the existing Klotsche Center, a top university official said Tuesday. Tom Luljak, vice chancellor for university relations and communications, said that "if we do an expansion of the Klotsche Center or build a new one, it will not be paid for from state capital funds used for academic purposes." Instead, UWM would raise the money - expected to be in the tens of millions of dollars - through a combination of student fees, program revenue and, perhaps most important, donations from alumni. There may be another cash motive to move the arena to campus: UWM needs the money a new or renovated facility could potentially generate. As is the case with most college athletic programs around the country, the UWM athletic department operates at a deficit. University officials estimate the cumulative deficit between $6 million and $8 million; this fiscal year alone it is at $1.8 million. UWM has a lease at the U.S. Cellular Arena through the 2011-'12 season. The university pays the Wisconsin Center District, which owns and operates the U.S. Cellular Arena, about $230,000 a year, according to a Wisconsin Center District official.

Start-up business Reco Cement Products LLC plans to build a cement making facility in Milwaukee, possibly near the port, owner Dave Lisowski told me. The Reco facility, with around 20,000 to 30,000 square feet, would initially have 30 employees, Lisowski said. He said it would cost around $7 million to build, but could eventually involve a $15 million to $20 million investment as the facility is expanded. If it's fully expanded, the facility would have around 100 employees, Lisowski said. Reco would make cement by using recycled materials, such as fly ash and crushed glass. The company hopes to open five such facilities throughout the country by the end of 2010, said Lisowski. That includes Milwaukee, where possible locations include Jones Island, he said. The Redevelopment Authority meets today to consider a $7 million bond issue to help finance the facility. The bond issue is not a city loan to Reco, which would be responsible for repaying the debt. However, the bonds would be tax-exempt, which would allow Reco to pay a lower interest rate to investors that buy the bonds.

Plans for a large east side restaurant and lounge are up in the air after the Common Council's Licenses Committee today recommended a denial of a tavern dance license for the proposed business. Marc Brown wants to open the A List Supper Club and Lounge in 6,000 square feet at 2116 N. Farwell Ave., formerly the home to WOW Cafe and Wingery. Brown said it would feature fine dining, yet have affordable prices. For that, he needs a tavern license. Brown also wants to have dancing a couple of nights a week, and have other live events, such as poetry slams. For that, he needs a tavern dance license. Some east side residents objected to the dance license, saying a large night club would generate too much noise and traffic. Also. the East Side Business Improvement District said the neighborhood already has enough nightclubs, and that it needs a more diverse retail base. On Monday, the committee took the unusual step of passing the matter to the full council without a recommendation. At today's meeting, the committee reconsidered, and voted against the tavern dance license, while recommending approval of the tavern license. That move surprised Brown, who said he was told that the committee wasn't planning to vote on the matter today. Brown said he had hoped to work out a compromise of dropping the application for the dance license, while leaving open the option of seeking special one-time licenses from time to time for dances and other live events. But, if the full council denies the tavern dance license, Brown will be barred from seeking the event licenses. And, without the money generated by those events, Brown doesn't know if the business would be viable. Brown said he's puzzled about the objections to the dance license. He said the club would have a 30 and over age restriction.

Mitchell Street Market Lofts, a four-story building with 24 apartments and 2,000 square feet of commercial space, has been proposed for the corner of W. Mitchell St. and S. Muskego Ave., on Milwaukee's south side. The two- and three-bedroom units would range from about 1,100 to 1,600 square feet, according to the Department of City Development. The building also would feature an indoor parking garage. The $5.5 million development would be financed in part through federal affordable housing tax credits. The credits are allocated through a competitive process by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. Developers that receive credits sell them to raise equity financing, which they can then use to obtain a construction loan. In return for using the credits, developers must lease apartments at below-market rents to people earning no more than 60% of the community's median income. The project developer is Mitchell Street Market Lofts LLC, a group that will be formed primarily by Tina Anderson, Orlando Neal and Sherry Terrell-Webb, who are graduates of Marquette University’s Associates in Commercial Real Estate program. Other owners include Robert Lemke and Todd Hutchison, principals in Wisconsin Redevelopment LLC. The development site consists of vacant lots, totaling 24,500 square feet, that the city would sell for $110,250. The Redevelopment Authority's board on Thursday will consider providing a purchase option to the developers. Most recently, the site has been used for the seasonal Mitchell Street Farmers Market, operated by Growing Power. The developers have been talking with Growing Power about having the market continue to operate at the site, said Lemke. He told me that the market could move indoors and use part of the development's retail space, with farmers selling their products throughout the year.

Spanish wind-turbine generator maker Ingeteam will buy 8.1 acres in the city-developed Menomonee Valley Industrial Center for its new factory, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced Tuesday morning. The parcel, next to Derse Inc.'s new facility, will be the site of a 114,000-square-foot building that Ingeteam plans to begin building this spring, Barrett said. He and other officials made the announcement at Taylor Dynamometer Inc., another company located at the industrial park. Ingeteam hopes to finish the $15 million facility by the end of 2010. Ingeteam expects to have 275 employees there. The economic impact features $19 million in wages from the new jobs created by Ingeteam, said Gale Klappa, co-chairman of the Milwaukee 7 economic development group, and CEO of We Energies. The economic impact also will include $3 million in wages tied to construction jobs, he said. Barrett, Klappa and state Commerce Secretary Richard Leinenkugel provided more details to the Monday announcement that Ingeteam had selected Milwaukee over competing sites in other states as a site for the factory. Also new: details on the public financing assistance for Ingeteam. Governor Jim Doyle's office announced that the state is providing $4.5 million in tax credits, and a $500,000 Wisconsin Development Fund loan to Ingeteam. Usually, those loans are forgivable if a company meets job creation goals.Ingeteam has also received $1.66 million in federal clean technology manufacturing tax credits, and will receive "further assistance" from the city, Doyle's office announced. I'll update that information at JSOnline.com as it becomes available.

Construction work has resumed on a three-story office building in Wauwatosa after an 18-month stoppage, with plans to create an outpatient surgery center there. The 60,000-square-foot building, at 2999 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, is being developed by VJS Development Group, which had initially planned to lease it to Mayfair Radiology. The building is south of W. Burleigh St., and is replacing the former home of radio station WLUM-FM, which was razed. The $15 million project, however, ground to a halt in the spring of 2008 after Mayfair Radiology was bought by Aurora Health Care Inc. The radiology practice in January 2009 moved into an Aurora facility just south of Mayfair Mall, at 10400 W. North Ave. Aurora had signed a lease for the Mayfair Road buiding. But work stopped while the health care system studied its space needs to determine what operations would move to the building. The plan now is to open an outpatient surgery center, along with support services and doctors' offices, by the first half of 2011, said Mary Reinke, an Aurora spokeswoman. The building's exterior work is about halfway completed, and the structure should be enclosed by summer, she said. The City of Wauwatosa agreed to help finance the building's parking structure. That agreement allows VJS Development to recover up to $1.8 million in property taxes in connection with the project.

Developer Michael Dilworth plans to begin selling units at the financially troubed Six Points East condominiums, in West Allis, by early March, according to a story by Mark Schaaf at West Allis Now.com. Dilworth, president of Greenfield-based development firm Ener-Con Cos., took control of the 42-unit development in November after a foreclosure judgment was issued on the building, at 6330 W. Greenfield Ave. The judgment was issued on behalf of Six Points East LLC, an investment group formed by Dilworth that bought the development's mortgage from Equitable Bank in October. Equitable filed the foreclosure suit a year ago against West Allis Development LLC.

A hearing on providing a purchase option to developers for a city-owned site at W. Mitchell St. and S. Muskego Ave., scheduled for Thursday's 1:30 p,m. meeting of the Redevelopment Authority, has been postponed, I just learned. Martha Brown, deputy city development commissioner, told me the hearing has been rescheduled for the authority's March 18 meeting. She said the delay was requested by Ald, James Witkowiak, whose district includes the site. "I believe the Alderman wants to seek some additional public comment on the plan before the formal hearings at RACM and (the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee)," Brown said, in an email. Witkowiak couldn't be immediately reached for comment. OK, again, for those who have been questioning this project since I first broke the news about it Wednesday, here's your chance: you have a whole month to plan to attend the authority's public hearing. The developers want to buy the land to create a 24-unit apartment building, which also might house an existing neighborhood farmers market.

Fiddleheads Coffee Roasters plans to build a new headquarters, including a roasting operation and bakery, in Thiensville's Town Center redevelopment area. Fiddleheads, which started in 1996, operates three cafes in Thiensville, Mequon and Cedarburg, and has some ambitious growth plans, according to a story by Mary Buckley, at Mequon Now.com. By the way, the company's name "refers to a fern’s young, unfurling fronds, and signifies the beginning and growth of our business," according to the Fiddleheads Web site.

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank is preparing to hire another 60 workers for its credit card issuing technology team. The bank’s technology and operations services group currently has approximately 300 employees supporting the credit card arm of its retail payments solutions group, which also provides debit and prepaid cards About two-thirds of those are based in Brookfield, with the others in Portland, Ore., Minneapolis and Denver locations. “It says a lot about the quality of our work force, the strong work ethic and the importance of the Milwaukee market for U.S. Bank going forward,” said Bill Bertha, president of U.S. Bank in Wisconsin. The additional jobs will bring U.S. Bank’s total employees to 3,331 in southeastern Wisconsin and 4,804 in the state. “This is a great time to reinvest in our infrastructure so that we can continue to provide top-notch service for our existing customers while building for future growth,” said Prescott Balch, U.S. Bank senior vice president and development manager for the bank’s credit card technology team. “Despite unprecedented legislative and competitive changes in the card industry, U.S. Bank continues to invest in this very important business.”

M&I Bank has abruptly ended an unusual and aggressive move to recoup some of its massive Arizona loan losses, saying that seven lawsuits filed against Arizona real estate appraisers last month are being dropped. The bank would not say why it was dropping the suits. But one appraiser whose company was among those sued said he was told by his insurance company that the statute of limitations - which in Arizona gives plaintiffs just two years to file claims alleging negligent misrepresentation - may have come into play. "We have resolved our differences with most of these appraisers in Arizona and these suits will not be going forward," Patty Cadorin, an M&I senior vice president, said in an e-mail statement to the Journal Sentinel. "We are also working on resolving the remainder." Asked whether the statute of limitations played a role, she said via e-mail that "due to the fact that this is litigation, we will have no further comment beyond the statement." M&I has been awash with losses in Arizona since the housing bubble burst there. Attracted by the potential for rapid growth, M&I made a bold push in the Arizona market a decade ago, going from 14 branches in the state to 28 by 2003. But by 2008, M&I earnings were plummeting, and executives were admitting they failed to react quickly enough to the slowdown in the housing market. Today the company blames many of its financial woes on the Arizona incursion.

TomoTherapy Inc. said Wednesday it is starting to see some improvement in the market for its advanced radiation therapy systems for treating cancer, but still faces a tough competitive environment and long sales cycle. The Madison company said its fourth quarter loss narrowed to $3.37 million, or 7 cents a share, from $7.50 million, or 15 cents, a year ago. Revenue declined 33% to $58 million from $86.3 million. For the full year, TomoTherapy's loss widened to $37.4 million, or 74 cents a share, from $33.5 million, or 67 cents, in 2008. Revenue decreased 20% to $164 million from $204.6 million.

Tab Products Co. plans to add jobs in Mayville after completing the purchase of a Massachusetts firm. Tab has agreed to buy Ames Safety Envelope Co., of Somerville, Mass., and will move its production to Wisconsin, increasing employment at Tab's Mayville headquarters. "We're expecting 75 to 100 (additional) jobs if not more," John Palmer, Tab's chief financial officer, said Wednesday. Tab, which makes file folders, labels and other products for managing records, now employs about 200 people in Mayville. The company also has another factory, in Toronto, and about 500 employees worldwide. Palmer wouldn't say how much Tab is paying for Ames, or disclose the Mayville firm's annual sales. Tab, however, is growing. The Ames acquisition is the second in two years. Tab bought an Ohio competitor, Jeter Systems Corp., in early 2008, closed Jeter's plant and moved production to Mayville. Tab expects to complete its purchase of Ames in early March, Palmer said. The Somerville factory, which makes filing products for the medical industry, will be closed and employment increased at Mayville over the next six to 12 months.

Andis Co., which makes barber and beauty shop tools, is expanding its Sturtevant headquarters and adding jobs. Andis plans to begin building a 50,000-square-foot addition to its 107,000-square-foot facility at 1800 Renaissance Blvd., in the Renaissance Business Park, in April. Construction should be completed by summer's end, said Marcia Andis, senior vice president. Andis Co. has over 350 employees, and plans to initally add six more jobs once the work is done, Andis told me today. She said the Racine County company will eventually add more jobs as it expands into the new space. The expansion plans are proceeding after the Sturtevant Village Board this week agreed to provide $130,000 in financing assistance for the $2.3 million project. Those funds will be repaid through the expansion's property taxes. Andis Co. makes hand-held tools to trim, cut, curl, straighten and dry hair.

While the economy is getting better, the jobless rate is expected to remain high - possibly for years - because of financial uncertainty among households and businesses, Federal Reserve policy-makers said when they met in a closed-door session last month. Minutes of the Fed meeting of Jan. 26-27, which were released Wednesday, show that officials think the unemployment rate this year will range between 9.5% and 9.7%, and from 8.2% to 8.5% in 2011. In 2012, the rate likely will be between 6.6% and 7.5%, the Fed panel forecast. A "sizable minority" of the Fed policy-makers took the view that a return to more-normal growth and employment could take more than five to six years. Fed members also debated when to reel in the extraordinary stimulus aid they injected into the economy. Some wanted to start selling assets on the Fed's books "in the near future," documents indicate. Such an action would sop up some of the stimulus money and shrink the Fed's $2.2 trillion balance sheet. But many members expressed concern that such transactions could drive up interest rates and hurt the economic recovery. The Fed expects the economy to grow between 2.8% and 3.5% this year, with growth between 3.4% and 4.5% in 2011 and in 2012. Analysts say the economy would need to grow by at least 5% a year to make a dent in the unemployment rate .

With the economy healing, Federal Reserve officials debated last month when to reel in the extraordinary stimulus aid they injected into the economy. Some officials wanted to start selling assets on the Fed's books "in the near future," documents released Wednesday show. Selling assets would sop up some of the stimulus money and shrink the Fed's $2.2 trillion balance sheet. But many members expressed concern that such transactions could drive up interest rates and hurt the economic recovery. Last week, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said he didn't expect any asset sales soon. The documents on the Fed's closed-door meeting last month pointed to divergent thoughts about the timing and tools to reverse course and start tightening credit. "The upshot is that as it stands now, nothing is set in stone," said Paul Ashworth, economist at Capital Economics. The Fed also released a forecast Wednesday predicting unemployment will stay high over the next two years because recession-scarred Americans are likely to stay cautious.

The Federal Reserve decided Thursday to boost the rate banks pay for emergency loans. The action is part of a broader move to pull back the extraordinary aid it provided to fight the financial crisis. The Federal Reserve decided Thursday to boost the rate banks pay for emergency loans. The action is part of a broader move to pull back the extraordinary aid it provided to fight the financial crisis. The action won't directly affect borrowing costs for millions of Americans. But with the worst of the crisis over, it brings the Fed's main crisis lending program closer to normal. The Fed chose to bump up the so-called "discount" lending rate by one-quarter point to 0.75 percent. It takes effect Friday. The central bank said the step should not be seen as a signal that it will soon boost interest rates for consumers and businesses. It repeated its pledge to keep such rates at record-low levels for an "extended period" to foster the economic recovery. The Fed had signaled for weeks that a higher discount rate was coming, though the timing of Thursday's decision caught some by surprise. It portrayed its action as moving its emergency program for banks closer to normal. The announcement came after the financial markets had closed. Investors saw it initially as a prelude to higher borrowing costs across the board. In after-hours trading, the dollar strengthened on the expectation of higher rates. Yields on two-year Treasury securities rose, and stock futures dipped.

Job market improvement may be slowing, data show

Layoffs aren't slowing as fast as some analysts had expected.That was the message Thursday in a government report that the number of people filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week. Jobless claims rose by 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 473,000. The increase followed a drop of 41,000 in the previous week. The earlier figure had raised hopes that the job market was improving steadily. The four-week average for claims dipped 1,500 to 467,500, near the lows at the end of last year. The average smooths out week-to-week volatility. But many economists say the four-week average would need to fall consistently below 425,000 to signal that the economy is close to generating net job gains. The economy has lost 8.4 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. Further evidence that the pace of the economic recovery is slowing was a private research group's forecast of economic activity. The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators rose for a 10th straight month in January, but the rate of increase is easing. The index is designed to forecast activity in the next three to six months. Many economists have raised concern that growth will stagnate this year as government support programs wind down and unemployment remains high.

The concrete and steel rising next to the Chazen Museum of Art soon will be home to paintings, films and sculpture, but it's also a big piece of something more: a vision for a revitalized UW-Madison arts district. The $43 million expansion, funded entirely by private donations, will more than double the amount of art the Chazen can display, with new galleries dedicated to African, Asian and Upper Midwestern art, as well as classrooms, a film theater and an outdoor sculpture garden. The new building is set to be completed in May 2011 with a grand opening that October. University project manager Julie Grove called the expanded museum "the crown jewel of the East Campus Arts District," and it's a major step toward the long-planned remaking of the northeast part of campus. Long-term, UW-Madison officials want to demolish the Humanities Building, 455 N. Park St., and build a music performance building on the corner of Lake Street and University Avenue.

Edgewater wins a round

Plan Commission on 5-4 vote backs exempting hotel development from shoreland zoning ordinance rules. It took a tie-breaking vote from chairwoman Nan Fey to snap the deadlock. Under existing city ordinances, the developers could build no closer than 140 feet to Lake Mendota without a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. But exempting the project from shoreland zoning will allow a new hotel tower within 16 feet of Lake Mendota, the same distance as the current 1940s era hotel. It also removes the specter of a court challenge, since decisions by the Zoning Board of Appeals can only be appealed in Circuit Court. "We'll take it," said a smiling Bob Dunn after the narrow vote by the commission. But the decision brought charges of special treatment for the developers and an erosion of the review powers of the Zoning Board of Appeals. Particularly outraged was commission member Mike Basford, who also serves on the zoning board. "We are making an exemption for a single private project," said Basford. "Where does it all end?" The panel almost made no decision at all. Commission member James Boll had proposed allowing the City Council to make the final call on changing the zoning ordinance. "This is what they were elected to do," said Boll.

City Council president, Ald. Tim Bruer, announcing a special meeting for the council on Feb. 24. The Edgewater Hotel redevelopment is intended to come before the council on Feb. 23, and with several votes to be had on the rezoning for the project, conditional use for waterfront development, tax increment financing agreement and a change to the city's zoning ordinance, council leadership seems to be trying to avoid a repeat of the Dec. 15 council meeting that ended at 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 16.

The Fitchburg Zoning charrete is officially under way. Consulting firm PlaceMakers gave a presentation on what form based code is Monday night to a large group of residents of around 70 at the Community Center. After the presentation, those in attendance were split into groups, given maps and asked to decide what would be appropriate development for areas on the map. The following night, Alder Steve Arnold and Mayor Jay Allen gave the Common Council a summary of the charrette so far and what is to come. Allen said he has had concern over some of the information out in the public about the zoning code rewrite, that is was being misunderstood. He said charrette meetings were already helping in people's understanding of the process. "I felt really confident talking with several of our developers today that they're getting their questions answered," Allen said. "We're not done yet. A lot came in with a lot of questions, they still have some questions but we got a lot done today. Hopefully by tonight people will at least be comfortable with were we are." Arnold said the large public meetings, especially Wednesday night's, were a chance for residents to see their input in action after seeing the designs made by the planners.

An oversight in Dane County's plans for the new Badger Prairie Health Care Center near Verona has raised questions about a double standard for public versus private development. The county broke ground last year on the $21 million nursing home for seniors with special needs. The project is half-finished and on schedule to be completed by November. But in the last two months, county officials learned they hadn't consulted with the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District to extend sewer service to the new building. Jon Schellpfeffer, district director, said the county skipped the steps that private developers have to follow before extending service. The county may owe the district as much as $80,000 in sewer connection fees, he said. "It was an odd set of circumstances," Schellpfeffer said, describing how he and another engineer who lives in Verona brought the issue to the county's attention in January after seeing the new construction. "Somehow it slipped through the cracks." As district engineers reviewed the project, they discovered a potentially more serious problem -- part of the facility is being built outside the approved area for sewer extensions, a violation of state law. The Capital Area Regional Planning Commission must now approve an extension of the sewer service area, something typically done before a project is allowed to break ground.

The Madison School District is facing a $30 million budget hole for 2010-11, a dilemma that could force school board members this spring to order massive cuts in programs, dramatically raise property taxes, or impose a combination of both. District officials will unveil a list of possible cuts -- which could include layoffs -- next month, with public hearings to follow. "This is a big number," School Board President Arlene Silveira said. "So we have to look at how we do business, we have to look at efficiencies, we have to look at our overall budget, and we are going to have to make hard decisions. We are in a horrible situation right now, and we do have to look at all options." Even with the maximum hike in school property taxes -- $28.6 million, or a jump of $312.50 for the owner of a $250,000 Madison home -- the district would have to close a $1.2 million budget gap, thanks in part to a 15 percent drop in state aid it had to swallow in 2009-10 and expects again for 2010-11.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced today the county is hosting an upcoming seminar to help prospective small business owners network, learn business strategies, and share information. The seminar is specifically aimed at minority and women-owned businesses, but all are encouraged to attend this worthwhile and free workshop. The February 23rd seminar is entitled “The Raw Realities of Business”. An expert panel to share advice and ideas for business owners and those thinking of starting a new business will join Cathy Smith, of IDEA. Ms. Smith and her expert panel will share the realities of some of the most common business challenges. “During these challenging economic times, it’s essential to help develop entrepreneurs of all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds to ensure continued job creation and economic growth in our county,” Falk said. “The Raw Realities of Business” will be held February 23rd, 2010 from 5:00 until 7:30 p.m. at the Alliant Energy Center, Wingra Room, 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way in Madison. The session is intended to help prospective or current business owners with expected gains and losses, potential business roadblocks, as well as offers networking opportunities. Those interested in more information about the seminar should contact Colleen Clark in the Dane County Office of Equal Opportunity at 608-266-3022 or at: clark.colleen@co.dane.wi.us.

Two years ago, Gov. Jim Doyle gathered with officials from an Austrian company to tout a new factory in Madison for manufacturing high-tech medical devices. The owners of AlliedPanels predicted their Wisconsin facility would soon employ more than 200, producing parts for major firms like GE Medical or Siemens. Doyle helped the effort along by awarding $250,000 in technology zone tax credits from the state. Things have not gone exactly as planned, however. The global recession in late 2008 that sent stock markets plummeting and left banks reeling dealt a serious blow to the medical devices industry. Hospitals and clinics quickly found they were unable to secure financing for costly expansions or new equipment. Orders were canceled, building plans were put on hold.

Local bellwether companies like TomoTherapy, which makes cancer treating machines, and Erdman Associates, which designs medical clinics, felt the pinch. Both ended up laying off significant numbers of employees last year. As a result of the economic downturn, AlliedPanels North America hasn’t lived up to the early hype. Today, the firm counts 10 employees working out of leased space on Triangle Street in the village of McFarland.

“Everything was looking pretty good and then we just got hammered by the recession,” says Lyle Gold, 48, vice president of sales for AlliedPanels North America.

A panel discussion on historic landmark preservation ordinances, hosted by the Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren law firm, will be held on Feb. 25, at the penthouse at the 1000 N. Water St. office tower, where the firm is based. Historic Milwaukee Inc. is organizing the discussion, which will be moderated by Bruce Block, a partner at the Reinhart firm. Panelists are Ald. Robert Bauman, former Ald. Mike D'Amato, city historic preservation planner Paul Jakubovich, and architectural historian Jim Draeger. Bauman is a member of the Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission, and D'Amato is a former commission member. There will be a cocktail hour starting at 6 p.m., with the panel discussion starting at 7 p.m. The panel discussion price is $10 for members of Historic Milwaukee Inc., Fuel Milwaukee and UPAF's Next Generation Council, and $15 for non-members. University students can get in for $7.The cocktail hour tickets are sold separately. They run $15 for members and $20 for non-members. The discussion is the first of three scheduled for this year. The other two discussions will be on the Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative, set for March 25, and on the nexus of performing arts and architecture, set for April 29. Tickets for the entire series are $25 for members and $40 for non-members, with the cocktail tickets costing $45 and $55 for the series. For more information, contact Anna-Marie Opgenorth, Historic Milwaukee executive director, at anna@historicmilwaukee.org

The state hopes a new initiative to preserve farmland can "cluster farms together" and encourage farmers, businesses and local governments to invest in agriculture, a group of state and county planners explained last week at a four-town meeting at Dunkirk Town Hall. The Working Lands Initiative (WLI), which includes a program that uses "conversion fees" to transfer development rights among landowners, became effective Jan. 1, and about 40 people from surrounding areas packed into the building to hear an explanation of what the new law means to them. While the conversion fees are mandatory, the other pieces are voluntary, officials from the state Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection explained at the Jan. 28 meeting. Agricultural Enterprise Areas (AEAs), for example, provide tax credits to keep large agricultural areas in the farming business. "It's another tool in your toolbox to help keep agriculture activities in your community," DATCP policy initiatives adviser Vicki Elkin said of AEAs. A more controversial element is the Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easements (PACE) plan. On Jan. 1, the state began imposing fees of three times the assessed value of land rezoned from farmland preservation to a developable category. The money is intended to help fund grants to landowners who create permanent development restrictions on their land.

These vacancies can be hard to fill. In Sauk City, about 25 miles northwest of Madison, its been more than four years since fire destroyed two downtown businesses. In the Walworth County village of Sharon on the Wisconsin-Illinois border, the fire came in 2006, taking with it the community’s only grocery store and another building. And since April, fires have left gaps in downtown Richland Center, Blanchardville and in the northwestern Wisconsin community of Durand. It’s anyone’s guess when or if the holes in the heart of the communities will again be made whole. “I’d love to see a project here,” said Morey “Doc” Moseman, who bought one of the two lots in downtown Sauk City as an investment. “It’s a great little town and I’d love to see it happen, but financially you look at it and the risk is huge.” A weak economy, tightened credit, empty store fronts, low profit margins and high construction costs make replacing a building destroyed by fire a tall order, officials say. Some communities have succeeded while others remain in limbo. In at least two cases, vacant land has been purchased by local governments. A few lots have been revitalized. But in many communities, there is concern. Dennis Marty, village president of Blanchardville in northeastern Lafayette County, doesn’t know what’s in store for his downtown after a December fire killed four people. The 106-year-old Ryan Hotel building was damaged beyond repair. The three-story brick structure has been removed but with little industry in the community of 800 and a small retail district, Marty, who owned the building from 1979 to 1993, said he doesn’t know if it’s financially feasible for someone to rebuild.

A 149,000-square-foot building in West Allis, formerly leased to Sam's Club, might be redeveloped after being vacant for 10 years, according to city Development Director John Stibal. The city Community Development Authority this week designated the property, at 801 S. 60th St., as bligted. That designation gives the building's owner, an investment group led by developer Joel Lee, the option to seek a city bond issue to help finance the property's redevelopment, Stibal said.The city bond issue would not involve a loan by the city. It would allow the developer to sell tax-exempt bonds to investors, which means the developer can borrow funds from bond purchasers at a lower interest rate. Lee doesn't have a specific plan yet for redeveloping the building, Stibal said. It has been vacant since Sam's Club moved in 1999 to a building developed at 1540 S. 108th St., he said.

The Waters of Minocqua, a well-known northern Wisconsin resort, is the target of a foreclosure suit filed in Oneida County Circuit Court. Reporter Joe VanDeLaarschot, of The Lakeland Times, has the details.

The Milwaukee Department of City Development continues to seek public input as it completes its proposed citywide policy plan. The plan includes recommendations regarding land use, housing and neighborhoods, economic development, cultural resources, natural resources, transportation, community facilities, utilities, and intergovernmental cooperation. It is the culmination of a six-year effort that has produced 13 area plans already approved by the Common Council and Mayor Tom Barrett. The draft citywide plan, including a summary, is available here. It will be considered by the Plan Commission at its Monday meeting, where commissioners will hear public comments. The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. at 809 N. Broadway. You can also submit comments online until Friday. Hundreds of people have already participated in developing the comprehensive plan and the area plans through sessions led by the department. The plan includes input from people representing neighborhoods, organizations, property owners and businesses.The Common Council could act to approve the citywide plan as soon as March 2.

Veteran political operative Martin Schreiber will lead the push for a transit sales tax and expanded regional transit authorities, the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority decided Monday. The authority approved an $18,000 contract for Schreiber, the former acting governor, and his lobbying firm through April. At the same time, senior business leaders such as Ed Zore, chief executive officer of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., and Tim Sullivan, chief executive officer of Bucyrus International Inc., have traveled to Madison to personally lobby legislators to support the transit bill, RTA communications consultant H. Carl Mueller said. The legislation would create three interim transit authorities to take over the Milwaukee County, Racine and Kenosha bus systems. The Milwaukee County Board could levy a sales tax of up to 0.5% to finance its transit authority, while Racine and Kenosha could use hotel taxes, vehicle registration fees or property taxes for their authorities. All those bodies would eventually merge into the existing RTA, which is overseeing the planned KRM Commuter Link rail line.In Milwaukee County, imposing the full amount of the sales tax would replace existing property tax revenue and produce additional dollars to roll back years of service cuts and fare increases for the county transit system. Regional planners have warned the bus system could face major service cuts unless it is weaned off the property tax.

A new study by the National Association of Home Builders says the home building industry in Wisconsin more than pays for itself, providing new income and jobs for state residents along with added revenue for state and local governments. According to the study, every 1,000 single-family homes built this year in Wisconsin will generate a cumulative $209.5 million in revenue, compared to $195.6 million in added costs over the next 15 years. By the end of the first year, the study found, the housing industry's economic impact more than offsets costs, resulting in a fiscal surplus sufficient to pay off all debt and pay for additional government services. Collectively, new single-family housing produces a net income to state and local governments of $7.4 million in the first year, and of $475,000 each year after, the study said. Elliot Eisenberg, senior economist for the national group, will present his findings to a joint session of the Senate and Assembly housing committees from 11 a.m. to noon Thursday in room 412 East of the State Capitol. The Wisconsin Builders Association, made up of 25 local groups, includes more than 7,000 members.

Downtown business owner Chris Kahlow had planned to bypass her bank this spring to seek a loan from the city of La Crosse. But the financing she'd counted on to renovate two apartments in her pair of Pearl Street buildings now might not be available. Planning Director Larry Kirch said his department is so weakened by a city hiring freeze he's suspending work on 32 programs, plans and reports - including small business and upper floor renovation loans and administration of tax increment financing. These simply won't get done without staff, Kirch warned. He turned down a downtown businessman last week who was saving up to meet the 20 percent match for the city's 80/20 Architectural and Engineering Analysis Grant Program. "I won't be doing that project without the loan from the city," Kahlow said. "The banks have really put businesses in a credit squeeze. I really doubt my banker will want to take that kind of risk." Renovating a historic structure to bring it up to current standards is more difficult and expensive than building new, she said. The Upper Floor Renovation Loan Program helped level the playing field for rehabilitating existing sites. Mayor Matt Harter instituted a loose hiring freeze in May 2009. By September, City Hall had 24 vacancies. The Parks and Recreation Department anticipates four more open positions and considered scaling back its Neighbors' Day role.

WHEDA to begin lending again March 1

Wisconsin's affordable housing agency, which stopped making mortgage loans 17 months ago when the financial crisis left it unable to sell its mortgage bonds, plans to return to the market March 1 with a new loan product. The new product from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, or WHEDA, is linked to an Obama administration initiative in which the U.S. Treasury will purchase securities of Fannie Mae that are backed by mortgage-revenue bonds issued by WHEDA and housing finance agencies in other states. WHEDA said it will be the first state housing finance agency to offer it. WHEDA plans to release details about the new loan offering Friday at 11 a.m. at the WHEDA offices in Madison. The announcement will be Webcast live at www.wheda.com. Until the markets for mortgage-related bonds froze in October 2008, WHEDA was able to raise money for its below-market interest rate mortgages to first-time buyers by selling mortgage-revenue bonds to investors. It was handling about $10 million in mortgages per week, and had been the lender of first choice for many buyers who qualified. WHEDA Director Antonio Riley will be joined at the announcement Friday by Steve Hansen of Associated Bank, who is president of the Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association, and John Horning of Shorewest Realtors, chairman-elect of the Wisconsin Realtors Association.

Existing home sales stable, prices slip in 2009

The sales surge in the final period of the year was driven largely by people trying to take advantage of a federal tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers, which originally was set to expire Dec. 1. Boosted by a fourth-quarter rally, sales of existing homes in Wisconsin last year slightly topped totals in 2008, but the median sale price fell. There were 53,751 homes sold by Realtors in the state last year, up less than 1% from 53,279 in 2008, according to a report released Thursday by the Wisconsin Realtors Association.At the same time, the median price of homes sold by Realtors in the state last year slipped 7.7%, to $143,000 from $155,000, the trade group said. Nationally, the median single-family home price dropped 11.9% in 2009.The sales surge in the final period of the year was driven largely by people trying to take advantage of a federal tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers, which originally was set to expire Dec. 1. As a result of the tax credit, many of the homes sold in 2009 were more likely to be starter homes, which brought down the median sale price, the Realtors group said.

Home sales in Wisconsin rallied in the fourth quarter after steady improvements throughout the year, bringing final 2009 existing home sales back to their 2008 levels, according to the year-end analysis of home sales conducted by the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association (WRA). At the same time home prices were down by modest margins, as they were in much of the Midwest, but down much less than in other parts of the country. “In the end, Wisconsin home sales in 2009 were unchanged from 2008,” said WRA President William Malkasian, “but it was really a tale of two halves. The first half of the year was down significantly compared to 2008, and the second half of the year grew at a very healthy rate.” According to the REALTORS®’ report, fourth quarter home sales in Wisconsin were 25.6 percent above the same quarter in 2008. Malkasian explained this was due to several factors including favorable interest rates and the federal first-time home buyer’s tax credit. “Mortgage rates remained at historic low levels, just under 5 percent in the fourth quarter, and first-time home buyers were scrambling to get their homes closed when they thought the federal tax credit was expiring at the end of November 2009,” Malkasian said. “With sales improving each quarter last year, the general trend for the future is favorable,” he said, but cautioned, “While the recession is probably officially over, we really need to start seeing healthy job growth before the economy truly starts to recover.” Unemployment stood at 8.7 percent in December, and Wisconsin seasonally adjusted employment dropped by nearly 120,000 jobs in 2009.

The Milwaukee-area office market posted larger fourth quarter vacancy rates than the national average, but performed much better with its higher-priced buildings, according to a new survey. Downtown Milwaukee posted a 20.4% vacancy rate for the period ending Dec. 31, compared to a national downtown office vacancy rate of 14.2%, according to the Colliers International report. But downtown Milwaukee's vacancy rate for Class A space, i.e., the higher-priced office towers, was 13.1%, compared to the national rate of 13%.A similar picture appears for the suburban Milwaukee market, where the overall vacancy rate was 19%, compared to 16.6% nationally. For area suburban Class A space, the vacancy rate was 16.7%, compared to 17.4% nationally. In the industrial market, the Milwaukee area posted an 8% vacancy rate, compared to a national rate of 10.9%. Milwaukee "is faring relatively well compared to other markets – particularly in industrial, where we have one of the lowest vacancy rates in the nation," said James T. Barry, president of Colliers Barry, the local Colliers International affiliate. "If we are indeed beginning the recovery phase of the real estate cycle, I think Milwaukee will be well positioned to come out of the recession in a better position than in previous recessions," Barry said.

Thornton, Colo.-based consumer electronics retailer Ultimate Electronics Inc. apparently plans to soon enter the Milwaukee area with a store at the former Greenfield Circuit City, near Southridge Mall. Ultimate filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005, and was sold that year to Mark Wattles, who became chief executive officer. Wattles also is a former major shareholder at Circuit City, which went out of business a year ago. The Greenfield Circuit City, at 4585 S. 76th St., closed in March. Executives at Ultimate didn't return my phone calls. But the company is advertising for a manager for the Greenfield store. Chuck Erickson, Greenfield's planning director, told me the rumors are that Ultimate is interested in the former Circuit City site. Jim Dentici, whose family owns the 43,000-square-foot buildilng, declined to comment, and referred any questions to Ultimate Electronics. Wattles, founder and former CEO of Hollywood Video, "has an ambitious long-term plan to take Ultimate Electronics national and go head-to-head with Best Buy and Wal-Mart in the wake of Circuit City’s precipitous downfall last year," according to Colorado Biz Magazine.By the end of 2010, Ultimate plans to open 70 new stores, according to the magazine. It now operates 32 stores in nine states. The Greenfield store would be the first in Wisconsin.

The towering coal piles near University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Great Lakes WATER Institute cannot be moved. So the institute, and the future home of UWM's new School of Freshwater Sciences, might be leaving the neighborhood. UWM officials said Monday they are reconsidering plans to build the water school next to the institute, which overlooks the harbor at 600 E. Greenfield Ave. The university is instead studying the option of moving the institute, and building the school, at a business park planned for the Reed Street Yards, on the Menomonee River Canal south of the Harley-Davidson Museum. UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago is taking a closer look at the Reed Street Yards after learning that the coal piles, located just across the street from the institute, will be staying for the foreseeable future. The coal storage facility makes it difficult to raise money for the freshwater school's construction and operations, said Tom Luljak, vice chancellor of university relations. "It's very difficult to sell the Greenfield site to a donor," Luljak said. He said the coal piles also make it more difficult to recruit faculty and students to the school, which will offer graduate level courses to train water scientists and engineers. The coal, used at the We Energies power plant in the Menomonee Valley, is on city-owned land under lease to bulk storage terminal operator Kinder Morgan Inc. Department of City Development officials looked for alternative sites for the coal, but there isn't a parcel along the harbor that's large enough and has a harbor front deep enough to accommodate barges, said Rocky Marcoux, development commissioner. Marcoux has proposed street upgrades, including a boulevard strip, to improve Greenfield Ave.'s appearance. He also proposed creating a 20-foot high wall between Greenfield Ave. and the coal piles.

The Milwaukee area apartment market will remain among the stronger local markets in the Midwest, but conditions among cheaper Class C apartment properties will weaken this year as owners seek to fill empty units. That's according to the new 2010 National Apartment Report by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. “Despite softening in 2009, conditions in the local apartment market have been sturdier than those in many Midwestern metros in recent years,” said Matthew Fitzgerald, regional manager of Marcus & Millichap’s Milwaukee office, in a statement. Among the conclusions from the local report: *Nearly 470 units are slated to come online in 2010, expanding inventory by 0.5%. *The vacancy rate is forecast to reach 5.5% this year, up 30 basis points from 2009. *Asking rents are expected to fall 2.4% to $784 per month in 2010, while effective rents will decrease 2.9% to $743 per month, returning concessions to 2004 levels.The firm’s annual National Apartment Index, which ranks 44 apartment markets, has Milwaukee at No. 17, down from No. 12 in 2009.

The fields of Iowa County were frozen, snow-covered and windswept, but the discussion here Wednesday was about carrots and onions. A handful of area farmers gathered at Sam & Maddies Restaurant for an informational meeting about a proposed $3 million quick-frozen food processing plant in Highland, in western Iowa County. The 10,000-square-foot facility, which could be completed in time to process this fall's harvest, would freeze vegetables grown locally and sell the products as ingredients to school districts, universities and private companies with their own cafeterias. The products would not compete against large providers but harness the demand for locally grown foods. "The reason (wholesalers) are interested is consumers wanting it," said Mark Olson, a Spring Green herb farmer who is leading the project. "They want to sell what their customers want. The goal of this plant is that local foods or regional foods are not costing more than a couple of cents more than the traditional choices." The project began last year as a cooperative, but Olson said that business plan was dropped in favor of a limited liability company model that was more attractive to investors. Grants would also be sought, but the majority of the financing would come from bank loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Olson said. The plant is planned for 2.5 acres of in the village of Highland's industrial park but the land has not yet been purchased.

Governor Jim Doyle today announced that Promentis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, will receive a $250,000 Technology Venture Fund loan from the Department of Commerce to continue development of pharmaceuticals that treat psychiatric and neurological disorders. “Promentis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is exactly the type of company our state should be investing in– companies that are developing innovative solutions in the biotechnology industry,” Governor Doyle said. “I am pleased we can assist this company in its growth and development.” Promentis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is developing pharmaceuticals for the treatment of major psychiatric, behavioral and neurological disorders. The initial focus of the company will be to develop a novel class of anti-psychotic medications for the treatment of schizophrenia. The company is currently in the process of developing a high throughput platform for future clinical trials. The company will use the funds for working capital and to continue testing the new product class. Total project cost is $3.5 million.

Four of Wisconsin’s banks have been ranked among the 150 best performing banks in the country in 2009 in the annual “Bank Performance Scorecard” by Bank Director magazine. Milwaukee-based Bank Mutual Corp. was the highest-ranking Wisconsin financial institution, ranking 57th. The other Wisconsin-based banks on the list were: Green Bay-based Associated Banc-Corp., 72 nd, Milwaukee’s Marshall & Ilsley Corp., 135 th,Madison’s Anchor BanCorp., 148 th. The annual ranking analyzes the 150 largest banks and thrifts in the U.S. and ranks them by profitability, capital adequacy and asset quality. Ranking is based on performance over the last two quarters of 2008 and the first two quarters of 2009. Anchor Bank still absorbing losses. Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin Inc. (ABCW) announced a fiscal third quarter net loss of $9.0 million, or 58 cents per share, which was an improvement over a net loss of $72.0 million for the previous quarter and $167.1 million for the same period a year ago. As a result of the third quarter loss, ABCW remains undercapitalized at the bank level according to the terms of the Order to Cease and Desist by the Office of Thrift Supervision. Being undercapitalized subjects the bank to several operating restrictions, including increased premiums for deposit insurance, prior approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in order to access brokered deposits, and increased scrutiny by the Office of Thrift Supervision. The company is taking the following actions effort to improve its capital position: continued reduction of balance sheet through loan sales and other strategies; the sale of 11 non-core branches planned to close in first half of 2010; improvement of profitability through continued cost reduction initiatives; and entering into agreements with Badger Anchor Holdings LLC, which will make an investment of more than 483 million shares of common stock at 60 cents per share, for an aggregate equity investment of up to $290 million.

Seven of 20 indicators of business activity in the Milwaukee area registered improvement in December, according to a monthly report by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC). This marks the highest number of improvements posted since August 2008 and an upturn from the five improvements posted in November. “In recent months the aggregate picture of local economic indicators suggests that Milwaukee’s economy has turned the corner and is on the mend,” said Bret Mayborne, economic research director for the MMAC. “While Milwaukee’s economy is likely to continue to improve throughout 2010, it will take the better part of this year, perhaps all of this year, before the local economy posts real year-over-year employment growth.” The improved MMAC survey results affirm a BizTimes survey of the board of directors of the MMAC's Council of Small Business Executives (COSBE), in which more than 89 percent of the respondents said they believe the worst of the recession has passed and the economy is on the rebound. Highlights of the MMAC's report today include: Three of Milwaukee’s 10 major industry sectors posted year-over-year employment increases. The highest gain came in the educational & health services sector, which posted a 0.7-percent gain from the same month a year ago. The heaviest percentage decline was posted in the construction, mining & natural resources sector, down 14.1 percent from year-ago levels.; New car registrations in the metro area rose 28.1 percent in December over year-ago levels, this indicator’s first increase in four months and only the second year-over-year increase in 2009; Mortgages recorded in Milwaukee County rose 54 percent to 2,933 - this indicator’s seventh consecutive rise; Air passenger statistics at Mitchell International Airport finished 2009 strongly with four consecutive months of double-digit gains. Passengers numbered 728,067 in December, a 33.9-percent increase over year-ago levels.

The unemployment rate in the U.S. fell to 9.7 percent in January from 10 percent in December, 2009, according to a report issued by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. The manufacturing sector, as a whole, gained about 11,000 jobs last month. The sector’s best performers were motor vehicles and parts and the plastic and rubber products sectors, which gained 23,000 and 6,000 jobs respectively. The gains in those sectors offset losses in other manufacturing sectors, the report says. Other manufacturing-related areas such as construction, transportation and warehousing, continued to lose jobs last month. Construction employment fell by 75,000, while transportation and warehousing lost 19,000 jobs, the report states.

Developer Jeffrey Klement, of Icon Development Corp., has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after running into several foreclosure suits involving development sites and suburban condominium projects in the Milwaukee area. Klement, in a recent filing, listed assets of $3.6 million, and liabilities of $27.9 million.The largest unsecured creditors are real estate lenders and investors, including Amcore Bank, $5.6 million; Harris Bank, $2.55 million; M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank, $2,125,000; Waterstone Bank, $2 million; Robert Dobberstein, $1.4 million; USA Funding, $1.2 million; Guardian Credit Union, $1,075,000; Johnson Bank, $1 million; North Shore Bank, $1 million; Don Johnson, $1 million, and Raymond Schultz, $1 million. Klement was chief executive officer of Franklin-based Icon Development, which now is apparently defunct. Its phone number has been disconnected. He is part of the family that owns Klement Sausage Co., which is not involved in the bankruptcy filing. Icon developed several suburban condo projects before running into financial trouble when the housing slowdown hit. That led to a number of foreclosure suits, including some filed last year by North Shore Bank, Associated Bank and Harris Bank. Icon in 2007 unveiled plans to develop a medical office building, retail space, a luxury hotel and 118-unit condo tower east of Highway 45 and south of W. Burleigh St., in Wauwatosa. But that project didn't get built, and the development site--formerly the home to two car dealerships--was the subject of a foreclosure suit filed by Amcore Bank. Icon also ran into delays with its Vespera at Porticello project, a high-end condo development in Oconomowoc. Some of the largest unsecured creditors have ties to Vespera.

Changes don't satisfy Edgewater critics

Changes to the design of a proposed eight-story addition to the Edgewater hotel were not enough to satisfy a vocal minority of Mansion Hill residents and historic preservationists who told Madison's Urban Design Commission on Wednesday night that the project was still too big. Representatives of the Hammes Co. appeared before the commission again in an attempt to address concerns the group had with the appearance of the addition, a plaza area overlooking Lake Mendota and other design issues associated with the company's proposed renovation of the hotel. Late Wednesday, the commission had not yet voted on whether to give its initial approval to the project, which was rejected late last year by the Landmarks Commission but later resurrected by backers on the City Council. A vote was not expected until early today. "By no means do we want to suggest to you that this is a final design," Hammes President Bob Dunn said. But his architect, David Manfredi, later emphasized that changes made to better integrate the building with the lake were a "significant difference." The design changes do not get at what a vocal group of opponents see as its fatal flaws: It's too tall and too close to the street. "There's a diverting of attention from the scale and the mass of the tower and how it's really inappropriate for the Mansion Hill neighborhood," said John Sheean.

There is a future in poverty, and that unfortunate fact has become thought for food at the UW-Madison, where its poverty research program was chosen this week to host the nations research on meeting the needs of the hungry. More people short of money mean the science of food insecurity is not only constantly changing, but presenting challenges that need to be identified and met. The food stamp program alone will cost an estimated $60 billion this year. according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program delivered limited nutrition to one in eight Americans last October, a 22 percent increase in one year. UW-Madison’s Institute for Research on Poverty will establish a Center for National Food and Nutrition Assistance Research, funded with a federal grant of $1 million over four years. The center will be led by professor Judith Bartfeld, a nutrition researcher in the university’s Department of Consumer Science. The center’s work will identify what’s important, what needs attention, Bartfeld said. The food stamp and school lunch and breakfast programs are a few of the areas where the center will encourage innovation in research. The center would also attract and mentor scholars. “We aren’t limited to internal expertise in the kind of research we support,” she said. “We will be establishing priorities internally but will select the highest-quality proposals nationwide.” How those food assistance programs work together and in a broader context with economic, policy, health and food systems is what “we’re interested in researching,” she said. That not only involves what works but what doesn’t work. The center’s sponsor, the USDA’s Research Innovation and Development Grants Program, is keen to find out “how well programs are meeting needs, how they can do a better job, how effective are food stamps as economic stimulus, and what can (caseloads) tell us about changing poverty rates and patterns of need?” said Bartfeld. The center is a good fit for the poverty institute — the nation’s first poverty research center — which was founded in 1966 to study why Americans live in poverty and what can be done to end it. It has done research for the USDA’s program for the past 10 years.

Madison's Urban Design Committee gave initial approval to a Target store at the Hilldale Shopping Center. Alder Chris Schmidt told WISC-TV the project now goes to the Plan Commission Feb. 22, and if approved it goes to the common council March 2. Schmidt said final approval by the Urban Design Commission would be a condition of gaining permits to pursue construction, but isn't required to get Plan Commission or council approval. The proposed Target store would be two-levels, with 155,000 square feet of retail space above ground-level parking. It would fill what’s currently a 7-acre empty lot off University Avenue. There are already three other Target stores within 9 miles of the Hilldale location. In October 2008, a deal fell through to build a Whole Foods store at the Hilldale site.

Thursday's big news was the announcement that some $810 million will be spent in Wisconsin to create high-speed (110 mph) passenger rail service between Madison and Milwaukee in the next several years. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is pumped, and the squabbling between the "why-are-we-paying-this-ridiculous-sum-of-money" and the "time-for-rail-has-come-again" crowds has already begun. Thursday's Journal main story racked up some 69 comments in that vein. But given that the line is going to happen, the next big question is where will the Madison station be? Plan A is Dane County Regional Airport, but there was already a big push underway for a downtown stop at a site backers are calling "Yahara Station" near the intersection of First Street and East Washington Avenue. Matthew DeFour of the Wisconsin State Journal reports that the state will have the last word on station location, but that County Executive Kathleen Falk wants the airport and Mayor Dave would like a downtown stop. Maybe both could happen. Or something else entirely. Dane County Board Chairman Scott McDonell tells Joe Tarr of Isthmus he thinks the stalled Union Corners development at East Wash and Milwaukee Street would make more sense.And what about commuter rail? Steve Hiniker of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin tells Channel 3000 that the advent of high-speed rail will be good news for a potential local rail line that would serve Madison-area locations. That's been a hot topic around here ever since Gov. Jim Doyle approved the creation of a Regional Transit Authority, which has the power to tax citizens for transportation infrastructure.

While state lawmakers debate whether to help homeowners in foreclosure with a statewide requirement stipulating that lenders must agree to mediation sessions, in Dane County a similar decision already has been made. "You can't wait for the legislative process," said Marsha Mansfield, who works at UW-Madison's Law School and helped develop the local program. "Sometimes it's too slow, and there are people losing their homes today." Starting Monday, Dane County residents facing foreclosure will have the right to request a mediation session that could help them keep their homes. It's only an option, though, and lenders can decline mediation. The program, approved recently through an order by Dane County Circuit Court judges, will require a lender involved in a foreclosure action to provide the homeowner with a court-approved form informing them of the mediation program's existence. If an eligible homeowner requests mediation and the lender agrees to participate, a session will be conducted by volunteer mediators from the Dane County Bar Association. UW-Madison Law School students will help families prepare for the sessions. A key requirement for participating is that the home must be owner-occupied, program officials said. "It's really a lifeline that didn't exist before," Kate Nardi Sullivan, a member of the Dane County Foreclosure Prevention Taskforce, said about the program. The Taskforce is helping to support the law school program. "This new tool can really make resolution (of mortgage problems) more efficient." The program is modeled after one organized by the city of Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Foreclosure Partnership Initiative and Marquette University's Law School last summer. Financial support for the programs comes from the state Department of Justice.

Since 2003, Madison has been stingy with its Affordable Housing Trust Fund, hoping to build a $10 million endowment to help developers and nonprofits acquire and build low-cost housing. But the city will soon consider a proposal to more aggressively invest the fund, which stands at $4.1 million. The change, long mulled by housing advocates and now emerging from the city's Affordable Housing subcommittee, would also let developers and nonprofits tap the fund for administrative and other operating expenses and for repair, preservation and upgrades of existing units. "Using the money is the appropriate thing to do," said Ald. Michael Schumacher, 18th District, a subcommittee member. "Keeping the money sitting around doesn't do us any good." Schumacher, who will introduce the proposal to the City Council on Tuesday, stressed that committees must still hammer out details over the next months. "Generally, people want to get the money out in the street to help more folks and create more affordable housing," said community development director Bill Clingan, adding that the debate will be over using the fund for operations and maintenance. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said he'll consider using the money more quickly but will oppose using it for operations.The council created the fund as a renewable source.

Bill Schroeder has no trouble picking out the lowest moment in the nine-month ordeal he and his wife, Dawn, experienced as they tried and ultimately failed to save their home in Lodi. Bill Schroeder has no trouble picking out the lowest moment in the nine-month ordeal he and his wife, Dawn, experienced as they tried — and ultimately failed — to save their home in Lodi. Hands down, he said, it was the 72 hours he spent in UW Hospital's psychiatric ward on an involuntary hold in November.

An Associated Bank representative helped put him there, Schroeder said, after an ill-advised remark Schroeder, 47, made as the two men talked on the phone about the couple's missed mortgage payments and the growing likelihood that the bank would take the house where the couple had raised two children and lived for the past 17 years. As Schroeder recalls it, the conversation grew heated. He says the bank rep at one point called him "worthless" and said he didn't care what happened to the house because the bank would get its money when it was sold out from under them. "I made an offhand response," Schroeder said. "I said, ‘Maybe I'll just go get my gun and shoot myself and you can have my life insurance.'" They hung up and Schroeder made a trip to the grocery store. When he got back, a police car was in his driveway to take him to the hospital. The bank rep had called the police. Schroeder says he wasn't serious about harming himself, but he said the hospital stay, after so many months of "stress and severe anxiety" in dealing with the bank and trying to avoid foreclosure, wasn't without value.

Madison Sourdough, 6640 Mineral Point Road, has been purchased by two of its bakers, Andrew Hutchison and David Lohrentz. The business was sold by Cameron Ramsay, who founded the company in 1994. The purchase price was not disclosed. The sale included the company's 20-year-old sourdough starter. Hutchison, who studied art prior to apprenticing at Madison Sourdough for four years, will lead production and product development. Lohrentz, who has a graduate degree in entrepreneurship, and previously worked in Madison as a commercial lender and a commercial real estate broker, will be in charge of marketing and finance. The company's bread and pastries also are available in 18 local coffee shops, six grocery stores and 14 restaurants. Ramsay is now writing a book about bread baking.

A commercial-sized kitchen where farmers and culinary entrepreneurs can sauce tomatoes, pickle cucumbers or bake cookies is up and running in this western Dane County village, and is one of half a dozen "incubator" kitchens in the works throughout southern Wisconsin. The idea is to spawn dozens of food-based companies by providing access to critical business development assistance as well as larger, faster ovens, restaurant-grade equipment and more work space found in licensed commercial kitchens. "The real goal, in addition to sustainability, is economic development," said Dan Viste, owner of the Mazomanie Heritage Kitchen and Market, which opened late last year. "There seems to be this emerging interest in people who want to know where their food is coming from. If they buy local for the most part they can find out where it came from and what method was used to bring it that far." Leaders of the various incubator kitchens have collaborated with UW-Extension, which has built a network for them to share contacts, equipment and ideas in an effort to keep community kitchens moving forward. Statewide there are three other operating kitchen incubators — Algoma Farm Market Kitchen near Green Bay, a kitchen in the Coulee Region Business Center in La Crosse and one in Monroe — in addition to Viste's, said Anne Pfeiffer, agricultural innovation specialist with UW Extension.

Madisons storied Greenbush neighborhood is at a pivot point, says Jim Woodward, president and CEO of Meriter Health Services. Unless steps are taken now to stem an emerging trend of property neglect, the neighborhood wont be as good a place to live or do business 10 years from now, he says. So Meriter is preparing to step up and jump-start reinvestment in its own neighborhood with a “workforce housing” initiative to lend employees money to enable them to buy houses in the neighborhood and invest themselves in its success. Woodward’s goal is to prompt other neighborhood employers to develop similar programs, and to have all those efforts dovetail with other revitalization strategies for the Greenbush and Vilas neighborhoods now being developed with the help of a consultant. “The neighborhood is starting to deteriorate, and if the deterioration isn’t stopped, it will be an issue,” Woodward says.

Dogs could be barking, bounding, playing and peeing at two new dog parks on Madison's East Side this summer now that residents and city council members have decided on locations and the Parks Division is moving ahead with formal plans. The proposed sites at Demetral Field and the McCormick greenway still need approval from the Engineering Division and in the case of Demetral, a former landfill the state Department of Natural Resources. The proposed sites at Demetral Field and the McCormick greenway still need approval from the Engineering Division and — in the case of Demetral, a former landfill — the state Department of Natural Resources. But assuming all goes as planned, the parks could be open by late summer, parks officials say. There are now only two off-leash dog parks east of the Capitol, at Warner and Sycamore parks. The proposed parks at the corner of Commercial and Packers avenues in Demetral and in McCormick, north of Commercial and east of Starkweather Creek, would give people on the East Isthmus and Near East Side more immediate options for letting Fido run free.

Milwaukee Magazine will be moving to new offices at the end of March. The magazine, now at 417 E. Chicago St., will be leasing around 6,200 square feet at 126 N. Jefferson St. The 74,000-square-foot building, owned by an investment group led by Patrick LeSage, counts BizTimes Milwaukee, Arcadis and Core Creative among its tenants. The old and new locations are about two blocks apart in the Historic Third Ward. Milwaukee Magazine is a subsidiary of Quad/Graphics Inc., which last week announced plans for an initial public offering. The magazine has signed a 10-year lease at its new home, Editor Bruce Murphy told me. It has been in the Third Ward for over 24 years, he said.

WHen I broke Tuesday's story about the $15 million foreclosure suit filed against developer Boris Gokhman, I didn't know about a smaller action pending against him. The smaller suit, also filed by Madison-based Anchor Bank, claims that a company organized by Gokhman and partner Walter Shuk defaulted on two loans. Their company, Trakloc Midwest LLC, makes steel frames for commercial construction projects. Anchor says Trakloc Midwest owed $1.85 million, including interest and late fees, as of Jan. 22. The suit is seeking to foreclose on an industrial building Trakloc Midwest owns at 6500 W. Calumet Road, on Milwaukee's northwest side. The building has an assessed value of $1.25 million. Gokhman and Shuk, who operate development firm New Land Enterprises, personally guaranteed the loans, says the suit, filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. As with the other suit, Anchor also names their wives, Raisa Gokhman and Helen Shuk, as guarantors of the loans. Gokhman and Shuk are trying to negotiate a settlement with Anchor on both foreclosure suits, said Tim Gokhman, New Land's director of sales and marketing. A bank spokeswoman said Anchor would not comment on the suits.

Despite the foreclosure suit filed against developer Boris Gokhman, which includes the Habhegger properties among its targets, John and Anne Nehring remain committed to opening a Nehring Family Market at the Habhegger site. "I love the location," John Nehring told me Tuesday, after hearing about the foreclosure suit. "Boris has to get his stuff in line. As long as he can come out of this fine, we will move forward. I think he can clean this up." The suit, filed by Madison-based Anchor Bank, claims Gokhman and partner Walter Shuk owe nearly $15 million from some defaulted loans. The suit seeks to foreclose on the Habhegger site, at N. Water and E. Brady streets, where Gokhman's New Land Enterprises plans to develop housing and commercial space. The suit also targets the Oriental Theatre building, on Milwaukee's east, and the Fox Bay Building, in Whitefish Bay. New Land says it's negotiating to obtain a new loan with Anchor, and says it expects to resolve the dispute. The Nehrings in April announced plans to develop the upscale grocery at the Habhegger site.

Prominent local developer Boris Gokhman and his partner, Walter Shuk, are facing a $15 million foreclosure action that seeks to take control of three properties: the Oriental Theatre building and Habhegger buildings, both on Milwaukee's east side, and the Fox Bay Building, in Whitefish Bay. The suit, filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, claims that investment groups organized by Gokhman and Shuk have defaulted on loans from Madison-based Anchorbank. The loans are collateralized with the properties targeted by Anchor for foreclosure. Also, Gokhman and Shuk, who operate New Land Enterprises, each personally guaranteed the loans, the suit says. The amount owed on the loans, including late fees and interest, totals $14.8 million as of Jan. 22, according to the suit. "We have been in negotiations with Anchor Bank over the past month regarding these properties. Unfortunately, we have not yet agreed on the terms of our new loan with Anchor Bank," said Tim Gokhman, of New Land, in a statement. "We’re confident that we’ll be able to come to a mutually satisfactory conclusion in the very near future. In the meantime, we will continue to serve our existing and prospective tenants, and complete our plans for future development," Gokhman said. The Oriental Theatre building, 2216-2230 N. Farwell Ave., features the well-known cinema as well as other businesses, including Landmark Lanes. Gokhman and his partners purchased the building as part of a package deal that included a lot, at 1835 E. Kenilworth Place, just west of N. Farwell Ave. New Land planned to develop apartments on that lot. But the site was sold last year to developer Dermond Property Investments, which is now building the Latitude apartments there.

Sendik's Food Markets, which operates eight high-end supermarkets in the Milwaukee area, plans to add a store in New Berlin. The 44,000-square-foot store is planned for New Berlin Plaza, 3600 S. Moorland Road, and is expected to open by Nov. 1, reports Jane Ford-Stewart at New Berlin Now.com. Sendik's has a store and corporate headquarters in Whitefish Bay, and stores in Elm Grove, Germantown, Franklin, Greenfield, Grafton, Mequon and Wauwatosa. The chain is owned by members of the Balistreri family. Another family branch owns a Sendik's Fine Foods at 18985 W. Capitol Drive, Brookfield, and closed a store last summer at The Shoppes of Wyndham Village, in Franklin. Yet another family branch owns three Sendik's stores in Bayside, Brookfield and Milwaukee, while the Shorewood Sendik's is owned by John and Anne Nehring.

Emco Chemical Distributors Inc. is moving forward with its plan to move an operation from northern Illinois to Pleasant Prairie, bringing 100 jobs to that Kenosha County community. Emco is transferring 90 positions from North Chicago, and will also hire additional employees at the location in Pleasant Prairie's LakeView Corporate Park, according to an announcement by Village Administrator Mike Pollocoff. The Village Board on Monday approved a $10 million bond issue to help finance Emco's purchase and renovation of the 259,580-square-foot building, at 8601 95th St. Emco is responsible for paying back the debt generated by selling the bonds, and the village is not involved in lending the money or guaranteeing that it be repaid. Because the bonds are issued in the village's name, they are tax-exempt. That allows Emco to pay a lower interest rate to investors that buy the bonds. Both Lawter International Inc. and Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc. formerly occupied the property. Hexion shut down its operation in September.

High Pointe Office Center, 1200 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, has earned the Energy Star certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and is the highest-ranked Energy Star office building in Wisconsin, according to developer Wangard Partners Inc. Buildings carrying the Energy Star label consume, on average, roughly 35% less energy than other office buidings. With a 93 score on the program's 1 to 100 scale, the 127,000-square-foot High Pointe is in the top 7% of Energy Star certified office buildings nationwide, said Stewart Wangard, president of Wangard Partners.

A $1.3 million tax incremental financing district has been proposed to improve housing conditions in a neighborhood on Milwaukee's north side. A resolution, sponsored by Ald. Robert Bauman, directs the Department of City Development to create the TIF district for the area bounded by W. Galena St., W. State St., N. 20th St. and N. 24th St. Under such districts, cities usually borrow money to do street improvements and other activities to help encourage development. The money is paid back through property taxes generated by the new or improved buildings. The TIF district proposed by Bauman, known as Linden Hill Estates, "would focus on improving housing conditions in the neighborhood, including construction of owner-occupied infill housing, rehabilitation of existing owner-occupied housing and increasing the owner-occupancy rate," the resolution said. The improvements would include road work and the development of a neighborhood park. District funds would also provide grants for home repairs, and money to buy and demolish buildings to create lots for new houses. The proposal will be considered Tuesday by the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee.

A $225 million project in Milwaukee announced Tuesday would convert municipal and industrial waste into renewable energy. Alliance Federated Energy of Milwaukee announced that it plans to build Project Apollo, a project that is expected to create more than 250 construction jobs and 45 full-time jobs once it is operational. The 25-megawatt project would go online in 2013, and would deploy a plasma gasification technology developed by Westinghouse Plasma Corp. Under this technology, the municipal waste is not burned but is instead converted into a syngas that can be used to generate electricity, steam or biofuels. Several facilities are operating around the world, but there are no commercial plants operating yet in the United States, company spokesman Josh Morby said. The firm has an option on a site in the city of Milwaukee but the location is not being announced at this time, Morby said. The first phase of the renewable energy facility is expected to process approximately 1,200 tons of municipal and industrial waste per day, generating enough clean energy to power roughly 20,000 homes in the Milwaukee area.“ This commercially proven technology is the ultimate in recycling,” Christopher Maloney, Alliance chief executive, said in a statement. “And we are pleased to be building our first project right here in Wisconsin, a state committed to promoting environmental stewardship and technological innovation.” Alliance said it has gotten initial commitments from Badger Disposal of Wisconsin to supply about 30% of the waste feedstock for the energy project. Badger Disposal is an industrial waste management services company. Discussions are under way concerning the sale of power and syngas from the project. “We believe that plasma gasification technology has the potential to be a major player in the renewable energy market and are excited to be working with AFE on their Apollo Project,” said Bob Cutshall, president of CorVal-Ryan, the firm hired to design and construct the facility. “We have a number of plasma gasification based renewable energy projects in design or under construction and see that number growing in the coming years."

Magnetek Inc. said Tuesday it has received an order valued at $1.5 million for a liquid-cooled wind power inverter. Delivery of the inverters is scheduled to be completed by the end of June, the close of the company’s fiscal year. The liquid cool inverter is designed for applications where air cooling is unsuitable, such as near-shore wind turbines and turbines installed in corrosive environments, Magnetek said. The company is also developing liquid-cool inverter technology for its solar power inverters. “Leveraging our air cooled E-Force inverter platform, this new technology provides our customers with proven inverter performance and reliability for applications requiring advanced liquid cooled thermal management,” according to Brad Taylor, vice president and general manager of Magnetek’s energy systems business, in a statement. Inverters convert electrical current from the direct current that’s generated by wind turbines and solar panels into alternating current that flows onto the power grid. Energy inverters are one aspect of the product mix for Magnetek, which receives most of its sales from production of power control systems for material handling applications. The order was announced one day before Magnetek is scheduled to report its fiscal second quarter results. The company reported $98.2 million in sales in the fiscal year that ended in June.

We Energies on Tuesday began operation of its new coal-fired power plant in Oak Creek, after the contractor on the project completed testing of the plant. The $2.3 billion power plant, being built in phases, is the largest construction project in state history. In a filing with securities regulators, the utility said the unit was placed into commercial operation Tuesday – marking the completion of the transfer of the plant from the general contractor, Bechtel Power Corp., to the utility. We Energies will operate the 615-megawatt unit. Most of the power will serve We Energies customers, but two state utilities, Madison Gas & Electric Co. and WPPI Energy of Sun Prairie, will get the remainder. The two Dane County companies own 15% of the project. The second unit at Oak Creek is still under construction and scheduled to open later this year. Here’s what the company’s filing said: Our general contractor, Bechtel Power Corporation, has completed final performance testing of Unit 1 at the Oak Creek expansion, a 615 megawatt coal-fired generating unit. On February 2, 2010, the unit was placed into commercial operation and Wisconsin Electric Power Co. now has care, custody and control and will operate and maintain the unit.