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

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A standing-room-only crowd showed up to a public meeting in Madison Tuesday evening to hear, "the train is coming." The first question was by high-speed and commuter train opponent, Bill Richardson, who asked, is this a done deal? He received an affirmative response from State of Wisconsin DOT representatives. This preliminary public meeting, held in the Atrium Room of Olbrich Botanical Gardens, was organized by Alderperson Marsha Rummel. About 150 citizens attended. Rummel warned the public at the outset that the meeting was not part of the official public process and was intended to be a listening session. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz followed with brief remarks and his vision that the intercity high-speed rail linking Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison and eventually the Twin Cities would be an economic boon to Madison by bringing people together in the new economy. The Wisconsin DOT representatives followed with a brief history of the project that dates back to 1996. Wiconsin DOT (WDOT) Operations Director Paul Trombino and Federal DOT high-speed passenger rail program director John Oimoen made a brief presentation and answered questions. They reminded the audience that the Milwaukee-to-Madison high-speed rail project is part of the bigger picture of connecting Madison to the Twin Cities to complete an intricate regional high-speed rail network in the Midwest. They said the environmental assessment (EA) and environment impact statement (EIS) will be done next year on the Madison-to-Minneapolis Corridor.

With a court decision looming, some Dane County municipalities are frustrated by what they view as an increasingly political process for where and how they'll be allowed to grow. The Capital Area Regional Planning Commission allows municipalities to extend sewer service to new areas essentially controlling where municipalities expand. But critics say the commission, which was designed to evaluate projects' potential water quality impacts, should be applying objective scientific standards spelled out in the law rather than opinions about the negative impact of growth. "What's frustrating for communities is it's very much political," said Jeff Miller, commission member and DeForest Village President. He added that the process lacks black-and-white standards for approval. "That's what we're hoping the Mazomanie decision will do. It will give this commission direction as to what we should be basing our sewer expansion decisions on. "Dane County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Moeser is expected to rule by mid-summer on a case involving the village of Mazomanie, which applied for a 200-acre sewer expansion for 466 residential units and a grocery store in the Black Earth Creek watershed.

Looks like the people of Shorewood Hills may have hundreds of renters as new neighbors after all. The village board on Feb. 15 voted down a proposed 69-unit apartment building, amid concerns that there wasn't enough time to study the impact it would have on the character of the wealthy, mostly owner-occupied enclave. But now a new developer wants to build a 96-unit apartment house right across University Avenue in the city of Madison, where neighbors thus far have been receptive. On Wednesday, Madison's Urban Design Commission is scheduled to hear a presentation from Stone House Development, which hopes to build under the same state financing program for affordable housing as the failed village proposal. Bill Thomas, Shorewood Hills resident who favored the proposal to put apartments on the Pyare Square property in the village, said it made him laugh when he heard about the Madison proposal. "People were scared to death to have the unwashed - the renters - in the village," Thomas said. "Well now the apartment people are just across the street for crying out loud." Village board member Tim Rikkers said in December that he didn't want a large influx of "transient

For the past 18 months, before the federal tax credit for home purchases expired, the housing market and much of the media coverage of it nationwide has focused on younger buyers. But another demographic also has special needs, and their business won't stop just because the tax credit expired. Older people --known as "more mature buyers" in the industry -- are an important part of the market, but real estate agents must know how to work with them, according to Jane Roemer, a Madison agent who specializes in sales to older people. "The more mature buyer is a different buyer than the first-time home buyer or even a second-time home buyer," said Roemer, who also has advanced training in geriatrics and bereavement counseling. "They move more methodically," she said. "They would really prefer to eliminate all of the technology, the majority of them, and just sort-of do things face to face." That means no e-mails or texts to Blackberries or iPhones, though their children may like to be contacted that way. "And their children really are part of the purchasing process these days, too," Roemer added. "They are good consultants."

Making its first purchases in decades, the Dane County Housing Authority is getting the acquisition of three apartment buildings on Vernon Avenue through the city approval process. We want to increase our portfolio of affordable housing, said Carolyn Parham, DCHAs executive director. Well keep (the units) affordable and do the improvements. DCHA owns about 30 apartment units in Stoughton; including apartments at 1650 Hanson Road, on Veterans Parkway and on North Madison Street. However, none have been added in more than 30 years as federal funds to acquire housing had long been eliminated, said Parham. Federal funding has recently become available again and the owners of the apartments at 1601, 1623 and 1648 Vernon Avenue asked DCHA to buy them. “The owner approached us,” Parham said. “Our mission is to own affordable housing. We acquire suitable housing, and get any upgrades necessary. “In Stoughton, we’ll do roofing, siding and some interior improvements,” Parham added. DCHA is also acquiring an 8-unit apartment building in DeForest and is financing them and the Vernon Avenue apartments by assuming the $676,000 current federal loans on the properties. Rehabilitation work will be financed by $495,000 loan from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, said Parham.

Here’s how six citizens answered this weeks question posed by Capital Times freelancer Kevin Murphy. What do you think? Please join the discussion. "Yes. I'd hate it to close for lack of money. It brings a lot of people here. I go there with family to see plays and other events. I'm big into orchestra and would like to see the Overture continue. Those groups may not be able to perform anywhere else in town." Brittany Disch, administrative assistant, Madison

Part of the artificial turf from the Louisiana Superdome is helping KEVA Sports Center become more than just a wintertime indoor soccer facility. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. today to celebrate the opening of an expanded outdoor facility that can be used not just for sports leagues but also with corporate picnics and events for more than 1,000 people. The addition is helping KEVA, 8312 Forsythia St., expand its business during warmer months. “Summers are always going to be difficult, and it enables us to be busy during the down season,” said Eric Fritz, president of KEVA. “In order to really make the financial model work, you have to be open to a lot of uses. It isn’t just soccer. We take a look at whoever calls to see what will work.” The $300,000 project, which encompasses 80,000 square feet, includes 48,000 square feet of playing surface covered by year-old turf from the Superdome. The area also has a playground, three sand volleyball courts, a viewing deck and a picnic table area. The project is the first of a three-phase expansion at KEVA, known for its indoor soccer, lacrosse, volleyball and basketball leagues. Fritz built the 70,000-square-foot indoor facility, located near the Middleton Airport, in 1999. It has grown into one of the most popular spots for indoor athletics in Dane County. But the outdoor business is on the rise, too, with 100 adult volleyball teams and 72 adult soccer teams. More than 50 percent of KEVA’s business comes from adults, Fritz said.

The cash-strapped city of Madison does not encourage guerrilla gardening in public spaces, but the parks overseers appreciate the enthusiasm, especially if it can be turned into volunteerism. More than 150 volunteers tend flowers and plants in at least 50 Madison parks, said Laura Whitmore of the city’s Parks Division. “Any flower garden you see in a Madison park is maintained by volunteers,” she said. By checking with the Parks Division first, someone who wants to beautify a public space can also get “seed” money in the form of small grants, and have access to Olbrich Botanical Gardens’ leftovers, Whitmore said. It’s called the Marguerite Pohle Flower Gardens Program, started in 1986 with a bequest from a longtime resident. Joe Bonardi’s reaction to a neglected city park five years ago was the start of volunteer work that took root and spread because he just got fed up with no one doing anything about it. He took on the task of restoring Madison’s smallest (less than a quarter-acre) park, what was once the front yard of the Elisha W. Keyes House, at 102 E. Gorham St. on Mansion Hill, and since the 1970s, the Hypatia Cooperative. It then was a parking lot, then saved from quickie development in the 1970s and turned into a garden, then left to haphazard maintenance. When he found it, street people crashed there.

Ryan Martin had never been in a pawn shop before so he wasn’t sure what to expect when he entered the new Pawn America, carrying a Fender guitar amplifier to sell. But instead of walking into a dimly lit store in a seedy part of town, dealing with a guy behind iron bars wearing a visor, Martin was inside the former Circuit City big box at East Towne talking to a young woman in a white sports shirt. Martin ended up getting $200 cash for the amp, a good price considering he bought it used a year ago for $300. “I’d heard they were opening so I thought I’d better check it out,” says Martin, 33, who lives in Sun Prairie and works at American Family Insurance. “I was surprised how nice it is in here.” Which is exactly the point of Pawn America, a Twin Cities-based chain that’s working to put a kinder, gentler face on a business long associated with the down and out. “We’re changing the Hollywood stereotype of the pawn shop,” says Pawn America district manager Karl Hattman.

Fast-food restaurant chains would be banned in the Door County community of Sister Bay and other fast-food restaurants would be more tightly regulated under a newly proposed zoning ordinance. The village Plan Commission is to hold its initial discussion on the proposal at its Thursday meeting, said Robert Kufrin, village administrator. A second meeting on the proposed ordinance could occur the following week, and a public hearing could be scheduled as early as July 15, he said. The commission's recommendation would then go to the Village Board, which could act as early as Aug. 10, Kufrin said. The proposed ordinance was written after a Subway restaurant was proposed for Sister Bay. It would have been the first chain restaurant in the Door County peninsula north of Sturgeon Bay, the county seat. That plan ran into strong opposition. Door County vacationers and local tourism business operators say northern Door County's appeal as a travel destination includes its lack of fast-food chain restaurants. Opponents fear Subway and similar restaurants would hurt that appeal.

Republican state Sen. Mary Lazich charged Wednesday that the developer of a proposed housing development generating a firestorm in New Berlin turned to two Dane County Democratic senators to get support for tax credits after she refused to endorse the plan. But Lazich is dead wrong, the developer, MSP Real Estate, and the Dane County senators or their staff said Wednesday. MSP's director of development, Jacob Klein, said he never sought the support of Sen. Fred Risser (D-Madison) and Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) for the New Berlin project. Klein said he did ask them to send letters of support to the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority for MSP proposals in their districts and got their help. "She's a little confused with the facts," Klein said. In a related development, Ald. Ken Harenda called for a moratorium on development in the City Center and said he does not support workforce housing in that area. Lazich, of New Berlin, said in an interview that MSP called her office and told a member of her staff that Risser and Erpenbach were supporting the New Berlin project. "That's a written note I have from staff. It was very clear that the developer called and talked about New Berlin and never said anything about Madison projects," Lazich said, noting that MSP implied to her staff that Risser and Erpenbach had sent letters to WHEDA supporting the New Berlin proposal.

Foreclosure filings in May rose about 5% in Wisconsin from the same month last year, as jobless homeowners were unable to keep up with mortgage payments even as the economy was showing some signs of improvement. Unemployment is simply still too high, economists said. "A lot of it is just a matter of getting people back to work, getting income in people's pockets so that they can make those mortgage payments," said Brian Jacobsen, who teaches economics at Wisconsin Lutheran College. There were 2,311 foreclosure actions statewide in May, compared with 2,201 in May 2009, according to preliminary figures from ForeclosureAlarm.com of Madison. Statewide, May had 115 filings per business day, an amount that's been "relatively stable" for the past nine months, said Philip Crawford, founder of ForeclosureAlarm.com. Russell Kashian, a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater economics professor who is analyzing foreclosures in the state, said many of the foreclosures likely are among people who lost their jobs but were able to stay current on their mortgage until now.

Hitters Baseball Academy plans to move its operations from Racine to a 43-acre site in Franklin, where it plans to build an $8 million baseball complex. The property, currently vacant, is located on the north side of County Line Road, west of South 27th Street. The complex would include a 75,000-square-foot building with office space, weight lifting facilities, batting cages, pitching mounds and two indoor baseball infields. The complex would also include four, outdoor full-size artificial turf baseball fields.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee officials are set to announce Thursday that the new School of Freshwater Sciences will split its operations between the harbor and a site south of downtown. Most of the school's labs and classrooms apparently will be at an expanded UWM's Great Lakes WATER Institute, which overlooks the harbor at 600 E. Greenfield Ave. The school's headquarters, a conference center and some classrooms will likely be at a business park planned for Reed Street Yards, on the Menomonee River canal south of the Harley-Davidson Museum. The split, first reported as an option by the Journal Sentinel in March, resolves a conflict between UWM faculty and scientists, who want the school to be built on the harbor, where they have easy access to Lake Michigan, and UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago, who says an alternative site in a more attractive location would help raise corporate money for the $50 million project. Water industry executives say the school needs a high profile and an attractive environment to draw more water technology investors and businesses to Milwaukee. The environment on Greenfield Ave., where the institute is located, leaves a lot to be desired, they say. The Department of City Development has proposed street upgrades to improve the appearance of Greenfield Ave. and a 20-foot wall to reduce the visual impact of coal piles that are across the street from the institute. But the coal piles would remain an eyesore that makes it difficult to raise private sector funds for the freshwater school, Santiago says.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's newly announced decision to develop the School of Freshwater Sciences at two locations includes plans for a privately funded building, UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago said Thursday. The Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday that the water school would have labs and classrooms at UWM's Great Lakes WATER Institute, which overlooks the harbor at 600 E. Greenfield Ave., with the school's headquarters and other facilities at the Reed Street Yards, south of the Harley-Davidson Museum. Santiago, Mayor Tom Barrett and others provided more details at a morning press briefing. Santiago said UWM will build a $50 million addition to the institute. The 85,000-square-foot, four-story addition will be funded with state money, and will accommodate ecological research conducted by institute scientists and water school faculty and students.Also, the UWM Real Estate Foundation and the Milwaukee Water Council, a group that promotes the area's water technology industry, will seek private funds to develop a building at Reed Street Yards, an area bordered by S. 6th St., S. 3rd St., the Menomonee River canal and W. Florida St.That building, the size of which remains undetermined, will house labs to conduct applied research that has an engineering focus, said Santiago and Tom Luljak, UWM vice chancellor for university relations.

The sale of the financially troubled Park Lafayette condominium and apartment complex, on Milwaukee's east side, is moving closer. The foreclosure suit filed by New York-based Amalgamated Bank against Park Lafayette owner Renaissant Lafayette LLC is to be dismissed, the bank's attorney, John Van Lieshout, told Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Timothy Dugan at a Thursday hearing. That's according to online court records. Van Lieshout didn't respond to a request for comment. Renaissant attorney Forrest Lammiman told me a settlement hasn't been reached yet, but it's getting close. He also said discussions continue with at least one prospective buyer, Milwaukee developer Frank Giuffre. Renaissant Lafayette, led by Chicago developer Warren Barr, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December, after the bank filed a foreclosure suit. Amalgamated is owed $102.8 million, and the debt is secured by Park Lafayette and other Renaissant property, valued at $61.3 million, according to court records. Giuffre plans to operate the complex mainly as apartments--not condos--if he obtains ownership of the property.

It appears that golf fans attending the PGA Championship near Sheboygan this August will find a new I-43 interchange half-completed. The controversial project aimed at serving the Whistling Straits golf course involves forced land sales, a court challenge and funding from the course's owner. Work is to begin June 14 on the interchange at Rowe Road, in the Town of Mosel, under a contract awarded Wednesday by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, said department spokesman Kris Schuller. The work, on the interchange's southbound on-ramp to I-43, is be completed by July 24. But work on the interchange's northbound off-ramp from I-43 remains on hold, as DOT officials wait for the release of a conservation easement on land where that ramp would be built, according to the Sheboygan Press. "Unfortunately, with this year's tournament, it's not going to make it," Robert Wagner, a department official, told the newspaper. Plans called for the interchange to be open only during major golf events at nearby Whistling Straits. The state will pay half the costs of the interchange, with golf course owner Kohler Co. paying the remaining share. The interchange will only be used about a week or so every few years. It will otherwise be closed, as requested by Mosel officials who want to preserve the town's rural atmosphere.

Oak Creek might back down on eminent domain purchase of farm

Welcome back from the long holiday weekend. In case you missed this, it seems Oak Creek city officials have felt enough heat about a possible plan to use eminent domain to force a local farmer to sell his land for a business park. Oak Creek Now.com reported that news late Friday afternoon.

Mayor Jack Chiovatero on Tuesday apologized to New Berlin residents for saying in an e-mail last week that the city is filled with prejudiced and bigoted people. Chiovatero fired off the e-mail to a resident last week after he was bombarded with criticism over his support for a controversial multifamily and senior housing development approved for the City Center that includes so-called workforce housing. The mayor on Tuesday also said he was pulling his support for the project based on "public outcry and public opinion." Chiovatero said people wrongly assumed that workforce housing meant a low-income housing project. The workforce apartments actually were targeted at people earning about $35,000 or less a year, including some who work nearby at Wal-Mart or assisted living facilities but can't afford to live near where they work, according to city officials and developer MSP Real Estate.

Work begins on downtown Gold's Gym at long-vacant building

The plan to put a Gold's Gym in downtown Milwaukee, at 731 N. Water St., received final city approval recently from the Common Council. Above is a rendering of how the front of the long-vacant building will appear once the work is completed in November. Workers have already started removing asbestos from the building, said Sheldon Oppermann, of Compass Properties, the building owner. Gold is leasing five of the building's eight floors.

Well, not quite, but certainly a neighborhood or two or three or even more, if organizers of a new statewide effort to put more workers in homes near their jobs have their way. Built around a website at WisconsinHousingWorks.com, and bolstered by its own Twitter page and Facebook site and an $80,000 grant from the National Association of Realtors, the high-tech, interactive campaign is just now getting underway.

Kuttemperoor cleans up Brookfield home construction site

Developer Vincent Kuttemperoor has taken steps to avoid getting hit with a fine for problems at his unfinished home construction site in Brookfield. My colleague Laurel Walker reported in March that a city building inspector had warned Kuttemperoor to get the building's exterior in shape, or face a citation. Since then, building materials stored outside and a construction fence have been removed, and the weeds and grass have been cut, Larry Goudy, the city's zoning and building administrator, told Walker. The interior of the 24,600-square-foot mansion, north of Capitol Drive and west of Brookfield Road, remains uncompleted. An investment group led by Kuttemperoor has given 12 condominium units in a Brookfield housing development, as well as a large Brookfield development site, to a company formed by M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank. Also, a Naples, Fla., housing development created by the Kuttemperoor family's VK Development Corp is in foreclosure.

Young people are being squeezed out of summer jobs, and seasonal employers will have to do more with less, as a dramatically increased minimum wage that went into effect last year affects summer hiring for the first time. Wisconsin's minimum wage increased for the first time in three years last July 24, from $5.90 an hour to $7.25 an hour for minors, and from $6.50 to $7.25 for adults. The biggest hit was to the state's agricultural sector, including produce farms that hire kids to help guide suburbanites through strawberry patches. Though an agricultural exemption previously allowed farms to pay minors $4.25 per hour, all farm employees - regardless of age - now must be paid at least $7.25 an hour. Tween and young teen workers used to be bargain employees for farms, which in turn taught them how to be good workers. But the disappearance of the agricultural exemption is shifting more of those jobs to older teens who require less supervision. Businesses, such as custard stands, that see an upswing in summer - and hire accordingly - will feel the pinch of the $1.35-an-hour minimum wage increase for minors in other ways. They may hire fewer employees if they haven't raised menu prices to make up for higher labor costs. They're being flooded with applications from both kids and adults because a weak economy is forcing adults to compete for minimum-wage jobs.

At its two Milwaukee factories, Super Steel LLC employs about 250 workers. But in a document to be released Thursday by the Milwaukee 7 economic-strategy consortium, Super Steel's headcount inaccurately balloons to 500 - which amounts to a full 10% of the 5,000 jobs that the M-7 credits itself with helping to create or preserve. The M-7 commemorates its first five years of operations with a civic gathering at We Energies' downtown headquarters Thursday that will include top political and business leaders from the seven counties of metro Milwaukee. Emblazoned on each invitation is the group's own tally of its success: "5 years, 5,000 Jobs, $300 million in Payroll = 1 Milestone Meeting."And even if those numbers are demonstrably inflated, the group's leaders are in no mood to apologize for their arithmetic. Regardless of how many jobs the group has actually helped create or preserve, it can make one overriding claim: For the first time, someone is systematically trying to recruit investment and jobs into a region that many of its own residents often disparage as a Rust Belt town, a second sister to Chicago, an inhospitable tax hell

Managers around the world see investing in building efficiency as a way to cope with energy prices they expect will rise 9% in the next year. Those are among the findings of Johnson Controls Inc.'s first global energy efficiency survey. The survey, conducted by the new Institute for Building Efficiency at Johnson Controls, builds on a North American survey of energy managers that the Glendale-based company launched four years ago. More than 2,800 executives and managers involved in making investments or managing energy in business buildings were surveyed as part of an effort to track energy management priorities and investment plans. Across all regions surveyed, energy management is considered an important priority. But the interest level is higher in India and China than it is in Europe and North America, the survey found. At least 80% of those surveyed in India and China were more likely to consider energy management "very" or "extremely" important, compared with 53% in North America and 55% in Europe.

Community health centers more than doubled in size in the past decade. Now they've been given the task of doubling in size yet again. The health centers, often located in low-income urban neighborhoods and rural areas, are an overlooked component of the health care system. But they provide care to nearly 244,000 people statewide, up from 89,392 in 1999. That's roughly 80,000 people in Milwaukee, or about one in seven residents. They also have been given a crucial role - and with it, a huge increase in funding - to help meet the expected rise in demand that will accompany health care reform. Reform legislation allocated an additional $11 billion for the community health centers over the next five years. To put that in perspective, the federal government now spends $2.2 billion a year on direct support for the centers. "It's going to be a huge opportunity," said Stephanie Harrison, executive director of the Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association, which represents the state's community health centers. It's also going to be a huge challenge to gear up to meet the demand. One-third to one-half of the additional 32 million people estimated to be among the newly insured by 2019 will get coverage by expanding Medicaid programs. And a large share of them will live in areas served by community health centers.

David is trying to get Goliath to take responsibility for the substantial damage done to Milwaukee and its homeowners. David is otherwise known as Common Ground, an upstart, feisty, two-year-old community organizing endeavor spanning four counties in southeast Wisconsin, including Milwaukee. Goliath is Deutsche Bank (assets: $3.23 trillion), founded in 1870, about the same time that thousands of German immigrants were streaming into Milwaukee and turning it into a prosperous beer-making and manufacturing center. But times have changed and Milwaukee has been struggling for decades, a situation recently made considerably worse by the fallout from the sub-prime mortgage disaster and the ensuing epidemic of housing foreclosures. Although the foreclosures have also hit neighborhoods in the nearby counties of Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee, the concentration -- and devastation -- is greatest in the city of Milwaukee, where, according to Common Ground's research, Deutsche Bank's subprime footprints are easy to spot in front of foreclosed houses. "Germans built Milwaukee, now a German bank is destroying it!" is the unwelcome message Common Ground representatives took to the Deutsche Bank annual shareholders meeting last week in Frankfurt, Germany.

Shoppers are still showing some scars from the recession. In a May filled with wild stock market swings, consumers gave retailers only slim revenue gains compared with a terrible May 2009. Last month was a mixed bag for two locally based retailers, with Limited Brands doing better than expected and Abercrombie & Fitch doing worse. Columbus' Limited Brands said sales in stores open at least a year rose 5 percent, compared with about 2 percent expected by analysts. Limited Brands, which operates Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works and La Senza stores, said total revenue for the four weeks that ended May 29 rose 6percent to $657.3million. Victoria's Secret had the best comparable store results, with sales rising 7 percent. The news sent shares up a modest 1.2percent yesterday. Meanwhile, New Albany teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch reported a sales decline of 3percent, compared with analysts' predictions of a 2.1percent drop. Abercrombie & Fitch, which operates namesake stores as well as Hollister and abercrombie kids, said overall sales rose 10percent to $197.6 million.

Fewer people are filing claims for unemployment aid, new jobs are showing up in service industries, and companies are squeezing all they can from lean staffs and may need to hire soon. Hopes for the job market brightened Thursday ahead of a closely watched report on the nation's employment picture -- although experts cautioned that the economy probably isn't creating jobs as quickly as usual after a recession. "While we will see a period of job growth, it is going to take a long time to get back the jobs we lost," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, who predicts the nation will not recover the 8 million jobs lost in the downturn until 2013. Economists predict the May jobs report, due out this morning, will show the nation added 513,000 jobs in May. But most of them, as many as 400,000 by some estimates, will be temporary government jobs to help with the census. The unemployment rate is expected to fall slightly, to 9.8 percent from 9.9 percent. While analysts say layoffs will keep tapering off and companies will gradually hire more, a lack of strength throughout the economy complicates the recovery. Americans' appetite for spending has eased. Manufacturing output has been strong, but that's mostly because businesses are replenishing their stockpiles after slashing them during the recession. Unless Americans pick up the pace on spending, manufacturing could fizzle. And consumer habits are closely tied to employment and wage growth. Hiring may pick up if businesses find they can't wring more work out of thinner ranks. Productivity grew in the first quarter at the slowest annual pace in a year -- 2.8 percent, the Labor Department said.

Tax credits fuel 6 pct. rise in April home sales

A rush of homebuyers aiming to meet a deadline to qualify for a federal tax credit pushed the number of signed sales contracts to the highest level since October. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes rose 6 percent in April from a month earlier to a reading of 110.9. March's reading was revised upward to 104.6. The rise marked the third consecutive month of increases, all of them aided by federal tax credits of up to $8,000. But the tax credits expired on April 30. Many analysts expect sales to drop in the coming months. Even though mortgage rates are near record lows and home prices have declined dramatically, potential buyers are unlikely to act if they don't have jobs or fear that their jobs are in jeopardy. "Clearly, the race to meet the tax credit deadline has left the home-buying pipeline rather empty, and we fear that still high unemployment, heavy indebtedness and tight credit will mean that it stays that way," wrote Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics. Evidence of a slowing market was apparent Wednesday when the Mortgage Bankers Association released a weekly report on applications to purchase homes. Applications fell for the fourth-straight week to the lowest level since April 1997. Plus, foreclosures are still at extraordinary levels, which is likely to push down home prices in the second half of the year.

When the Overture Center trust fund was liquidated in September 2008, city officials calculated that the worst-case scenario for Madison taxpayers would be paying $1.95 million in 2011, with financial guarantees from philanthropist Jerry Frautschi and the center’s operating body covering loan and interest payments first. The trust fund, which was created using about half of Frautschi’s massive $205 million donation to the center, had been refinanced in 2005 and needed 7 percent to 8 percent returns to be successful in paying off debt and providing a revenue stream to the center. That revenue stream would have allowed the city to keep its operating subsidy for the grand Overture Center at a comparable level to what it historically gave the much-smaller Civic Center. Despite Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s objections that the plan would put taxpayers at risk, the council approved the refinancing on a 15-5 vote. The mayor turned out to be right. In the turbulent post-2005 stock market, the trust fund performed marginally and eventually foundered, leading to its 2008 liquidation.

Laptop City Hall: City hires new preservation planner

According to an e-mail just forwarded to me, the city will be bringing on a new preservation planner to help staff the Landmarks Commission and provide input on development and preservation issues in the city's historic districts. The preservation planner position was left open for more than a year after former planner Kitty Rankin retired as part of a regular city effort to save budget money by delaying hiring for a period of time. However, the hiring is somewhat notable on the heels of the Edgewater Hotel's City Council approval. The position was unstaffed throughout most of the approval process for that expansion and renovation proposal, which put the Landmarks Commission in the midst of a firestorm debate over the expansion's size for the Mansion Hill Historic District and the role of the commission and City Council in making the determination of how well the proposal fit the neighborhood. The lack of a preservation planner even brought Rankin out of retirement (also here) for a couple of public meetings where she testified as a citizen against the project. Still, Bill Fruhling of the Planning Division makes explicit note that filling the preservation planner a week after the City Council meeting on the Edgewater Hotel is just a coincidence. That could easily be true, given how fast things seemed to come together with the project in the final weeks after a city financing application came in. But, it certainly looks a bit awkward.

A Mount Horeb-based green consulting firm on Tuesday unveiled what it says will be Dane County's first true Net-Zero Energy home, or one that uses no fossil fuels in its energy consumption. "We want people to see what's possible," said Robin Pharo, president of Healthy Homes, which specializes in sustainability, green product development and affordable green building for single-family homes and apartments. The home, dubbed "The Resource House," at 1709 Ben Franklin St. in Mount Vernon, uses solar electric panels, solar hot water and a geothermal heating/cooling system for all its energy needs. The powerful solar energy system installed on the roof can generate 11.5 kilowatts, more than twice the average home photovoltaic system, Pharo said. The Department of Energy defines a Net-Zero Energy home as one with a net annual electric utility bill of zero. But there are no limitations on using fossil fuels to provide heating and cooking power in the department's definition, Pharo noted, making her totally fossil-fuel-free house a "true" Net-Zero home, she said.

Quick Question: Do you like the plan to redevelop the Edgewater hotel?

Here’s how five citizens answered this week’s question posed by Capital Times freelancer Kevin Murphy. What do you think? Please join the discussion. “I do. I love the idea of adding more amenities into downtown Madison, making it more of a destination. Utilizing more of the waterfront, renovating what’s obviously a pretty tired hotel and turning it into a world-class facility. I was pretty supportive of it and am really happy that it happened both as a business owner and a downtown resident.” Scott Leslie, Majestic Theatre owner

Madison-area developer Terrence Wall dropped out of the U.S. Senate race Thursday, saying it was the honorable thing to do, but he stopped short of endorsing any of his fellow candidates for the Republican nomination. "I'll continue to be involved in getting our country turned around, but it's time for me to take a step back and take a hard look at how we move our country and the Republican Party forward," Wall said in a statement. His departure leaves two Republican candidates fighting for the chance to face Democratic U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold in November: tea party favorite Ron Johnson and Watertown businessman Dave Westlake. Former Commerce Secretary Dick Leinenkugel dropped out of the race at last week's GOP convention and endorsed Johnson. Wall's announcement comes just four days after he lost the his party's endorsement to Johnson, an Oshkosh businessman with no political experience. Johnson entered the race less than a week before the convention. "If you said there was a candidate who entered the race five days before the convention and five days later stood as the odds-on favorite, you would think that candidate was (former GOP Governor) Tommy Thompson," said Charles Franklin, UW-Madison poltical science professor. "Instead, it's a guy most of us have not heard of before."

Real estate developers have long yearned to create rooms with a view. Penthouse units or those with the best vista typically command top dollar. But some of the swanky new high-rise apartments replacing the aging rental units on campus offer no view. In fact, many of the bedrooms don't even have windows. But some of the swanky new high-rise apartments replacing the aging rental units on campus offer no view. In fact, many of the bedrooms don't even have windows. "A certain percentage of people like dark bedrooms," says Jim Stopple, president of Madison Property Management. "I guess you could say they are evening people." To that end, nearly one-third of the 234 bedrooms in the proposed "Humbucker Apartments" at 1208 Spring St. have no windows. Despite that unconventional feature, the project from Gebhardt Development was unanimously approved by the Madison Plan Commission Monday night. It calls for 75 apartment units of varying sizes. There's underground parking for 20 automobiles, 52 bicycles and 20 mopeds. But it was the lack of windows in the bedrooms that sparked most of the discussion among commission members. "With the exception of the rooms without windows I really like this project," says Ald. Julia Kerr, whose Vilas area district abuts the campus. Commission member Tim Gruber also pressed the point in questions to the developers, asking if they were concerned about light-deprived tenants or vacant rooms.

Plans for a long-awaited $7.3 million upgrade of University Avenue including improved pedestrian and bicycle access on Madison's West Side are scheduled to be unveiled to neighborhood residents Thursday. The project between Segoe Road and Allen Boulevard, which is slated to start next year, is part of a three-year upgrade to University Avenue that includes improvements from State Street to Allen Boulevard. "The road itself is in terrible condition," said Madison Ald. Mark Clear, 19th District, who is among the officials who will discuss the project at the Thursday's public meeting. "(The project) has been taking at least 10 years if not significantly longer (because) the city and county had never worked out any plan for who was going to pay for what." The reconstruction would replace the rough 1.9-mile stretch of road, improve crosswalks and add medians to intersections to improve pedestrian safety, Clear said. He added that sidewalks would be extended to cover the full length of the road. The bike path will be improved, extended along the length of the road, and bike lanes will be built into the new road, he said.

Want to bike to the UW-Madison campus but live too far away? A new park-and-bike will allow people to park their cars at the corner of University Avenue and North Whitney Way -- the site of the former Irish Waters Restaurant and Pub -- and bike into campus along the nearby Blackhawk Bike Path. The new facility will open on Monday, June 7, when Alan Fish, UW-Madison associate vice chancellor for facilities, and Tim Erdman, chairman and CEO of Erdman Holdings, Inc., bike into campus at 7:30 a.m. Erdman is donating the space for the summer, but he is moving forward with plans to develop the property into a commercial center with a hotel and restaurant. The park-and-bike pilot program will end Oct. 1. Fish and Erdman got the idea for the project during a recent trip to Germany and Amsterdam where they reviewed bike transportation options. Saris Cycling Group is donating a high-density bike rack for the facility.

A Madison public market is just the latest project proposed for an area east of the Capitol Square that could look radically different by the end of this decade. The three square blocks roughly bordered by King, Wilson, Doty and Carroll streets are already being eyed for a train station that would serve the new Milwaukee-to-Madison high-speed rail line, an 820-space underground parking garage, and a possible hotel on the block with the Madison Municipal Building. A city consultant this month recommended building the market on the site of the current Government East garage, 215 S. Pinckney St. The city plans to tear the ramp down in 2012 and replace it with the underground garage at the same site. The projects represent a "possibly monumental redevelopment" of the area, Ald. Mike Verveer, 4th District, said. The market is envisioned as year-round mall of sorts featuring locally produced foods and other goods in the vein of Seattle's Pike Place Market and Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market. The consultants recommended the Government East site for its proximity to employers and Near East Side residential areas, as well as to the Square, Monona Terrace and King Street entertainment venues, all of which are a draw for tourists. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Susan Schmitz, president of Downtown Madison Inc., said they were in favor of the market's proposed location and excited about the other projects slated for the area. "I fully realize it's a big set of projects, but they all work together," said Cieslewicz, who also envisions expanded local and intercity bus service and possibly commuter rail at an intermodal train station. Cieslewicz said the city has been in touch with Marcus Corp., the company behind the hotel proposal, within the past three months and that the developer is still interested building. With the rail station now in play, "I can't imagine they don't want to be engaged," Schmitz said.

After changing horses in midstream a few times, Madison Public Library Board president Tripp Widder informed City Council members Tuesday evening that a selection team chose the Minneapolis-based architectural firm Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle to lead the city's massive renovation of the downtown Central Library this year. The decision must still be confirmed by the City Council and a resolution granting the firm a $1.8 million design contract will be introduced to the City Council at their June 1 meeting. Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle was one of 11 firms who applied late last year to complete interior design work for the original Central Library plans, which included building a brand-new, six-story, glass and stone structure at the corner of West Washington Avenue and Henry Street. The plan was later amended twice -- mostly notably in March 2010 after talks for the new Central Library collapsed and the city pivoted back to working with the 1960s building at Fairchild and Mifflin streets. Throughout the process, the city held onto the 11 firms' applications, eventually narrowing the candidates down to five who had experience with large-scale urban library projects, particularly renovations, and sustainable design. Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle's website indicate plenty of experience with both new and renovated libraries, so they fared well in the application process despite the various changes. According to a memo to council members from Widder (attached with this post), they will be partnered with the local architectural firm Potter Lawson.

Tom Ziarnik has seen a lot of change in Downtown Madison since 1995, when he came to what had been the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel. Now hes general manager of the same location, but since 2005 its been a DoubleTree Hotel, an upscale brand of Hilton Corp. That has helped the hotel lure more business travelers as well as the leisure travelers in town for sporting events and other attractions. The business really got a lift when the Kohl Center opened in 1998, putting thousands of potential hotel or restaurant guests just two blocks away. This spring, the hotel was named the top DoubleTree location for customer service. It’s the second time in five years the Downtown DoubleTree earned the quarterly honor, and is one of three hotels of 225 worldwide to earn the honor twice. There have been challenges, too. The economic downturn has hit the hotel industry hard, and Ziarnik is one of several local hoteliers who joined in opposition to the proposed Edgewater Hotel expansion project. Ziarnik was at the all-night meeting, expressing his concerns at 2:15 a.m. Thursday.

Madison's health care market continues to do fairly well coming out of the recent rough economy. Although hospitals have implemented some cost-containment measures, overall patient volumes have not been severely impacted by the recession. "Patient volume in 2010 has been steady," said Linda Hoff, chief financial officer for Meriter Hospital. "The Madison community is very fortunate to enjoy top-quality health care with outstanding facilities." This kind of steady performance is one reason hospitals are moving forward with plans for new facilities, expansions and remodels in the Greater Madison Area. Meriter Hospital has made several significant investments over the past year, including a new pediatrics clinic in Middleton and a new orthopedics clinic that opened in Middleton at the end of April. "This facility will allow us to provide more advanced orthopedic procedures for baby boomers and people in their 50s," said Mae Knowles, director of media relations for Meriter Health Services. "For example, joint replacements can be done at earlier stages with less-invasive techniques."

Like many Madison east siders, Leslie Schroeder enjoys the "livability" of her neighborhood - the safety, the quiet, the close-knit community and the easily walkable connections to nearby schools, cafes and other businesses. So when the state recently announced passenger rail would come into Downtown Madison, Schroeder had concerns. "Almost everybody in this neighborhood wants high-speed rail from Madison to Milwaukee, but some neighbors will bear the burden of it, while others will not," Schroeder said. "We need to do what we can to mitigate the noise or divisive impacts." Just like with the creation of a Downtown Madison train station, the state and city face several challenges in upgrading the east side rail corridor. With six passenger trains coming and going each day starting in early 2013, the amount of rail traffic on the east side rail corridor will quadruple. The stretch of track from Interstate 39/90/94 to Monona Terrace includes more than twice as many street crossings than on the East Coast's entire Boston to Washington high-speed rail line.

The European-styled pavement markers the city of Madison installed last week at the intersection of Williamson and Wilson streets has made state Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, see red. Nass said Friday that he would introduce legislation in January that would ban the bike boxes, which are intended to minimize conflicts between motorists and bicyclists at busy intersections. “It’s basically about liberal extremists in Madison who hate cars and think everyone should bike to work,” Nass said. “It is basically making it difficult to use an automobile.” The design, formed with a thermoplastic material affixed to the pavement with a blowtorch, includes glass beads that reflect headlights. They cost about $8,000 each to install, city officials said last week. The bike boxes, installed Tuesday, are the first project to come out of a fact-finding tour of bicycle-friendly cities in Germany and the Netherlands that Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and 19 other civic and business leaders made last month. But Nass said the boxes will cause bikes to cluster and get in the way of motor vehicles when the light turns green. In addition, the installations are costly in a time when government budgets are pinched, he said.

Pabst Brewing Co., the maker of Pabst Blue Ribbon, Schlitz and several other lower-priced beers, will be sold to investor C. Dean Metropoulos for about $250 million, according to a published report Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter it did not name, said 15 other private equity firms had considered a bid for the brewer, based in Woodridge, Ill., a Chicago suburb. But Metropoulos, known for buying food brands such as Vlasic Pickles and Bumble Bee Tuna, will secure the deal, which is in its final stages and has financial backing from the lending arm of General Electric Co., the newspaper said. Metropoulos and representatives at Pabst, which was founded more than 100 years ago in Milwaukee, did not return messages seeking comment Wednesday. Pabst has been ordered by the Internal Revenue Service to sell itself under a federal law that bars charities from owning for-profit businesses for more than five years. Pabst is owned by the Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation, named for Paul Kalmanovitz, a brewing magnate who died in 1987, two years after buying Pabst. A 2005 deadline passed, so the IRS granted a five-year extension that expires this year. The deal would give Metropoulos a beer marketing company that owns more than 25 brands, such as Old Milwaukee, Stroh's and Old Style. Pabst doesn't operate any breweries, and contracts production of its beer to Chicago-based MillerCoors LLC, formed two years ago by merging Miller Brewing Co. and Coors Brewing Co. The agreement with MillerCoors expires in 2014, according to a regulatory filing. Pabst sells about 6 million barrels of beer annually, said Harry Schumacher, publisher of Beer Business Daily, an Internet-based trade publication which first reported the pending sale to Metropoulos. He said the sale will not affect the brewing contract, which has generated work at MillerCoors' Milwaukee brewery.

The operator of Pitch's Lounge and Restaurant and Miss Katie's Diner plans to open a restaurant at McKinley Marina, on Milwaukee's lakefront. Pitch's Express will operate in the marina roundhouse, using restaurant space that was last occupied by J.T. Bones. Pitch's Express's menu will offer such items as Pitch's barbeque rib sandwich and Miss Katie's meatloaf sandwich, as well as breakfast items and coffee drinks, among other things, said owner John Picciurro. He plans to begin serving food this weekend, and alcohol by June 16, pending approval from the Common Council for a tavern license. "We feel that building represents a good opportunity to service people on the lakefront," said Picciurro, whose family has operated Pitch's, 1801 N. Humboldt Ave., and Miss Katie's, 1900 W. Clybourn St., for several years. The building is owned by Milwaukee County, which will lease space to Pitch's Express. It has indoor seating for around 60 people, and Picciurro said he might try to operate the restaurant throughout the year--not just during the busy summer.

A plan to build a cafe and wholesale bakery for Alterra Coffee Roasters Inc., in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood, has received final approval from city officials. The Board of Zoning Appeals has granted a special-use permit for the $4 million project, which will include office space for Alterra and other businesses. The bakery and cafe will be housed in the former Maritime Savings Bank building, between Kinnickinnic and Howell avenues, south of Lincoln Ave. Phelan Acquisitions LLC, operated by developer Sean Phelan, plans to buy the building and will lease most of the space to Alterra, with additional space on the second floor marketed to other office tenants. Phelan plans to add about 3,000 square feet to the existing 17,000-square-foot building. A smaller, neighboring building, at 2314-2320 S. Howell Ave., will be demolished to make room for the addition. The project will include an adjacent 40-space parking lot. Phelan said he might have a better sense within the next 30 days as to when he will start renovating the building. He still will go through his due diligence process on purchasing the property.

An 81,902-square-foot office building at 3333 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, has been sold by its court-appointed receiver to a Chicago-area real estate investment group for $5 million, according to documents filed with the Milwaukee County Register of Deeds. The building was sold by the receiver for Leisure Investments Inc. to 3333 Mayfair LLC. Leisure Investments, which was led by John Vallone, of West Bend, bought the building in 2005 for $6 million, according to city assessment records.

The city Plan Commission voted 3-2 Monday to recommend repealing a special zoning district for a neighborhood on Milwaukee's east side. Developments in the district, bordered roughly by Brady St., the Milwaukee River, Humboldt Ave. and Warren Ave., currently must follow special design and construction guidelines outlined in a "conservation district." The Common Council approved the district in 2004. Supporters, including then-Ald. Mike D"Amato, said the guidelines would prevent large condominium developments from being built in the neighborhood, which consists mainly of one- and two-story homes. Opponents argued that those guidelines were too restrictive, and trampled on their property rights. Ald. Nik Kovac, who succeeded D'Amato, introduced legislation to repeal the conservation district after surveying neighborhood residents and property owners. Kovac told commissioners Monday that a majority of the people surveyed want the district repealed. Kovac said he hopes to see people voluntarily agree to preserve older homes in the neighborhood. He said the conservation district's standards had "created real tension, real anger in the neighborhood," and that repealing the district could help encourage neighbors to work together. The commission's recommendation will be considered by the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee, and by the full council.

An affiliate of Brookfield-based VK Development Inc. has sold 123 acres, for around $27,000 per acre, to an investment group led by Madison-based Next/Partners. Next Partners I LLC bought the land, east of I-94 and south of Highway 142, from VK Somers LLC. In 2007, the site was annexed into the City of Kenosha from the Town of Somers. The land is planned for industrial development, according to statement issued by Next. Brokers on the sale were Rob Pitts, of Pitts Brothers & Associates LLC, and Ken Braden and Jim Barry III, of Cassidy Turley Barry. VK Development is operated by the Vincent Kuttemperoor family. The family's various companies in recent months have 12 given Brookfield condos, as well as a prime 66-acre development site in Brookfield, back to M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank after running into financial trouble. VK Development also is facing a foreclosure suit filed on its Treviso Bay development in Florida, and Vincent Kuttemperoor is facing a fine for his unfinished home in Brookfield.

A proposal to scrap a "conservation district," created for a neighborhood north of E. Brady St., is to be reviewed at Monday's Milwaukee Plan Commission meeting. Developments in the district, bordered roughly by Brady St., the Milwaukee River, Humboldt Ave. and Warren Ave., must follow special design and construction guidelines. The Common Council approved the district in 2004. Supporters, including then-Ald. Mike D"Amato, said the guidelines would prevent large condominium developments from being built in the neighborhood, which consists mainly of one- and two-story homes. Opponents argued that those guidelines were too restrictive, and trampled on their property rights. Ald. Nik Kovac, who succeeded D'Amato, introduced legislation to repeal the conservation district after surveying neighborhood residents and property owners.

The Oak Creek Community Development Authority might use eminent domain to buy a 25-acre farm that city officials say is blighted, and could hurt attempts by Wispark LLC to develop a business park on S. Howell Ave., south of W. Oakwood Road. The land is owned by a 94-year-old man who doesn't want to sell. It's an interesting story, and reporter Mark Schaaf has the details at Oak Creek Now.com.

The Common Council this week approved the creation of a $100,000 public-private fund to subsidize retailers interested in locating on downtown's Wisconsin Ave. As I first reported last week, the fund will provide grants and forgivable loans to retailers and property owners for stores that open on Wisconsin Ave. between Milwaukee St. and 4th St. North-south blocks crossing Wisconsin Ave. from Wells St. to Michigan St. also are eligible, but not locations within the Shops of Grand Avenue mall. The program will be funded with $75,000 from the city, and $25,000 from the Downtown Milwaukee Management District, a group of downtown businesses and commercial property owners. It will help replace vacant storefronts with new businesses, said Ald. Robert Bauman, who sponsored the proposal. However, the amount is modest, to use Bauman's own term. In Shorewood, for example, several grants have been made to retailers opening stores on N. Oakland Ave., including $48,000 for P. Sue's and $80,000 for Boutique B'Lou.

The developer of a 145-unit senior living facility proposed for West Bend hopes to begin construction by July, while still working on plans for a Target in Brookfield. The facility, called Lighthouse of West Bend, will be near the northwest corner of Continental Drive and Corporate Center Drive, in the West Bend Corporate Center. It will include a memory care unit, assisted living facility and apartments for independent living, said Eric Anderson, of Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos., which is co-developing the project. Ryan's partner, Edina, Minn.-based New Perspectives Senior Living, will operate the facility. The West Bend Plan Commission is to review the proposal at its Tuesday meeting. Ryan hopes to begin construction in July. The facility will take about a year to build, Anderson said. Ryan also plans to develop a 139,000-square-foot Target Store, other retail and senior apartments in Brookfield, on land now occupied by the former Quebecor World printing plant. We reported those plans in March, but a formal proposal hasn't yet been filed with the City of Brookfield. The Ryan executive who's overseeing that project couldn't be immediately reached for comment Thursday.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc., which is planning a $50 million expansion in the Milwaukee area over the next several years, will convert its National City Bank branches to the PNC Bank brand name during the weekend of June 11-13. The 25 National City branches will close for the weekend by 4 p.m. on Friday, June 11 and reopen Monday, June 14 under the blue-and-orange logo of Pittsburgh-based PNC. The rebranding in Wisconsin is among the last for PNC, which bought National City in 2008 when the Cleveland-based bank was struggling. PNC, the sixth-largest U.S. commercial bank, has 2,400 branches in 15 states and the District of Columbia. It has assets of more than $265 billion. Most of National City's branches in Wisconsin once were part of the Mid America Bank chain, and before that, St. Francis Bank. National City has about 300 employees in southeastern Wisconsin. In an interview with the Journal Sentinel in March, PNC Chairman James E. Rohrsaid the bank planned on "growing our Milwaukee presence pretty dramatically." He said the expansion in the Milwaukee area would include construction of new branches, although he couldn't say how many. Some analysts think PNC eventually will be looking to grow by acquiring other banks here, as well. PNC's stated goal is to become a top three institution in deposits locally. It currently is fifth, behind M&I Bank, U.S. Bank, Chase Bank and Associated Bank. PNC Financial Services Group posted net income of $333 million in the first quarter and repaid its $7.6 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program investment by the U.S. Treasury.

North Chicago, Ill.-based EMCO Chemical Distributors Inc., which last year announced plans move some of its operations to a building in Pleasant Prairie, may also move its corporate headquarters to the facility. Currently, the company is focusing on moving manufacturing and distribution operations to the Pleasant Prairie building, said EMCO president Edward Polen. Once that process is complete, the company will examine plans to move its corporate headquarters to the building, he said. “If everything is right, there is a very good chance we will move (the headquarters) up there,” Polen said. A top village official also said he had heard that the company may move its headquarters to Pleasant Prairie. "I believe they are working with the (state Department of) Commerce on moving their headquarters up here," said Pleasant Prairie Village Administrator Michael Pollocoff. “I know they are looking at it." Department of Commerce spokesman Tony Hozeny declined to comment for this report. In December, EMCO announced that it had a contract to purchase a 259,580-square-foot building, with a 25-car rail siding, at 8601 95th St., Pleasant Prairie, from Hexicon Specialty Chemicals, which ceased operations there in 2009. Last week, the Village Board approved $10 million in tax-exempt industrial development revenue bond financing to assist EMCO in purchasing and customizing the facility for its needs. The village authorizes the tax exempt status but the company will issue the bonds and is responsible for repayment. EMCO plans to use the Pleasant Prairie facility to blend and distribute specialty chemicals. It will take at least another year for the company to move its manufacturing and distribution operations into the Pleasant Prairie facility, Polen said. About 100 employees will work at the facility for those operations. The company’s packaging operations will remain in North Chicago, even if the headquarters are moved to Pleasant Prairie, Polen said.

Health care reform will save Wisconsin $745 million to $980 million from January 2014 through June 2019 as the federal government picks up a larger share of the cost of insuring residents with limited incomes, according to initial estimates released by the state Wednesday. The estimates are the first from the state on the projected savings to the state budget from the massive legislation. The state's health insurance programs, such as BadgerCare Plus, provide broader coverage than similar programs in many other states. This is partly why Wisconsin has one of the lowest rates of people without health insurance in the country. Under health care reform, a larger share of those programs' costs will be shifted to the federal government. "We actually anticipate national health care reform substantially saving money for taxpayers of our state because of our unique situation," said Jason Helgerson, who oversees the BadgerCare Plus and Medicaid programs. Other states with relatively generous state health programs also could see similar savings. Health care reform will expand coverage primarily by expanding Medicaid programs and by subsidizing health insurance for people and families with low to middle-class incomes who do not get insurance through an employer.

Here's a bit of good news for a beautiful May day. Wisconsin added 16,400 jobs between March and April 2010 - the largest monthly increase in employment in more than a decade. A new report from the UW-Madison's Center on Wisconsin Strategy even says the state's economy "may have finally turned a corner." The report is available here. As of April, the state has gained 32,000 jobs this year. But there is still a long way to go to replace the 155,000 jobs shed since the the recession started in December 2007. Even with the added jobs in 2010, the state's job base today is still 5.4 percent below its re-recession levels.

The four-county region that includes Milwaukee and Waukesha led job growth in Wisconsin in April as metro Milwaukee added 4,100 net new jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis. Metro Milwaukee's job gains, reported Wednesday by the state Department of Workforce Development, accounted for one in four jobs created statewide last month when the state added 16,400 jobs - the largest single-month job increase in more than 14 years. April marked the fourth consecutive month that Wisconsin added jobs. "Every one of Wisconsin's 12 metropolitan areas posted job growth during the month of April," the agency said in Wednesday's report. Each of the 12 metro areas added jobs when calculated in unadjusted terms as well as seasonally adjusted figures that strip out fluctuations due to weather and school holidays. The April figures are preliminary and subject to revision. Wednesday's report, which covers unemployment trends in cities, counties and metro areas in April, is released separately from statewide and federal unemployment data. Economists remain cautious, even as April marks the fourth consecutive month that Wisconsin added jobs and the state unemployment rate dropped to 8.5% from 8.8% in March. "There is a long road ahead," according to the Madison-based Center on Wisconsin Strategy, a research group that published its most recent assessment of the state's labor market on Wednesday. "Wisconsin has lost over 155,000 jobs since the recession started in December 2007, and the state's job base today is still 5.4 percent below its pre-recession level," the center reported. Even with the job gains, metro Milwaukee - encompassing the counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee - still has 5,900 fewer jobs than it did in April 2009. Madison's metro area came in second in job creation in April with 1,700 new jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis. At 5.4%, Dane County also had the lowest unemployment rate in the state, well below Milwaukee County's 9.3% and Waukesha County's 7.4%.

New-vehicle registrations in Wisconsin rose 7.9% in April from the same month last year, according to data released by Cross-Sell Inc. of Lexington, Ky. Registrations of new light vehicles - including cars, pickup trucks, minivans and SUVs - rose to 15,868, up from 14,709 in April 2009. The numbers show April was the second-highest month for car sales in Wisconsin since the "cash for clunkers" frenzy of car-buying last summer. The only month that topped April was March, when 16,544 vehicles were registered. For the first four months of the year, statewide registrations of vehicles sold by dealerships rose 7.6%, from 50,125 to 53,935. The top-selling vehicle segments last month were midsize cars, compact sport utility vehicles and compact cars. The top-selling vehicles were the Ford F-Series pickup truck, the Chevrolet Silverado, Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry and Toyota RAV4. The April statewide results were released as an industry consultant forecast Wednesday that national sales of light vehicles will rise again in May - up nearly 14% from May 2009 and 7% from April. Sales have been strong in May in part because of industry incentives, which are averaging more than $2,900 per new vehicle this month, Truecar.com said. "Despite the recent volatility in the stock market, consumer demand for vehicles was steady in May, and we forecast selling rates to be higher through the remainder of 2010," said Jesse Toprak, TrueCar.com vice president of industry trends and insight, in a statement. "Clearly, the high level of incentives is playing a large role in consumers' return to showrooms."

The merger of Summit Credit Union in Madison and State Central Credit Union in West Allis received approval from State Central Credit Union members and from the state Department of Financial Institutions and the National Credit Union Administration. The merger is expected to take effect June 30, with systems and products to be converted Sept. 1. After that time, members of both credit unions will be able to begin using all branch locations. State Central Credit Union was established in 1948 and serves 8,600 members. It has $68 million in assets and four locations in the Milwaukee and West Bend areas. Summit Credit Union was founded in 1931 and is open to anyone in Wisconsin. Summit has $1.4 billion in assets, more than 108,000 members and 20 locations throughout the Madison and Milwaukee areas.

A deal to pay 14 of the world's largest banks $2.6 billion as part of the restructuring of Ambac Assurance Corp. was approved Tuesday by a Lafayette County circuit court judge. The deal - the first in what will be a long and complicated case - will provide the banks about $2.6 billion in cash and $2.0 billion in debt. Ambac owes the banks a total of $12.9 billion. The deal was brokered by state Insurance Commissioner Sean Dilweg, who is controlling about $67 billion in troubled insurance policies issued by Ambac, a company that created the business of insuring municipal bonds but in recent years branched out to the high-risk world of insuring bonds backed by subprime loans. After a 3½-hour hearing in a humid courtroom packed with 50 lawyers from across the country, Circuit Judge William D. Johnston ruled in favor of Dilweg and Ambac and against bondholders who objected to the deal. Objections were raised by bondholders who owned securities backed by subprime loans and by bondholders who financed the construction of a monorail in Las Vegas, a project now in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. "I give great deference to the role of the commissioner of insurance" and the expertise of the office, which has been working with Ambac for more than two years, Johnston said. Johnston's ruling allows payments to banks including Citibank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Bank and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, a Spanish banking conglomerate.

This is not a warning to race down to your local bank and take out all your money. Remember: deposits are insured by the FDIC up to $250,000. But an independent ratings firm has put 97 Wisconsin banks and thrifts on a national list of institutions in serious financial difficulty. The list from Weiss Ratings includes the state's largest banks Associated Bank of Green Bay and M&I Bank of Milwaukee, along with Johnson Bank of Racine and Madison's AnchorBank. Overall, 2,259 U.S. banks and S&Ls, controlling $5.8 trillion, or 43.8 percent of the industry's total assets, are considered vulnerable, according to Weiss. Other Dane County institutions on the list include Home Savings Bank of Madison, Black Earth State Bank, Evergreen State Bank of Stoughton, Oregon Community Bank & Trust and the State Bank of Cross Plains. For a complete list of Wisconsin's problem banks click here. Nationally, banks such as Bank of America, Citibank and Wachovia Bank received grades of D or D- by Weiss, putting them in the problem category.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is working with Overture Center officials on a plan that would result in city ownership of the $205 million facility and a nonprofit to run it. Menwhile, the city is now disputing its liability on up to $5.8 million it faces paying on the arts facility’s $23.6 million debt. The mayor said he is trying to avoid up to $5.8 million in interest and principal payments while offering to take ownership of the building after others settle the debt. City ownership would mean taxpayers would pay an average of $450,000 annually to cover upkeep and maintenance costs for the iconic, Cesar Pelli-designed arts facility on top of the $1.3 million each year they already contribute to operate it. Currently, a public entity created by the state Legislature known as the Madison Cultural Arts District operates and sets policy for the arts center, and the building is owned by a private corporation created by philanthropist W. Jerome Frautschi, who donated the money to build it.

Kids from Dane County and beyond are in for a real treat later this summer when the Madison Children’s Museum opens in its new location on the north side of the Capitol Square. I was given a preview of the creatively designed facility earlier this month and, to put it bluntly, I was blown away. Between the work of Findorff construction, museum staff and 100 or so local artists and craftsmen, the 80-year-old building that was once a Montgomery Ward retail store and was later partitioned into dozens of offices has been turned into a delightful multi-story structure to combine learning and fun for children up to age 12. When it opens this August, it will be three times larger than the old museum on the other side of the Square, with room to grow even larger. Ruth Shelly, the museum’s executive director, and Amy Mertz, its communications coordinator, met me at the authentic old world log cabin in the parking lot at the back of the building at 100 N. Hamilton St. The cabin, which was built in Walworth County around 1838, when Wisconsin was still a territory, was disassembled piece by piece and reassembled at the corner of North Hamilton and East Dayton streets, where it has already become a landmark that signals the museum’s location.

Representatives from Stone House Development on Thursday presented a plan to neighbors for a 96-unit affordable housing project on the westernmost portion of the Target-Hilldale site. What a difference a municipal boundary can make. Just a few months after the Shorewood Hills Village Board voted against an apartment project for lower middle-class renters on University Avenue, a similar concept for the Hilldale Mall side of the street was relatively warmly received in front of Madison neighbors on Thursday night. Representatives from Madison development and property management company Stone House Development presented plans for the 96-unit apartment structure, which would complete the Target-Hilldale site by filling in the westernmost portion along University Avenue and Segoe Road. As far as near-west side projects go, the meeting was pretty quiet -- only about 40 attended, rather than the hundreds for the Target project, and most seemed supportive of the project, although concerns about traffic and safety were raised. Stone House is proposing a "workforce housing" project that would use federal Section 42 tax credits, which allow developers to offer below-market rate rental prices for people making 50 to 60 percent of a county's median income. That's about $28,000 to $33,600 (for a single person) in Dane County, so it's not traditional "low-income" housing -- Stone House representatives noted that they hoped nearby Hilldale employees could occupy some of the housing to facilitate a live-work environment.

A watchdog group that uncovered recent data showing unusually high levels of a toxic chemical in groundwater at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant is calling on state and federal officials to act. A watchdog group that uncovered recent data showing unusually high levels of a toxic chemical in groundwater at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant is calling on state and federal officials to act. "I don't want anybody drinking this for even a day," said Laura Olah, executive director of Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger, who discovered the data while reviewing public records. A water sample taken by an Army contractor from a monitoring well on the southern border of the plant in December 2009 contained exceedingly high levels of dinitrotoluene, or DNT, which was used to manufacture explosives when the 7,000-plus acre plant south of Baraboo was active. The chemical, which the federal government says is likely to cause cancer, was found at a level of 341.5 micrograms per liter. That's more than 6,800 times higher than the 0.05 micrograms per liter the state has set as a health advisory level for the sum total of all forms of the chemical in drinking water. It is unclear what caused the spike in DNT levels, said Hank Kuehling, a hydrogeologist with the state Department of Natural Resources. "The levels that Laura refers to are significant," said Kuehling. "They're much, much higher than anything we've previously seen in those wells or in that area."

About two dozen activists entered a vacant home on Madison's South Side, cleaned its windows, picked up broken glass and planted flowers in its front yard Monday to draw attention to foreclosed properties that they said should be opened up to homeless families. The duplex at 2918-2920 Turbot has been vacant since August when tenants were told to move out because the property was facing foreclosure, said Rachel Krueger, a spokeswoman for Take Back the Land–Madison. "We plan to get in negotiations with the owner and ask them to turn the property over," Krueger said. "Without public pressure it's highly unlikely they would talk to us." The duplex is owned by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., or Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored entity that pools mortgages so that they can be sold to investors. The public relations office for Freddie Mac didn't return phone calls or e-mail messages Monday afternoon, but Wisconsin Bankers Association president and chief executive officer Kurt Bauer said mortgage holders can't responsibly give away homes that belong to depositors and investors. "If you want to address homelessness, you have to look at job growth," Bauer said. "Squatters are not going to have any interest in that home and not going to keep up that property and it's not going to maintain the value of that property or the neighborhood."

After a year of passionate, polarizing debate and a final marathon meeting, the Madison City Council approved the Hammes Co.'s proposed $98 million redevelopment of the historic Edgewater hotel. The council, after an eight-hour public hearing featuring an A list of movers and shakers, historic preservationists, hoteliers and residents, and four more hours of questions for staff and debate, cast five separate votes to move forward one of the most controversial developments in recent city memory. The last approval, coming at 7:40 a.m. Wednesday as the morning sun poured through the council chamber windows, represents a remarkable comeback for the project, which nearly died in the wake of an initial Landmarks Commission refusal late last year only to be hailed by supporters as a new landmark that will become part of the city's architectural fabric like the Capitol, Monona Terrace and Overture Center. In approving the project, the council for the first time overturned a Landmarks Commission decision. The project now needs only final approval of design details from the Urban Design Commission and city agencies. "This is a statement that we do have the leadership in this community to get a difficult project in an incredibly difficult economy done," said a pleased and relieved Hammes President Robert Dunn, hugging supporters after the vote. Construction on the project could begin as soon as late 2010, Dunn said. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who embraced the project early on, said, "It means jobs. Combine this with the library vote and real movement forward on high speed rail. We're going to be putting lots of construction workers to work in the next 12 months."

Key approvals for the proposed $98 million redevelopment of The Edgewater hotel are secured, but the project still faces a series of smaller hurdles and a possible court challenge before construction begins late this year. The City Council, after 12 hours of testimony, questions and debate that ended at 7:40 a.m. on Wednesday, cast five votes to move forward one of the most controversial developments in recent city memory. The votes represent a remarkable comeback for the project, which nearly died in the wake of an initial Landmarks Commission refusal late last year only to be hailed by supporters as a new landmark that will become part of the city's architectural fabric like the Capitol, Monona Terrace and Overture Center. The Hammes Co. wants to restore the 1946 hotel, cut the size of a 1970s addition and build a public terrace atop it overlooking Lake Mendota, create a staircase to the lake, and erect a nine-story hotel tower. The hotel would have up to 190 rooms, up to 10 condos, and 355 underground parking spaces.

It may come too late to sway opinion but a Milwaukee-based consultant says the sales tax, room tax and job estimates of the proposed Edgewater Hotel redevelopment are overblown. A report from HMI Inc. also warns that adding new rooms could over-saturate a fragile downtown lodging market. It notes hotel demand in Madison has been mixed, with demand actually down 0.4 percent over the five-year period from 2004 to 2009. Occupancy rates downtown were in the mid-to high- 60 percent range for much of last decade, peaking at 68 percent in 2008 according to Smith Travel Research figures cited in the HMI report. An occupancy rate in the lows-60s is considered strong, says HMI consultant Michael Hool. But the softening economy dropped downtown occupancy rates to 52.8 percent in 2009. Rates are predicted to rebound slightly to 55.9 this year. Consultant Michael Hool of HMI says occupancy rates must reach the low-70 percent range before a market is considered ready for additional rooms. HMI was retained by a group of Madison hotel owners opposing the Edgewater project. The consultant presented its findings to the city Board of Estimates last week, which narrowly approved $16 million in tax increment financing for the $98 million project. Hool has over 28 years of experience in the hotel industry. He's participated in five reports on Madison area hotel development, including the Hilton Monona Terrace Madison.

Laid off Madison construction laborer Sherman Lightfoot said his prayers were answered Wednesday when the City Council approved the $98 million Edgewater hotel redevelopment project. On Thursday he was petitioning God again. "It's supposed to be up to 700 jobs," said Lightfoot, a 34-year-old father of two whose car was repossessed during a previous six-month layoff last year. "I'm just praying that I can be part of the 700." Council backing of the Edgewater redevelopment comes as a group of UW-Madison campus construction projects are wrapping up. Along with a planned $27 million to $30 million expansion of the city's Central Library and the construction of a passenger train line to Madison, the future is starting to brighten for the construction trades after two rough years, he said. "Everybody seems to feel that this will be the catalyst that sparks things back to work in the area," Tim DeMinter, secretary-treasurer of the nine-county Building and Construction Trades Council of South Central Wisconsin, said of the Edgewater project. The project will provide welcome relief to construction workers who've suffered through a two-year slowdown, even if it won't mean a payday for all of the roughly 1,000 unemployed union members in the council, said council president Steve Breitlow. "It creates a lot of hope and optimism," Breitlow said.

Menasha city parks and recreation director Brian Tungate says redeveloping the former Gilbert Paper mill waterfront site will provide a boost to the area. The Post-Crescent of Appleton reports that Tungate understands his vision is challenging because of the unsettled economy and limited financial resources available through the city. The concept plan includes development of a recreational trail and converting the bypass channel that flows under the mill for potential future whitewater recreation uses. Tungate says that they want to create an active outdoor destination and create a walking loop with downtown.

Marcus Theatres on Tuesday purchased a 16-acre parcel in Sun Prairie from Prairie Development. The site will be developed into a 16-screen movie theater that will include a restaurant and lounge. In December the Sun Prairie City Council approved the project that will be built along U.S. 151 at the corner of Prairie Lakes Drive and Hoepker Road in the Prairie Lakes retail development. The theater will join Target as the development’s second anchor tenant. Officials said Tuesday it’s unknown when construction will start, but “we’re hopeful that something will get started this year,” said Neil Stechschulte, the city’s economic development coordinator. The city is anticipating a lot more activity on its west side once construction begins, he said. The new theater is intended to replace the Marcus-owned Eastgate Cinema at 5202 High Crossing Blvd.

Deb Archer, Greater Madison Visitors & Convention Bureau president and CEO, credits her convention sales team - notably Jamie Patrick, director of sports sales and program development - for its work in drawing big sports events to the area. "(He) aggressively pursues sports-specific groups and events that mesh with the venues and natural assets that Madison and Dane County have to offer," Archer said. "We are thrilled to see the sports segment of our sales efforts prospering." Local businesses, in particular hotels and restaurants, should be pleased, too, at the economic impact of these events. Here are estimates from the GMCVB for last year's Madison Marathon, Mini Marathon and Ironman. Given the growth of those events, 2010 numbers are likely to be even higher. Also included are GMCVB projections for two new events: USA Cycling's Collegiate Championship, which was held in early May, and the biennial U.S. Transplant Games, set for this summer in Madison. The new centurion cycling event also figures to add plenty to the local economy, as projections provided by the event organizer show.

One of Madisons biggest landlords is itching to build some new apartments where the Yahara River crosses the isthmus. But getting any plans past an active and involved group of east-siders is proving difficult. Apex Investment Group hopes to redevelop several worn properties along Winnebago Street, including a Victorian home built in 1892 by one of Madisons famous early dentists, Dr. William Hurd. The developer — who has floated plans for both a downtown hotel and a high-rise apartment without success — is now proposing a more modest $5 million apartment project for one of the quirkier areas of the city. After 18 months of meetings with neighbors, Apex finally thought it had a workable plan to present. The plan called for moving the Hurd House around the corner to Merry Street and building another house next door to match it. Then, a 23-unit apartment or condo project would be built facing Winnebago, with parking for residents of all the buildings consolidated underground. But when Apex presented plans for “The Riverside at Yahara” to the city Urban Design Commission on May 5, the developer got an earful from the Marquette Neighborhood Association, those living near the project and the commission itself. At that meeting, the project was roundly criticized on a variety fronts: its compatibility with the existing homes on Merry Street; neighborhood parking concerns; the environmental impact on the Yahara River corridor; and its historic context with the Hurd property.

Though still playing coy on the question of a referendum, Madison Area Technical College administrators appear to be laying the groundwork for asking taxpayers to help fund some of its $350 million facilities master plan. On Wednesday, MATC District Board members met with President Bettsey Barhorst for a 4:30 p.m. meal of steaming barbeque chicken, buttery croissants and mini raspberry cheesecakes, as well as a rousing budget discussion. At the meeting, Ellen Foley, former State Journal editor and now MATC executive assistant/community development and communications director, said that the college has put out bids to start planning for five projects related to expansion plans. The projects include: stormwater management at the Truax campus, a new health building, space for the auto and other transportation programs, an audit of building needs, and a "communications plan" to educate the community and college employees about the building plans. Under state law, the college must get approval from district voters in order to borrow more than $1.5 million for a building project. Barhorst said she's "not ready" to make a recommendation to the board on whether or not to go to referendum. But a new health building, which college administrators say is their top priority, is estimated to cost $24.2 million alone.

When Madison resident Royce Williams visits his 99-year-old father in Champaign, he takes a Van Galder bus to Chicago's Union Station, then boards an Amtrak train to the central Illinois city's transportation hub. Once there he scans an electronic display to find out when the next green line bus is leaving. If there's enough time to spare, he can grab a sandwich at the station's Subway, a soda from the vending machine or a magazine from the newsstand. Outside there's space for taxis and parking. "I see the same thing being a necessity here, but I'm very skeptical it's going to happen because of location," Williams said. Williams, one of two Wisconsin representatives on the National Association of Rail Passengers, was disappointed the state picked Downtown for the city's future Amtrak station. He preferred the airport because he thought it would have been easier to provide the essential station amenities and transportation connections. But others, like Madison architect Kenton Peters, believe the station and any nearby development "will make a new Downtown." Peters has already sketched a design concept for how a station could be integrated into the redevelopment of the Government East parking ramp. The state is looking at three office buildings on Wilson Street where it could locate a station, but Peters envisions a multi-tiered, glass roof station replacing Pinckney Street next to the Department of Administration building.

The flood-prone village of Gays Mills got a boost this week in efforts to re-invent itself as a vital rural community on dry ground. An infusion of $4.4 million from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development will help the Crawford County village, devastated by floods in 2007 and 2008, to move forward with a plan to relocate its business district and residents out of the Kickapoo River flood plain. "This money is absolutely critical to fulfill all the planning that has gone into this project over the past two years," said Julie Henley, the village's recovery coordinator. The grants will make it possible to move forward with a community center and business park. Construction on both projects could begin this fall, Henley said. Henley said the village hopes to leverage $3 million in private investment from $1.5 million of the grants, earmarked for business relocation. The first residents are expected to move into new town homes in June or July, Henley said. The village's only grocery store and gas station are expected to be operating in the new business district by the end of the year. The grants come on top of more than $3.9 million in assistance and are crucial to Gays Mills becoming a thriving, sustainable community, Henley said. "We don't want to be flood victims forever."

Alliant Energy is giving up on the idea of building more coal-fired power plants "for the time being," Alliant chairman, president and chief executive Bill Harvey said Thursday. In an interview after the Madison utility holding company's annual shareholders meeting, Harvey said Alliant subsidiary Wisconsin Power & Light will not ask for a new coal-fueled power plant to replace one proposed for Cassville that state regulators rejected in late 2008. "I think it's politically ... too risky to think about building coal plants until climate legislation gets in place," Harvey said. "There's got to be substantial technological improvements before the country returns to building coal plants. That's certainly true for us," he said. Thanks to adequate power available to buy on the electric transmission grid, Harvey said it will likely be two or three years before Alliant proposes building another natural-gas-fired power plant. That could happen sooner, though, if the economy recovers quickly or if climate change rules force the company to abandon its older coal-fired power plants sooner than expected. As for nuclear power, Harvey said Alliant is not big enough to consider spending up to $10 billion to build a nuclear plant but it might buy part of a new one, if one is built. "We have to consider that. We have to consider all possibilities," he said.

They were the Hatfields and McCoys of Dane County, battling over business development, municipal services and annexations for decades. Now they're working together, with a new 10-year boundary agreement. Congratulations to the village of DeForest and town of Windsor on their pact approved last week. And best wishes on a 20-year cooperative plan that goes to the town and village boards for votes in late June. The Capital Region needs more communities to cooperate on shared goals, including and especially economic development. That's because Dane and surrounding counties increasingly compete as one region for economic investment and jobs. And a united front is key to success. The deal between DeForest and Windsor sets community boundaries, preserves more than 2,000 acres of farmland in the town and allows three economic development projects in the town to move forward. The communities also have agreed to a joint utility study to look at where shared services make sense. That could lead to savings for taxpayers in both communities. DeForest and Windsor have had high-profile fights in and out of court for years over the expansion of ABS Global, the annexation of land into the village, and the redevelopment of the Lake Windsor County Club. The bad vibes hurt efforts to promote the area to prospective employers.

MillerCoors says it may have to move some of its 1,500 jobs out of Milwaukee if a steep increase in the cost of water goes through. The Milwaukee Water Works is requesting a rate increase that would boost costs for MillerCoors by up to 22 percent. But that’s not what the brewery is opposing. State Public Service Commission staff members are proposing a rate structure that would hit MillerCoors even harder, raising water rates as much as 49.8 percent. That could hike the brewery’s water bill, which was $1.2 million in 2009, by $600,000, said Andrew Moschea, brewery vice president, in written testimony submitted to the PSC. An increase that big could prompt MillerCoors to move some of its beer production to one of the company’s seven other breweries, Moschea said. “If (the PSC) staff’s rate increase were enacted, the Milwaukee brewery would pay more for water than several other breweries that use municipal water in the MillerCoors network, including breweries in Texas and California,” Moschea said in the PSC testimony. “That could potentially mean that production, and the associated jobs, could be transitioned to other breweries in our network,” Moschea wrote. “Given the prolonged economic downturn, that is something that neither the brewery nor the state should allow to happen.” MillerCoors is Wisconsin’s largest brewery and the “oldest large-scale brewing operation in the United States,” Moschea said. The company has been making beer in Milwaukee for 150 years, and produced 8.2 million barrels of Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Lite, Miller High Life and about 50 other brands in Milwaukee last year.

Milwaukee-based Vetter Denk Architects could begin construction on the WaterMark project on the Fox River in Green Bay in June or July, although a date has not been set. The project, which includes redevelopment of the former Younkers department store site, is to include office, retail and condominium space in addition to a parking garage, the Green Bay Children's Museum and Hagemeister Park restaurant. Read more in BizTimes Milwaukee's headlines from around the state by clicking here.

In the end, it took two villages, one insurance company, one bureaucratic state agency and rare bipartisan cooperation to raise a freeway interchange. Although the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is finally ready to go ahead and build a new Interstate 94 interchange at Drexel Avenue in Oak Creek, the path that sealed the deal was fraught with detours, stop signs and lane changes. The DOT had insisted that the local communities come up with half of the $12.8 million needed for the project. The Oak Creek City Council agreed to fork over $4.35 million, and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., which wants the interchange to serve its sprawling nearby campus on South 27th Street in Franklin, had already agreed to provide $1.6 million. That left the remaining portion of the local share – and the fate of the interchange – up to Franklin. The Franklin City Council finally agreed with a 4-3 vote to provide $500,000 in funding for improvements on nearby South 27th Street, which the DOT will count as contributing to the Drexel Avenue project in Oak Creek. Ultimately, the deal was a bipartisan political feat, the kind rarely seen anymore in an era of political divisiveness. State Reps. Mark Honadel (R-South Milwaukee) and Jeff Stone (R-Greendale) worked together with State Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) to nurture and push through a project that will serve the common good.

The other day, at Spreenkler, while waiting for Mayor Tom Barrett to show up, I was talking with the owners of Transfer Pizzeria in their new location Via Downer and we stumbled upon an idea that would do more for revolutionizing business district revitalization in most cities than any government program, and unlike other government programs it would raise money for the government rather than spend it. The idea is simple. If a commercial building appears to be vacant, anyone can report it by taking a picture and submitting it to the city website. The landlord gets a notice to within 90 days produce proof that the building is occupied or have the building become subject to the blight property tax that triples the rate of the regular real estate taxes. The net result? Landlord has every incentive to develop, sell or lease out their property rather than sit on it. They cannot any longer sit on their hands waiting for a government grant, or for someone else to develop a nearby property, while their property destroys the value of the neighborhood. They now have an incentive to enter in to short term leases, just so the building is occupied, which encourages
startups.

Part of the vacant Park East strip, on downtown's northern edge, might be getting a green touch as it awaits development. The Department of City Development has been talking with officials from Milwaukee County, which owns the land, about planting some trees around the perimeter of two tracts between W. Juneau and McKinley avenues, and N. Old World Third and N. 6th streets. That's the word from Robert Greenstreet, city planner. Greenstreet told me the trees, from the city Forestry Services, would help beautify the blocks until they can be developed. That might be a while. The former Park East Freeway was demolished in 2003, making 16 acres available for development. So far, just one parcel has been sold by Milwaukee County, and nothing has yet been built on that site--although plans for apartments could be moving forward soon. Meanwhile, development has occurred on other parcels in the larger 64-acre Park East tax incremental financing district, including last year's opening of the Aloft Hotel and the ONE at North End apartments. Those projects are generating property tax revenue to pay down the city's debt used to help make the area developable. A new city report says the Park East TIF district is expected to recover its $34.6 million in costs by 2025. If additional developments occur, that payback period would be shorter.

Milwaukee-based Mallory Properties has made an offer to buy the financially troubled Park Lafayette condominium towers on the east side, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Also, New York-based Amalgamated Bank, which is seeking to foreclose on Park Lafayette, is "considering potential offers from several other interested parties," according to the notes from a hearing this week before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Pamela Pepper. The notes say there's been progress in determining the identity of a "stalking horse" bidder on the sale of Park Lafayette. A stalking horse bidder is used to prevent an unfair low-ball bid from being submitted during a bankruptcy court sale. I had previously reported that Mallory Properties, led by developer Frank Giuffre, was interested in bidding on the 281-unit Park Lafayette complex, which has two 20-story towers at N. Prospect and E. Lafayette avenues. The condo towers are now owned by Renaissant Lafayette LLC, led by Chicago developer Warren Barr. The investment group filed for bankruptcy protection in December, after Amalgamated filed a foreclosure suit. Amalgamated is owed $102.8 million, and the debt is secured by the condo development and other Renaissant property, valued at $61.3 million, according to court records.

An investors group formed by two Milwaukee development firms and a non-profit development agency plan to buy a vacant north side building, and renovate it into office space. Inner City Arts LLC is seeking a purchase option for the city-owned building, at 642 W. North Ave. The group would buy the building for $1,000, and spend around $500,000 remodeling it, said Paul Ammerman, director of business development for Impact Seven Inc. Impact Seven, a non-profit developer based in the northwestern Wisconsin community of Almena, has an office in Milwaukee. Inner City Arts is owned by Impact Seven and two local development firms: Vangard Group LLC and Endeavour Corp, Ammerman said. Vangard and Endeavour plan to occupy the first floor of the 5,000-square-foot building, Ammerman said. The remaining space would be leased to other office tenants, he said. The developers are seeking around $200,000 in city financing, said Jeff Fleming, spokesman for the Department of City Development. Those funds would come from a tax incremental financing district, and would be repaid through property taxes generated by the development. Also, Impact Seven will loan $263,000 to Inner City Arts, he said, with $37,000 in equity financing provided by Inner City Arts. The city Redevelopment Authority will consider the option request at its Thursday board meeting. Work on the six-month project could begin later this year. The building, which once housed the Milwaukee Inner City Arts Council, is near the I-43/North Ave. interchange, and is known for its mural.

Governor Jim Doyle announced today that Waukesha Electric Systems, Inc. will receive $4 million in tax credits from the Department of Commerce for an expansion project that will create 250 jobs in Waukesha County over the next three years. “My number one priority this year is helping our businesses create jobs and giving our workers the opportunities to get those jobs,” Governor Doyle said. “I’m pleased that we could provide this assistance to Waukesha Electric Systems to help the company grow and provide new jobs for families in Waukesha County.” Established in 1970, Waukesha Electric is one of the largest manufacturers of power transformers in the United States. It also provides related components, transformer maintenance, and service. The company currently employs 520 workers at its Waukesha manufacturing facility. It is expanding and equipping that facility at a cost of approximately $70 million. The expansion will increase the size of the facility by approximately 50 percent and extend the company’s ability to manufacture large, high-voltage power transformers that are utilized by electric utilities, independent power producers, and independent transmission operators.

Table tennis, anyone? A local investor group says it plans to open a 16,500-square foot table-tennis and social club in the Third Ward in late August. The club, to be called SPiN Milwaukee, is modeled after a successful club now in operation in New York. The Milwaukee club, to be located at 233 E. Chicago St., will feature 12 ping-pong tables plus a 13th Center Court table that will have stadium seating. The club will feature a locker room with showers, a pro shop, private event rooms and a bar and restaurant. "We think this will fill a void for people who otherwise might be sitting in a bar," said Jill Wellskopf, SPiN Milwaukee's marketing officer. "Anyone at any age can play, and it's a skill you can learn quickly." The investor group includes Scott A. Mayer, president and CEO of QPS Employment Group, a staffing and employment company; Gary Drska, president of SPiN Milwaukee; Dan McNulty, also of QPS; and Lance Allan of WTMJ-TV (Channel 4). Actress Susan Sarandon owns SPiN New York and will have a partial ownership in the Milwaukee club, according to Wellskopf. Wellskopf said Mayer was in New York, saw the club and thought the business model would work in Milwaukee.

At one time or another, most homeowners probably wish they had a different home. They want a bigger kitchen or an updated bathroom or maybe wish they were closer to work. All of this is more than an exercise in wishful thinking. If you wish it, you may be able to make that dream home happen, but first there are plenty of decisions that you'll have to make. All of this is more than an exercise in wishful thinking. If you wish it, you may be able to make that dream home happen, but first there are plenty of decisions that you'll have to make. While the decision to remodel or move is a highly personal, here are some basic pointers that can help you make that all-important decision. Among some of the things home buyers at the 2010 Las Vegas International Builders Show earlier this year said they wanted was a new easy-to-maintain home with flexible living spaces. In a national survey last month, one of the top 10 things consumers noted as being important was community living with walkable neighborhoods, landscaped parks, and playgrounds not far from the front door.

If Milwaukee law firm Godfey & Kahn S.C. moves its corporate headquarters to a new office building in downtown Milwaukee, that building will probably be developed by Wauwatosa-based Irgens Developer Partners LLC, according to several Milwaukee commercial real estate sources. “We have been working with Godfrey & Kahn for some time to identify a new location for them,” said Irgens executive vice president Jackie Walsh. Godfrey & Kahn is one of several Milwaukee law firms that has provided legal services for Irgens, Walsh said. “We’re still waiting to see if a project comes together,” said Godfrey & Kahn managing partner Rick Bliss. “We have a very high regard for Irgens and that organization. They are just a very high-quality organization. If Irgens can put a building together we would be very attracted to that. We haven’t nailed anything down with anybody yet. We’re still waiting for something to come together.” Godfrey & Kahn’s headquarters is currently located in the M&I Bank corporate headquarters building at 780 N. Water St. in downtown Milwaukee. The firm is out of room to expand there and has indicated for years that it will eventually need to move out of the building. The firm needs about 90,000 square feet of space. Irgens had been planning to build an office building that would be anchored by Godfrey & Kahn next to the Milwaukee Athletic Club at 758 N. Broadway in downtown Milwaukee. However, that project has been put on hold and Irgens is looking for alternative sites, Walsh said.

Kohls Corp. has outgrown its corporate headquarters in Menomonee Falls and will need to expand with additional space in the Milwaukee area. After the company’s annual meeting last week, chief executive officer Kevin Mansell said that the company needs to expand its office space. Kohl’s owns its corporate headquarters campus, located just north of Silver Spring Drive at N56 W17000 Ridgewood Dr., Menomonee Falls. The 885,000-square-foot complex houses more than 3,000 employees. Kohl’s spokeswoman Petrell Ozbay said the company has no plans to move its headquarters out of Menomonee Falls. Instead, the company will pursue an unspecified amount of additional space in the state to accommodate its growth, she said. "Kohl's continues to grow and add jobs to the company's corporate operations,” said Kohl’s vice president of public relations and community relations Vicki Shamion. “We have completed several expansions at our Menomonee Falls headquarters and the current location cannot accommodate further growth. As a result, we need additional office space and are assessing locations in the greater Milwaukee area. We have been in this community for nearly 50 years and remain committed to the area which offers a talented workforce and a great quality of life for our associates."
Kohl’s representatives declined to say how much office space the company is seeking in the Milwaukee area.

Milwaukee-based Mallory Properties has made an offer to buy the financially troubled Park Lafayette condominium towers on the east side, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Also, New York-based Amalgamated Bank, which is seeking to foreclose on Park Lafayette, is is "considering potential offers from several other interested parties," according to the notes from a hearing this week before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Pamela Pepper. The notes say there's been progress in determining the identity of a "stalking horse" bidder on the sale of Park Lafayette. A stalking horse bidder is used to prevent an unfair low-ball bid from being submitted during a bankruptcy court sale. I had previously reported that Mallory Properties, led by developer Frank Giuffre, was interested in bidding on the 281-unit Park Lafayette complex, which has two 20-story towers at N. Prospect and E. Lafayette avenues. The condo towers are now owned by Renaissant Lafayette LLC, led by Chicago developer Warren Barr. The investment group filed for bankruptcy protection in December, after Amalgamated filed a foreclosure suit. Amalgamated is owed $102.8 million, and the debt is secured by the condo development and other Renaissant property, valued at $61.3 million, according to court records.

A proposal to convert a vacant industrial building in Milwaukee's Riverwest area into a sports complex has run into opposition from nearby industrial companies. Courthouse Sports Complex would be in a 116,000-square-foot building, at 301 E. Vienna Ave., which housed Production Stamping Corp. before it closed in 2007. Courthouse would include separate areas for football, soccer, basketball, volleyball and tennis. It would host youth sports events, and would have around 15 full-time and 40 part-time employees, according to the proposal filed with the city Board of Zoning Appeals. The development needs a special use permit from the board because the building, owned by a Chicago-area investment group, is zoned for light industrial use. Objections to granting that permit have been filed with the board by six nearby industrial and distribution businesses: Lafayette Testing Services Inc., Johnson Brothers Beverages Inc., Elias Grinding Co., Reinke & Schomann Inc., In-Place Machining Co. and Dodco Inc. Most of their objections are based on two concerns: that traffic from Courthouse's customers will interfere with truck traffic making deliveries and pick-ups at the nearby businesses, and that the area is largely meant to be used for industrial purposes.

Men and women may still effectively live on separate planets -- that whole women-from-Venus, men-from-Mars thing -- but these days, it's the single women who are more likely to own their abodes. A recent report from the National Association of Realtors found that only 10 percent of unwed men bought homes in 2009, while single women made 21 percent of the purchases. And it's not all a function of the recent economic downturn, which has affected men disproportionately the past two years as the recession hit male-dominated fields like manufacturing and construction with particular force. But unmarried women have accounted for about 20 percent of annual home sales for each of the past five years or so, the NAR notes. That's a major shift from 1981, when the numbers were first tracked and showed that single men and single women each accounted for 10 percent of home sales. The 2009 NAR report also found that single women made up the second largest share of adult households who buy homes -- comprising a full one-quarter of the first-time buyer population and 17 percent of the repeat-buyer sector. So times have changed, and you'd think savvy builders and developers would look to seize on this demographic reality. But they often don't get it, according to industry insiders in a story from Medill News Service on MarketWatch this month.

Food products tend to outperform other industries during economic downturns because they are essential for survival. This overall market stability, combined with a strong research base and increasing global demand for food and biofuels, positions the agribusiness sector for what could be spectacular growth during the next decade. The economic potential for this sector is reflected in a recent United States Department of Agriculture USDA report that predicts 52,000 agriculture-related jobs will be available for college graduates in 2010, a welcome statistic for an economy still in recovery. Many of these jobs will be high-paying positions in animal and environmental science, including geneticists, biochemists, botanists and food engineers. According to the USDA, global food demand will double by 2050 because of rapidly expanding populations in the United States, India, China and other regions. Yet nearly 1 billion people, or about 14 percent of the world's population, suffer from chronic hunger. In addition to feeding hungry populations, more crop production will be required for alternative fuels such as ethanol. Demand has never been higher; the U.S. Department of Energy, for example, indicates that without biofuels, the United States would have used 7.2 billion more gallons of gasoline in 2008. Major incentives from the Obama administration will accelerate biofuel research in the coming years.

The Senate on Thursday approved far-reaching new financial rules aimed at preventing the risky behavior and regulatory failures that brought the economy to the brink of collapse two years ago and cost millions of Americans their jobs and savings. The final vote, just after 8:30 p.m., was 59 to 39. Four Republicans voted in favor of the bill, and two Democrats opposed it, including Wisconsin’s Russ Feingold. Feingold and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington voted against the legislation because they said parts of it did not go far enough. After the vote, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said, “When this bill becomes law, the joy ride on Wall Street will come to a screeching halt.” The 1,500-page measure, shepherded through the Senate by Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the banking committee, seeks to reshape both Washington and Wall Street. In providing for the most profound remaking of financial regulations since the Great Depression, the legislation would create a new consumer-protection watchdog housed at the Federal Reserve to prevent abuse in mortgage, auto and credit card lending. It also would give the government power to wind down large failing financial firms and set up a council of federal overseers to police the financial landscape for risks to the global economy. Moreover, the legislation would establish oversight of the vast market in financial instruments known as derivatives, impose new restrictions on credit rating agencies and give shareholders a say in corporate affairs.

Fewer Wisconsin homeowners missed their monthly mortgage payment in the first quarter of this year, a welcome development but still not a sure sign that problems with housing debt have lessened. A survey released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed 6.46% of households in the state were late by at least one payment on their mortgage, compared with 7.96% in the fourth quarter. Although it marked a quarter-to-quarter decline, the delinquency rate in Wisconsin was higher than the 5.75% level in the first period of 2009. At the same time, the percentage of mortgages in the foreclosure process in Wisconsin decreased slightly to 3.51% from 3.78% in the fourth quarter. The percentage of past-due house payments was much lower here than in many states and the nation as a whole. Using numbers that weren't seasonally adjusted, the mortgage bankers found the national delinquency rate was 9.4% in this year's first quarter, down from 10.4% in the fourth quarter of 2009. But when the numbers were adjusted for seasonal factors, the mortgage delinquency rate rose to 10.1% from 9.5%. Jay Brinkmann, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, said it is difficult to discern whether a fundamental improvement in mortgage loan delinquencies has occurred. "If mortgage delinquencies are not yet clearly improving, it also appears they are not getting worse," Brinkmann said. "However, a bad situation that is not getting worse is still bad."

Wisconsin's battered economy will add a projected 20,000 jobs this year, and soon-to-be-released state tax collections are also expected to show some strength, state officials said. But there's a limit to these glimmers of good news for a recession-weary state. The jobs growth forecast in the latest state Department of Revenue report is just over one-tenth of the jobs that have been lost since January 2008, meaning a full recovery in employment isn't expected until early 2013. In the meantime, experts cautioned that there are still plenty of challenges ahead for the state's economy and the state budget, which supports critical services such as schools and health care. "It's positive but it's not much of a number from a recovery standpoint," David Ward, president of North Star Economics, said of the jobs figure. "This is as slow as I've seen." The slow improvement is providing some benefits to the state's struggling budget, said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison), a small-businessman and co-chairman of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee. Pocan said still unreleased state tax figures for April will show some improvement over prior months in state income tax and sales tax collections. "Overall, it's been a very positive month," said Pocan, who believes the state's economy is finally mending. April's income tax returns make it a key month for state tax collections - unexpectedly low collections for the same month last year raised the state budget shortfall to more than $6 billion, plunging the Capitol into a crisis. To balance the budget, Democrats who control state government slashed funding for schools and raised taxes on cigarettes and the wealthy.

While many economists have predicted that the commercial real estate market is the last shoe to drop in the Great Recession and credit crisis the market in general has avoided the meltdown that was envisioned at the height of the panic. Default rates on all commercial mortgages are expected to more than double to a peak of 5.5 percent by the end of the year, but many prognosticators at this time last year were predicting that this number could hit 10 percent by the end of 2010. The meltdown may have been avoided, but the commercial real estate market is far from healthy. The peak of the market in 2007 saw $557 billion dollars in transactions completed in the United States. This was followed by the bust and a staggering drop in volume to only $54 billion dollars of transactions completed in 2009. Unemployment is projected to remain high, more businesses are looking to consolidate capacity than to expand, the rental market for landlords will remain extremely competitive, property values have fallen, and lending for real estate investors through banking institutions will remain difficult at best. To complicate matters, many of the three- to five-year commercial mortgages that were issued during the boom times will be coming due for refinancing through 2012 faced with the litany of problems stated above.

Wisconsin's unemployment rate fell to 8.5% in April, from 8.8% in March , Secretary of Workforce Development Roberta Gassman said in Milwaukee Thursday. Those figures are adjusted for seasonal variation. The unadjusted rate fell from 9.8% in March to 8.2% in April. Gassman said she was heartened by an increase of 13,000 jobs statewide last month. While that is less than officials want to see, it still is "the most successful month of adding jobs in Wisconsin in 14 years," Gassman said. She said that since January, Wisconsin has added 32,000 jobs in the economy. Gassman spoke at a Regional Workforce Alliance forum at Discovery World.

Wisconsin banks regained some financial footing in the first quarter as about one in seven lost money, compared with one in three in the final quarter of 2010. Forty-two of the 281 banks chartered in the state were unprofitable in the period ended March 31, led by Wisconsin's biggest bank - M&I Bank - with a $111.6 million loss, according to figures released Thursday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. In the fourth quarter, 93 banks finished in the red. Racine's Johnson Bank made the most money among non-specialty banks in the state, with a profit of more than $5 million. Wisconsin banks, like financial institutions nationwide, have been forced to set aside more money to cover loans that could go bad in the weak economy. Adding money to reserves cuts directly into a bank's profits. When the financial results of all banks - profitable and unprofitable - are tallied, Wisconsin banks overall lost $37.4 million in the first period, compared with a loss of $418.5 million in the fourth quarter.

Despite a sizable unemployment rate and many job seekers in the market, 14% of U.S. employers are having difficulty filling key positions within their organization, down from 19% the year before, according a Manpower Talent Shortage Survey released Thursday. "Skilled trades" positions top the list of U.S. jobs most in demand for 2010. Skilled trades include jobs like plumbers, electricians and construction workers. Other jobs in high demand are sales representatives, nurses, technicians, drivers, and restaurant and hotel staff, according to the survey. "Unemployment levels remain high in the United States, yet employers continue to have difficulty filling select positions," said Jonas Prising, Manpower president of the Americas, in a statement. "The issue is not a lack of candidates, but rather a talent mismatch. There are not enough sufficiently skilled people in the right places at the right times." Worldwide, 31% of employers are experiencing shortages in talent, up slightly from 30% in 2009.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Thursday he would put economic development efforts in the governor's office and offer tax credits for businesses that create jobs if he is elected governor. "Job creation is job one in the Barrett administration," the Democrat said at a news conference at audio and video company Full Compass. "We plan to put the job of job creation right in the governor's office." He said his 67-page plan is focused on sparking immediate job growth so the state can quickly regain the 180,000 jobs it has lost in the recession. The plan also includes creating a new venture capital fund that would provide $100 million in funding to businesses over five years. He said his plan differed from his Republican opponents, saying they want to provide "massive tax giveaways" that would benefit corporations and the very rich, but not the middle class. "I think tying tax cuts to companies that actually create jobs in Wisconsin and invest in Wisconsin is a better way to go," he said. Barrett did not say how much the tax cuts would be worth, saying they could be dialed up or down depending on the state's fiscal condition. Running as Republicans are Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann of Nashotah.

Less than two months before a final House vote on a financial regulation bill late last year, lobbyists representing a foreign financial services company threw a Capitol Hill fund-raiser for Rep. Paul Ryan. The $500-a-ticket breakfast, organized by lobbyists for Zurich Financial Services, is one of dozens being hosted by lobbyists representing the financial services sector as Congress rewrites the rules that will regulate the industry. And lawmakers' campaign coffers are filling up with donations from the largest Wall Street investment banks to the smallest community banks back in their states. All told, commercial bankers have contributed nearly $9.5 million to federal candidates for the 2010 election cycle so far, and officials at hedge funds and investment firms have made about $38.3 million in donations, according to an analysis of campaign contributions by the Center for Responsive Politics. The two groups combined have given more than $900 million to federal candidates since 1990 - more than any other industry sector, including defense, energy, health care and agribusiness, according to the non-partisan watchdog group.

Squatting. Is it a small-scale land grab? Or a direct action to fight homelessness? A grass-roots group called Operation Welcome Home is raising the issue here. The homeless rights advocacy group helped a single mom and her two small kids move into a west side duplex vacated in a foreclosure action and staged a press conference Monday challenging the loan-holder to deed the property to a local affordable housing provider. "We're asking them to turn over the property to the community whose tax dollars are funding what they are doing," says Z! Haukeness of Operation Welcome Home, citing billions of dollars in bailouts to mortgage lenders. Desiree Wilson, a 24-year-old single mom, says she now has room for her family, which was crowded into a single bedroom at her parents' place after a foreclosure of a property where she rented forced her to move. Wilson has a job and can afford to pay rent, but an eviction on her rental record -- which she disputes -- kept her from getting an apartment, she says. "There are a lot of single parents with kids who don't have a place to go, and so many empty places, but they set up barriers we can't get past," Wilson said. The other half of the duplex stands vacant. News reports on the group's action included complaints from neighbors that Wilson should pay rent like anybody else. Police say they won't take action unless the owner files a complaint. "Housing is a human right, no matter what income, no matter what rental history," Haukeness says. Activists say they plan more "liberations" of more vacant foreclosed property.

For many in Madison, the Erdman name has long been associated with cutting-edge design. From hospitals featuring luxury rooms to the Middleton Hills residential development, the Erdman group has carried on the tradition of architect Marshall Erdman, a working associate of Frank Lloyd Wright. It has designed projects on a human scale, with an emphasis on the public realm. So imagine the surprise when plans for 15 acres of Erdman-owned property at the corner of Whitney Way and University Avenue came in looking like a suburban office park complete with nearly 700 surface parking stalls. "The first thing I noticed was the amount of parking," says Tim Gruber, a former west side City Council member now serving on the Madison Plan Commission. The commission got a look at plans for the $7.5 million "Erdman Center" earlier this week and for the most part was not impressed. Phase One, which could begin by 2011, is to include a six- to seven-story hotel, a restaurant and another building with space for several retailers.

With a high-speed rail soon heading into downtown Madison, some in the city are hoping to parlay the effort into a push for a new downtown hotel. Officials from the Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau said Madison's tourism outlook got a boost when Gov. Jim Doyle selected to put a new high-speed rail station downtown. We think this is a really great time to start to plan developments," said Deb Archer, of the Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau. "We think that's where visitors and residents want to either leave from or come to, that it's more convenient, more central, and it's really the hub and the heart and soul of Madison." In that hub lies the Monona Terrace convention center. Tourism officials said they believe if the Monona Terrace can host more business meetings, the impact will be great. "I think it's going to make this destination extremely competitive, which will create more opportunities (for) business, travelers, leisure, sports events, conventions and conferences," Archer said. Local tourism and event coordinators said a downtown rail station is good, but a new hotel is key. "In order to grow our business to the level we think it can reach, we need the additional hotel and the rooms that it would bring," said Bill Zeinemann, of the Monona Terrace. "To be competitive we absolutely need another hotel near Monona Terrace. We've lost business to other cities because our hotel package is more spread out," Archer said. But either way, state tourism officials said they are certain the downtown rail will make Madison a more competitive destination.

Three state buildings on Wilson Street are candidates for the Amtrak station but each poses challenges. Meanwhile, Madison developer Kenton is offering his own design concept. When Madison resident Royce Williams visits his 99-year-old father in Champaign, he takes a Van Galder bus to Chicago's Union Station, then boards an Amtrak train to the central Illinois city's transportation hub. Once there he scans an electronic display to find out when the next green line bus is leaving. If there's enough time to spare, he can grab a sandwich at the station's Subway, a soda from the vending machine or a magazine from the newsstand. Outside there's space for taxis and parking. "I see the same thing being a necessity here, but I'm very skeptical it's going to happen because of location," Williams said. Williams, one of two Wisconsin representatives on the National Association of Rail Passengers, was disappointed the state picked Downtown for the city's future Amtrak station. He preferred the airport because he thought it would have been easier to provide the essential station amenities and transportation connections. But others, like Madison architect Kenton

University Research Park & MGE Innovation Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wis. Started in 1984, This park hosts more than 110 companies that employ 3,500 people. Graduates include Madison's Exact Sciences, which is developing a non-invasive DNA test for detecting colon cancer. Exact Sciences trades on the Nasdaq and boasts a recent $160 million market cap.

A business development center focused on agriculture has received a $200,000 Department of Commerce grant through the Madison Development Corporation and the City of Madison. The total cost of the previously announced BioLink center is $7.2 million. When finished, it will target businesses that are commercializing technologies, products and services used in agriculture. It will be part of the BioAg Gateway campus located on Agriculture Drive, on Madison's southeast side.

Quarra Stone Co. President Jim Durham knows how architects vying for a new project tend to work. Too often, he said, they hold off on gathering all the needed information until just a few days before they're scheduled to make their pitch for the job, then scramble to get it done. And that's where Quarra, a Madison stone supply and custom fabrication company, comes in. With a phone call, architects can nail down one part of their presentations by asking Quarra to search its new eco-friendly database of North American quarries for stone needed for the project. And if the quarry chosen is within 500 miles of the project, the building earns points toward certification as a "green building." Quarra can even get overnight shipments of stone samples from the cited quarries in the U.S., Mexico and Canada so the presenters have something to show their potential clients. "That's the cool thing," Durham said. "They have an interview to do and now they feel like they can walk in with some resources that make them look good." "They appreciate that," he added. "And it could be that the stone selection gets done right then and there (at the pitch meeting), and we're the company that gets hired to supply it."

After months of review and reshaping, the proposed $98 million redevelopment of The Edgewater hotel faces huge tests Monday on historic preservation and public money. The Hammes Co. is asking the Landmarks Commission to approve the project’s compatibility with the Mansion Hill Historic District. The commission last year rejected an earlier version of the project, nearly killing it. Hammes is also asking the city’s financial committee, the Board of Estimates, to approve $16 million in public assistance. “We’ve listened,” Hammes president Robert Dunn said. “We’ve been very diligent. We’ve made very significant changes to the project.” It’s time to move on and focus on “what this project can mean to the city,” he said. But opponents say the project is still too big and accuse Hammes of giving the city inaccurate and misleading information. The city Plan and Urban Design commissions have approved the project and the City Council may make final decisions on May 18. Hammes wants to restore the original 1946 hotel, cut the size of a 1970s addition and build a public terrace atop it, create a staircase to Lake Mendota and erect a nine-story tower. The hotel would have up to 190 rooms, eight to 10 condominiums and 355 underground parking spaces.

The $98 million redevelopment of The Edgewater hotel won’t work without public assistance, developer Robert Dunn says. On Monday, the city’s finance committee will consider Dunn’s bid for $16 million in tax incremental financing assistance. Under TIF, the city freezes the value of property in an area and uses tax revenue from growth to support private development and public infrastructure. The $16 million would help build a public terrace and other public spaces, move a new hotel tower back from Wisconsin Avenue and cover costs related to moving underground parking to an adjacent site. The total cost of public improvements, including parking, is $34.7 million, Dunn said. Dunn would build, operate and maintain public elements, but the city would get permanent easements ensuring access, use and views. Easements would be in lieu of a further payment if the hotel sold or a sum based on its assessed value at a future date.

Landmarks Commission again rejects $98 million project, but Board of Estimates endorses $16 million in TIF. Once again, the Madison Landmarks Commission has refused the Hammes Co.'s proposal to redevelop the historic Edgewater hotel, threatening prospects for the $98 million project. But in a separate meeting, the city's finance committee narrowly endorsed $16 million in public support for the project. The Landmarks Commission, after nearly seven hours of testimony and discussion, at 11:15 p.m. Monday voted overwhelmingly against the project, meaning a 14-vote City Council supermajority will be needed to overturn the decision and move the project forward. The commission voted 6-1 that the project is too big for the Mansion Hill Historic District, and twice voted 6-1 against variances from the city's Landmarks Ordinance. The commission, however, said a smaller project would be acceptable. Later, at 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, after more than five hours of testimony and debate, the city's finance committee, the Board of Estimates, endorsed Hammes' request for $16 million in tax incremental financing (TIF) assistance. The board split 3-3 on the request but Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, a strong supporter of the project, broke the tie. Hammes President Robert Dunn said he felt "very positive" about the night and momentum coming into final City Council votes. "I think people have taken the time and come to an understanding how the project and public improvements can be an asset for our Downtown," Dunn said.

The city will begin the bidding process for the new library beginning Tuesday, Mayor Jay Allen announced at this week's Common Council meeting. The process will be a closed bidding, meaning the bids are not disclosed until a specific date, rather than when they are made. The city will open the bids June 8, with the council set to review them at its June 22 meeting. City administrator Tony Roach told the council the city is using the closed bidding process because of the complex nature of the bids. That's partly due to the possibility of in-kind donations to help fund the construction of the library. Fitchburg voters approved a $14 million library - with $4 million of it to be raised by private funding and $10 million in city bonds - in a 2008 referendum. Earlier this year, the city voted to add a geothermal heating and cooling system that might increase that $14 million figure. Local residents participated in the design process, both the exterior and interior, in a series of meetings last fall. The Library Board held a ceremonial groundbreaking April 12, but the actual groundbreaking looks like it will be some time in July.

What’s often puzzling about the city of Madison is that despite its progressiveness and vitality, it always seems to lag in offering amenities to its kids. We saw that in the long campaign to get a swimming pool built in the states capital city. If it weren’t for the largess of the late Irv and Bob Goodman and a few other private donors, we still wouldn’t have one. And we won’t have any more outside of the Goodman Pool on the south side unless some other private donors raise their hands. Meanwhile, our suburban neighbors from Middleton to Sun Prairie, from Monona to Verona, have provided swimming facilities for their local kids for years, some for decades. Most of them aren’t bare-bones pools either. I thought about this the other day when a group representing the Madison Skatepark Fund dropped by the office to tell me of their frustrations, especially in this frazzled economy, trying to raise money for a city skate park.

Fitchburg-based plastics manufacturer Placon Corp. is getting $250,000 in state tax credits to build an $8 million in-house recycling facility that will significantly boost its use of recycled material in the products it makes and create up to 44 new "green" jobs by early next year. "This is a company that really invests in innovation," said Commerce Secretary Aaron Olver, who announced the tax credits at a company manager meeting Wednesday. "They're taking recycled material and turning it back into packaging and reducing their carbon footprint." Placon Corp. designs, manufactures and markets plastics containers for food, retail and medical products. It employs 326 people, with company headquarters and a factory at 6096 McKee Road. Placon already uses recycled content in its manufacturing process. It has been purchasing its recycled plastic in bales from a source in Ohio that converts bottles into sheets of recycled content that Placon uses to thermoform its products. Officials estimate they've saved more than 1 billion used water and soft drink bottles from winding up in area landfills in the past seven years.

If a rezoning amendment approved Monday night by the Plan Commission moves forward, UW-Madisons Charter Street Heating Plant will be renovated and expanded to burn biomass and natural gas instead of coal. The $250 million project will transform the plant that has been burning coal since the 1860s, said Alan Fish, UWs associate vice chancellor for facilities. The project includes demolishing part of the facility on the south side of the UW-Madison campus and building a biomass fuel handling and storage facility there. During a presentation of the project at Monday’s meeting, Fish said the plant will have three boilers burning natural gas and one burning a wide range of renewable fuels that preferably will come from Dane County. Two rail lines also will be added to transport the biomass.Coal use could end in 2011 if construction progresses as planned, Fish said. The switch to biomass is part of a court agreement between the state and the Sierra Club calling for the elimination of coal at the state-owned Charter Street plant and the Capitol Heating Plant in Downtown Madison.The City Council will take up the matter at a meeting May 18.

Madison has the ninth strongest economy in the U.S., according to Policom Corp.'s 2010 rankings. The survey examines 23 measures of economic strength over a 20-year period. Data from 1989 to 2008 involving 366 metropolitan statistical areas was considered for the latest report. "While most communities have slowed or declined during this recession, the strongest areas have been able to weather the storm," said William Fruth, president of Policom, based in Palm City, Fla.Madison has a diversified job base, with the state capital, UW-Madison, and employment strength in insurance, finance, technology and meat processing, Fruth said. "That's one of the characteristics of strong economies. If one (industry) goes down, there are other ones there to keep the economy up," he said. At the same time, negative factors considered in the rankings, such as increases in welfare and Medicaid, are traditionally low in the Madison area, Fruth said. "It's not the fastest growing area, in jobs and wages; not even in the top 20. But it's been a consistent growth over a long period of time. That's why I say you have economic strength," he said. It is not surprising that Madison is ranked pretty well, said David J. Ward, president of NorthStar Economics, Madison. "There is still a pretty dynamic economy around Dane County, in general," he said. Ward said the area's ninth-place ranking is good and should carry some cachet. Policom's annual survey is followed by economists, he said, adding, "And I think there is some credibility to it." Madison's economy was ranked sixth strongest in 2009 and 15th in 2008.

Willy Street Co-op members came through in a big way to help finance a second store in Middleton. The drive to raise at least $600,000 in bonds ended more than three weeks early, with the cap of $1 million raised by May 4. "It was just overwhelming that we had that much owner support in the project," Willy Street Co-op general manager Anya Firszt said. Bonds were sold for $200 to help fund the $3.45 million project, to be called Willy West, at 6825 University Ave. It is scheduled to open in October. The $1 million raised is a textbook example of current consumer spending, said Deborah Mitchell, a senior lecturer in marketing at UW-Madison and a consumer behavior expert. It's not that the economy has recovered and there is money to spend, she said. It's that people will spend money on something they believe in. "It's sort of a values-based choice by the consumers," Mitchell said. Consumers are responding to businesses that are green, sustainable and local, and the Willy Street bond drive shows support for that too, she said. "They hit that vein of commitment and discernment," Mitchell said. "When you see something like this, it really does show how people are thinking today."

Metavante is closing its Madison office, which has 157 employees, parent company FIS told state officials on Wednesday. The company provides online payment and other processing services to the financial industry. Work performed at the Madison office, 2335 City View Drive, will be consolidated with other FIS locations. According to the notice sent to the Department of Workforce Development, job reductions will begin July 15 and continue through March 31. Some of the affected employees will be retained for work in the Madison area and some others will be offered positions at other company locations, Metavante said, without giving specific numbers. Metavante was spun off from Marshall & Ilsley, Milwaukee, in 2007 and was bought by FIS, of Jacksonville , Fla., last October.

Converting the aging coal-burning Charter Street Heating Plant into one of the greenest facilities of its kind is coming at a price. The new facility, which received initial approval from the city Plan Commission Monday night, will have the capacity to burn wood chips, corn stalks, switchgrass pellets or other biomass. But including biomass in the fuel mix has added at least $50 million in cost to the estimated $250 million power plant, the most expensive single project in UW-Madison history.

Actuant Corp.'s new Menomonee Falls corporate campus will have a groundbreaking ceremony starting at 11 a.m. Tuesday, at Westbrook Corporate Center, 124th St. and Westbrook Crossing. Speakers will be Robert Arzbaecher, Actuant chief executive officer; Aaron Olver, state commerce secretary, and Randy Newman, Menomonee Falls village president. Irgens Development Partners is building the two-story, 81,000-square-foot building that will be leased to Actuant. The industrial tool maker is consolidating operations from Butler and Glendale at the Westbrook campus, which will include a building being remodeled for Actuant. Actuant will receive $3.25 million in state aid, and $3 million from the village, to help finance the development. The consolidation will create up to 140 jobs, retain 650 jobs, and includes $15 million in investments by the company, according to the state Department of Commerce.

Fiskars will close two of its Wisconsin operations over the next 12 months, ending 115 jobs in the state, and will move the work to a new facility in Southaven, Miss. But Fiskars' North American offices will remain headquartered in Madison and its 200 employees here will not be affected, spokeswoman Julia Prohaska said. The Finnish company, known for its orange-handled scissors and garden implements, will shutter its Sauk City warehouse and distribution center, about 25 miles northwest of Madison, by the end of the year. The 65 people employed there are in the garden division. A Wausau distribution center for school, office and craft supplies, 140 miles north of Madison, will close by May 2011, eliminating 50 jobs. Layoffs at the two locations will begin in September. Some employees may be offered a chance to apply for work at the Mississippi site but it's not clearly yet how many, Prohaska said. The closings are part of Fiskars' effort to consolidate the garden division with the school, office and craft division, a move that began in early 2009 when business personnel for the two units were combined at 2537 Daniels St., on the Southeast Side. When it came to stocking and shipping the products, the current Wisconsin locations were not suitable. "While both are sizable, neither was optimal space to bring together both the garden and office and craft divisions," Prohaska said.

Gov. Jim Doyle has signed legislation that allows more time for financially troubled tax incremental financing districts to pay off their debts. With a TIF district, a community typically borrows money to help fund a real estate development. The project's property taxes are used to pay off that debt. Once the debt is paid, the taxes flow to the community, its schools and other local governments. However, some districts have run into trouble because the recession has reduced property values, so it's taking longer to pay their debts. Some of the deepest holes are in smaller communities, such as Warrens and Necedah. The legislation, SB 291, was written by Sen. Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa) and Rep. Louis Molepske (D-Stevens Point). Both the Senate and Assembly unanimously passed the bill's final version. The new law allows communities to extend the life of a financially troubled TIF district for up to 40 years from the date it was created to pay off the debt. State law now limits districts to a maximum life of 27 years. The bill also allows a community to take revenue generated by a successful district to help pay off a distressed district's debt. The law will allow communities with distressed TIF districts to avoid a possible default on their debts, Sullivan said. Molepske said it's in the public's interest to avoid such defaults, which result in higher interest rates for communities seeking to borrow money.

A planning effort to create a livelier street scene along North Ave. in Wauwatosa's East Tosa neighborhood is beginning, with an open house scheduled for next week. The idea is to create a plan that promotes high-quality and sustainable businesses, with a focus on strengthening bicycle and pedestrian links, according to Ald. Bobby Pantuso. The open house begins at 7 p.m. Monday, at Wauwatosa City Hall. It will be led by Marty Shukert, of Omaha-based RDG Planning & Design, Pantuso said.

City officials and developers over the last several months have spent considerable time pondering the future of the Paradise Theater, which opened at 6229 W. Greenfield Ave. in 1929. It is now increasingly possible there could be no future at all. The city has issued a razing order for the 81-year-old building because of its current state of deterioration. The building will need to be repaired soon if there is any chance of saving it. It could be demolished as early as this summer if no private or public financing comes through, West Allis Development Director John Stibal said. Stibal plans to ask the council how the city should proceed. Aldermen may consider how much, if any, public money should be used to salvage the theater. Memories of the way it was One of those aldermen, Dan Roadt, said he has fond memories of the theater growing up and would love to find a way to keep it standing. Roadt is a lifelong resident of West Allis who grew up at 88th and Arthur streets. During his youth, he would often walk with his brothers and neighbors a couple times a month to catch a movie.

A proposal to convert a vacant Bay View building into a wholesale bakery and retail cafe for Alterra Coffee Roaster Inc. calls for additional office space to be rented to other tenants. That's according to plans filed with the Milwaukee Board of Zoning Appeals. The board, at its May 20 meeting, will consider granting a special use permit for the project. The former Maritime Savings Bank building, between Kinnickinnic and Howell avenues, south of Lincoln Ave., would be sold to Phelan Acquisitions LLC, operated by local developer Sean Phelan, the file said. Phelan would renovate most of the building for Alterra, with additional space on the second floor marketed to other office tenants. The plan is to to add around 3,000 square feet to that existing 17,000-square-foot building. A smaller, neighboring building, at 2314-2320 S. Howell Ave., would be demolished, and the project would include an adjacent 40-space parking lot. As I reported in April, Alterra also plans to build a new café in Shorewood, and renovate cafés in Grafton and at 2211 N. Prospect Ave. The company would finance those projects with $7.8 million in industrial revenue bonds issued in the City of Milwaukee's name.

The groundbreaking for downtown's Moderne high-rise apartment project remains delayed as developer Rick Barrett continues to wait for final approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a loan guarantee. 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. It 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, but agency officials since have asked for more information. Barrett told me Monday he continues to work with agency officials to meet those requests. He also remains confident that final approval will occur. "The process requires so much patience," Barrett said. "It is what it is." 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.

A large apartment development proposed for New Berlin's city center area has received Plan Commission approval. Minneapolis-based MSP Real Estate Inc. wants to develop the 172-unit apartment complex at 14901 W. Library Lane. The development would have 100 units for senior housing, and 72 units aimed at younger tenants who meet income guidlines for affordable housing, reports Jane Ford-Stewart, at New Berlin Now.com. The commission recommended approval on a 4-3 vote. Opponents say the project goes against the original concept of having upscale housing in the city center area. Supporters, however, say the tenants will have enough disposable income to spend at nearby retail businesses.

Concordia University Wisconsin will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, May 14, to celebrate the start of construction of its 57,000-square-foot School of Pharmacy building at the campus in Mequon.The total cost of the project is estimated at $12-15 million. So far Concordia has raised about $8 million for the project. Milwaukee-based C.G. Schmidt Inc. is the general contractor for the project, which is expected to be complete in time for the 2011 fall semester. The first Concordia pharmacy students will begin taking classes this fall in a temporary location on campus. Concordia is in the process of getting its new School of Pharmacy accredited. Full accreditation will only occur after the first class of students graduate in 2014. Concordia’s School of Pharmacy will only be the second in the state. The other is at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Nationally, there are just over 100 accredited pharmacy schools.

Nearly a dozen Milwaukee-area companies will help Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving affordable homeownership and revitalizing communities, celebrate its 10 year anniversary by participating in National Rebuilding Day on Saturday, May 15. The day is part of a national effort of volunteers and sponsors who will provide free home rehabilitation for low income homeowners in the community. The organization will provide home repairs to ten low income senior homeowners in the area. “All of the work is done by volunteers from the local corporations and small businesses that sponsor us,” said Lynnea Katz-Petted, executive director of Rebuilding Together of Greater Milwaukee. Since its inception, the organization has helped nearly 400 individuals in the Milwaukee area receive needed repairs on the houses they own free of charge, Katz-Petted said. Sponsors for the spring rebuilding day homes include: Associated Bank, M&I Bank, Wisconsin Association of Home Inspectors, Tri City National Bank, Wells Fargo, Findorff Builders, Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate Women, American Family Insurance, York, Gross Heating and Air Conditioning, We Energies, Wisconsin Women Environmental Professionals, and Cricket Wireless. “This is the first year we are sponsoring a house,” said Alan Ruesch, president and owner of Gross Heating and Air Conditioning. “We’ve been fortunate that our business has weathered the recession pretty well, and so it’s a way for us to be grateful and give back to the community as well.”

Economic development leaders across Wisconsin are hoping that a series of bills Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law on Monday will help to spur job growth and help companies locate and expand in the state. But critics say the bills don't do enough to address the state's flagging economy and high joblessness rate which was at 8.8 percent in March. Republicans in the Legislature argued that Democrats who control both the state Assembly and Senate didn't do enough to address the economy this year. Republicans characterized the bills Doyle signed as too little to make up for tax increases passed last year. "The waters of this recession are still treacherous and Wisconsin businesses need an emergency life raft," said state Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, in a statement. "It's too bad the Democrats are too busy patting themselves on the back to throw one." State Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said the tenets of the new law weren't developed by legislators in Madison but by business and economic development leaders throughout the state.

NWTC trustees will vote on the proposed spending package — which is up 4 percent over last year's $100 million — this afternoon, following a public hearing at the school's Green Bay campus, 2740 W. Mason St. The budget calls for a 2.87 percent tax levy increase, or an additional $6 on a $100,000 home, which is the smallest jump in 20 years, said NWTC president Jeff Rafn. Trustee concern about the state of the economy plus enrollment growth — NWTC saw a 12 percent boost last year — are two of the factors contributing to the smaller increase. NWTC also is beginning to pay off a $46 million 2001 referendum, so its debt service will be decreasing, Rafn said. Helping displaced workers in the slumping economy will be a budgetary priority for NWTC. "We certainly expect that to continue, going into the next year," Rafn said. "In fact, we had added sections this year in things like medical assistance, (computer numerical control) machining, welding, marketing and graphic communications, digital media — these were all areas that were in demand, so we added sections as we brought more students in."

Two words - "prevailing wage" - evoked concern, and sometimes outright indignation, when officials of Columbia County's 21 towns gathered Tuesday at the Columbia County Highway Department headquarters in Wyocena. A change in state law, effective since the beginning of this year, requires local officials, including town officials, to obtain a determination of the prevailing wage for every project expected to cost at least $25,000, and to pay that prevailing wage. That didn't sit well with George Beasley, a supervisor for the town of Pacific. "It sounds like price-fixing," he said. "It doesn't give a guy a chance to say, ‘I can do it for less.'" Julie Eckenwalder of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development said prevailing wage laws have been around since the 1930s. Their intent, she said, is to "level the playing field" among construction firms competing for work, and to not allow companies to keep their bids low by bringing down the wages and benefits paid to workers.

Wisconsin's schools chief ramped up lobbying efforts Tuesday for a $23 billion education jobs bill pending in Washington that could stave off teacher layoffs next year. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers said that if the bill m passes Congress, it could bring more than $400illion to Wisconsin in extra stimulus funding, enough to save thousands of full-time teaching positions across the state next school year. "We're in a desperate situation here," Evers said. "It's a one-year fix, but it's a fix worth pursuing." The severity of educator layoffs is worse in other parts of the country. Cleveland Public Schools, with about 50,000 students, is expecting to lay off 545 teachers and 100 principals. In Atlanta, the 90,000-student Fulton County School System might have to cut about 1,000 jobs, including close to 500 teaching positions. Milwaukee Public Schools, with about 85,300 students, has proposed comparatively more layoffs than any other district in the state: 850 employees, including around 150 to 200 teachers. Elsewhere in Wisconsin, proposed job cuts are less severe. The Appleton Area School District may have to eliminate about 50 positions, most of them teachers. The School District of Beloit is looking at 12 staff cuts, Beloit Education Association President Tim Vedra said Tuesday.

2010 started like 2009 ended for Wisconsin’s housing market, with strong sales and stable prices, according to first quarter data released by the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association (WRA). Sales of existing homes rose by 16.8 percent in the first three months of 2010 compared to the same quarter last year. This percentage outperforms the nation, which grew at 11.4 percent, and the broad Midwest region which increased 10.8 percent over the period. Median prices were essential unchanged, increasing less than 0.1 percent. “This marks the third straight quarter of positive gains in home sales and the second straight quarter of double-digit growth,” said John Flor, Chairman of the WRA Board of Directors. According to Flor, extension of the federal home tax credit helped stimulate the Wisconsin market in the first quarter, but strong market fundamentals like low mortgage rates and improving unemployment numbers also played an important role in the strong first quarter numbers. “Mortgage rates are in the neighborhood of 5 percent, and while the state unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at 8.8 percent, we are finally beginning to add jobs,” Flor said. State unemployment figures show that after bottoming out in January, Wisconsin has gained more than 10,000 jobs. “While we have a long way to go to recoup the roughly 189,000 jobs that were lost between January 2007 and January of this year, at least we are moving in the right direction,” said Flor.

Sarah Demski can't wait to move into her new house on Milwaukee's northwest side. If all goes as planned, construction of the house should be complete in June. Until then, her family is watching excitedly as the four-bedroom home takes shape on a lot in the River Highlands subdivision. "We're there every day," Demski said. "It's like Christmas every day." The Demski family is among what home builders are hoping is just the first batch of consumers with enough confidence in the economy and their personal finances to construct a new house. While the numbers of people building new homes are nowhere near the enormous levels of the housing bubble of mid-2000s, home building permits in the first four months of 2010 have risen markedly from last year's scrubby totals in the same period. New home starts are up about 28% in metro Milwaukee, 47% in Dane County, 45% in the Fox Valley, 48% in the Racine-Kenosha area and 61.5% in the Green Bay and Door County area in January through April, according to MTD Marketing Services LLC, a Menasha firm that tracks building permits. However, economists and others who follow new-housing trends say it isn't necessarily the start of a new building boom. There's no question some of the increase was driven by consumers scrambling to take advantage of a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and $6,500 for move-up buyers, they said. To get the credits, buyers needed to have a signed purchase contract by April 30 and close before July 1.

The Journal Sentinel is tracking the flow of federal stimulus money into Wisconsin. About $7.76 billion in stimulus money had been allocated to the state. This interactive map shows the stimulus funding that has been announced so far going to Wisconsin municipalities, school districts, transportation projects and government agencies. Click on a county in the map and then on a city, school district, transportation project or government agency to see how stimulus money is being distributed. The box in the bottom left contains information on Native American tribes. Scroll down to the bottom of a county list to see the county’s May unemployment rate and state rank. Click the chart tab to see a breakdown of the top 20 program areas receiving federal stimulus money.

Baseball, apple pie and ... Freddie Couples? If a plan by the Milwaukee Brewers comes to fruition, the national pastime and a centuries-old game invented in Scotland will be joined at the (artificial) hip. The Brewers are trying to bring a Champions Tour event to Milwaukee to replace the defunct U.S. Bank Championship, a staple on the PGA Tour for 42 years, according to an industry source with knowledge of the team's plan. If the Brewers can secure a title sponsor in the coming weeks, the inaugural tournament would be held in 2011 at the Brown Deer Park Golf Course. Furthermore, the team would organize, run and promote the tournament, according to the source. It would be the first such partnership between the PGA Tour and a major professional sports franchise. Brewers officials declined to comment Friday, but the team already has had encouraging talks with Champions Tour officials. ``We're happy to confirm the Brewers organization has approached us with their desire to bring golf back to Milwaukee,'' said Steve Horner, vice president of development for the PGA Tour. ``The Tour has a long history in Milwaukee. The possibility of going back is intriguing and one that we would support.''

Gov. Jim Doyle's administration is offering $50 million in incentives to help an Italian shipbuilder land a U.S. Navy contract that would create more than 1,000 jobs in Marinette and thousands of additional jobs in the region. If Marinette Marine Corp. wins the contract and accepts the state incentives, the package would be the second largest ever provided by the state, which sees an opportunity to shore up a struggling manufacturing sector by moving Wisconsin companies into defense contracting. "This is a project that will put Marinette Marine on the map for a long time," Doyle said. "It's like bringing a big auto plant to the state of Wisconsin." The production of high-speed Navy combat ships, for use in shallow coastal waters, would be the largest defense industry project in Wisconsin since World War II, when submarines were built in Manitowoc. In dollars it would eclipse the work being performed by Oshkosh Corp., where more than 4,000 people in the Fox Valley are making U.S. military trucks for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."The economic impact is absolutely huge for the region," said Richard McCreary, chief executive of Marinette Marine, which is owned by the Fincantieri Marine Group, an Italian shipbuilder.

Mortgage rates fell this week to the lowest level of the year, as rates fell on U.S. government securities. Fixed mortgage rates closely track interest rates paid on long-term Treasury bonds. The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage dipped to 4.93 percent this week from 5 percent a week earlier, Freddie Mac said Thursday. It was the lowest level since mid-December, when rates averaged 4.81 percent. The drop came as investors shifted money from risky European debt to safer U.S. securities. Bond yields fell as a result, and that lowered mortgage rates. Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates on Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders around the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day.The average fixed rate dropped to a record low of 4.71 percent late last year, pushed down by a campaign by the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs for consumers. The program ended this spring, but rates have remained low, especially after fears that Greece's government would default shook world markets. "In times of nervousness, everybody seeks the safe haven," said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

Cristina Silva dos Santos is close to realizing a dream she has had for 28 years, since giving birth to the first of six children: a home big enough for her entire family. For now, she and her five youngest are squeezed into a four-room, rough-brick house the size of most garages, where they all sleep in the same room. But a new government housing program, the largest in Latin America aimed at cutting overcrowding in slums, will give Silva a substantial down payment on a $30,680 (54,000 real) home with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bathroom. The program, "My Home, My Life," is a model for developing countries trying to alleviate the squalor surrounding roughly 1 billion squatters and slum dwellers worldwide, according to one expert. Officials from Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique and other countries facing housing shortages have requested information about the program, said Maria Fernanda Ramos Coelho, president of the state-run bank Caixa Economica Federal, which is administering the project. Caixa officials also presented the program recently to their Venezuelan counterparts. "This is undoubtedly a model that could be used in other countries," said Demostenes Moraes, director of Habitat-Brazil, the Brazilian branch of an international nonprofit devoted to building houses for the poor.

A planned Southeast Side business incubator has received a $4.5 million federal grant and could soon assist companies developing products such as drought-resistant crops or plastics made from plants. The Midwest BioLink Commercialization and Business Center is expected to create 50 jobs and be a catalyst for the 27-acre BioAg Gateway between Interstate 39-90, the Beltline and Highway 51. The city plans to contribute $2.56 million for the 31,000-square-foot facility, including $2.05 million in tax incremental financing district funds and 2.6 acres of city-owned land worth $515,000. The state Department of Commerce is also chipping in $200,000. At least six companies are interested in using the facility, including the Madison-based firm Orbitec, Madison Economic Development Director Tim Cooley said. "We're looking for opportunities to scale up," Orbitec president Tom Crabb said. The company has developed closed-environment control systems for producing plant-derived proteins, including a "spider silk" that weighs half as much as Kevlar but is stronger and more flexible. The company needs a larger facility to produce the proteins on a commercial scale, which is where the BioLink facility could help. The goal is to foster the growth of start-up companies in the biotechnology based agricultural, or bio-ag, industry. The companies could be academic researchers who have received a commercialization grant or a spin-off from a larger company such as Monsanto.

The job market may be well be improving, but this spring's college graduates could well be in for an education when it comes to finding a job Armed with a new political science degree from UW-Madison, an ability to speak Czech and Polish, and an abundance of confidence, Jerrie Ceplina felt like she could take on almost any job. The one she found paid $8.50 per hour at a Madison tanning salon. "I applied everywhere," said Ceplina, who graduated a year ago. "I was sending out like nine resumes a day. ... I just took the first thing because I was like, ‘I have to do something for my own sanity.' ? " Like Ceplina, those graduating this month may need to reconcile lofty career goals with the realities of the job market. Although hiring of recent grads is expected to pick up by about 5 percent this spring, unemployment is still high. In Wisconsin, it was nearly 9 percent in March when seasonally adjusted. Many recent college graduates have gone into survival mode: moving back in with their parents, delaying graduating, obsessively scouring job boards and taking jobs that pay minimum wage — or don't pay at all. It's been a tough slog for some new grads. Jobs didn't open up as expected because baby boomers, watching their savings dwindle in the stock market, delayed retirement.

Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, appointed Aaron Olver, 36, to be his Commerce secretary in April. Olver previously served the department as executive assistant and deputy secretary. Aaron Olver has been working on Gov. Jim Doyle's economic development plans almost since the day Doyle took office in 2003. So he figures he is well positioned to shepherd the governor's economic policies through the final days of his administration. Doyle, a Democrat, appointed Olver, 36, to be his Commerce secretary in April. Olver previously served the department as executive assistant and deputy secretary. The governor had previously pulled his Commerce secretaries from the private sector. But Olver thinks working his way through the agency's administration may give him a leg up in the final months of Doyle's term, which ends in January. "I know the staff well, I know the programs, I know the capabilities. I don't have to get up to speed," Olver said. "I can hit the ground running on Day 1 understanding what we can accomplish in the time we have remaining. "Q: Three years ago, former Secretary Mark Burke complained that the Commerce Department wasn't out selling the state enough in an effort to recruit new businesses here. Do you think the agency has improved on that front? Do you have any ideas about what you want to do to sell Wisconsin nationally?

In an announcement that Madison officials hailed as a boon for Downtown, Gov. Jim Doyle said Thursday that the “obvious, correct choice” for an Amtrak station is near Monona Terrace. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz pledged to expand by 400 spaces a planned parking ramp reconstruction in the next two years to accommodate what he said should be called “Gov. Jim Doyle/Monona Terrace Station.” The governor, Cieslewicz said, “made absolutely the right decision, and in some ways a courageous decision, and one that is going to benefit the city of Madison for generations to come.”

The company seeking to redevelop the historic Edgewater hotel is proposing to give the city control over the public portion of the $98 million redevelopment as part of a request for $16 million in public assistance. Under the proposal, The Hammes Co. would build, operate and maintain a terrace overlooking Lake Mendota, a staircase to the waterfront, and a waterfront walkway and other public elements of the project, but the city would get permanent easements ensuring access, use and preservation of the view.

Thirty-five years ago The Capital Times (Nov. 18, 1975) printed two large photographs of the first historic district to be proposed in Madison. One showed the National Guardian Life Insurance Building and the landmark Keenan House next door; the other was a photo of the old governor’s mansion (also a landmark), described in the caption as “all but overwhelmed by the huge CMI Investment Corp. building.”

ARTICLE: According to an e-mail from City Council president Mark Clear, two major meetings on the Edgewater Hotel will go forward next Monday.

More than 50 AnchorBank employees in the Madison area will lose their jobs as a result of the struggling bank's latest cost-cutting move, Anchor's chief executive said. "We hope to have very, very little impact on customers," CEO Chris Bauer told the State Journal Thursday. Anchor said late Wednesday it will sell four more branches and cut operating costs 13 percent. Part of that will be accomplished by eliminating 70 jobs statewide. The announcement came two days after Anchor disclosed it has obtained a one-year extension for paying back a $116 million loan from U.S. Bank, now due May 31, 2011.

AnchorBank is selling four more of its 73 locations and cutting 70 jobs as the struggling savings bank tries to boost its financial cushion to meet the standards of federal regulators. Five weeks after a plan to inject up to $400 million from outside investors fell apart, Anchor came out with a new series of steps. They include selling branches in Ashwaubenon, Howard and two in DePere to Nicolet National Bank, Green Bay. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed but, if approved by federal regulators, the deal is expected to be completed by July.

Welcome to the launch of the State Journal's real estate blog. As its name suggests, the Property Trax blog will track the trends in land tracts locally and beyond. It'll focus mainly on residential development, though commercial real estate could get some notice, too. And it won't be all about the stats. With the help of readers, I'd like to get a conversation going about residential real estate - its ups and downs and undecideds - especially now as the housing market's slow rebound faces its first big challenge with federal tax credits for home buyers erased.

A decade of planning for a freeway north of Lake Mendota is set to wrap up at Thursday night's Dane County Board meeting, but it will likely be at least another 10 to 15 years before the North Mendota Parkway is built. The board is considering a resolution that maps out environmental and highway corridors -- some narrowly defined, some as wide as three-quarters of a mile -- through mostly farmland in the towns of Springfield and Westport, north of Middleton. Local planners are looking to the state Department of Transportation to further define that broader, western segment.

Construction spending rose in March for the first time in five months, but all the strength came in government activity as private sector building fell to the lowest level in a decade. Weakness in construction remains a major drag on the economic recovery. The Commerce Department said Monday that construction activity increased by 0.2 percent in March, the first advance since last October. The small gain took economists by surprise. They had been forecasting a 0.3 percent drop. The strength came from a 2.3 percent rise in public building projects, the biggest increase in 13 months. That helped offset declines in the private sector, where activity fell to the lowest point since January 1999.

Consumer groups challenging a key patent covering embryonic stem cell research pioneered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have won an appeal overturning an earlier rejection of their claims. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled Wednesday in favor of the two consumer groups that challenged one of the patents held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Two other patents, which also cover discoveries made by UW-Madison scientist James Thomson, were not challenged and are not affected by the decision.

Developers to Oconomowoc: Working with the city is like living with a schizophrenic

City of Oconomowoc — Area developer Mike Schutte didn't hold back Tuesday night when asked to give his feedback on what it's like to work with the city. He compared dealings with the city to life with a schizophrenic, saying his frustrations were fueled in the last year by inconsistencies in the city's overall plan for future development and constant additions of more fees and going back on approvals for planned developments. Schutte was among four other development stakeholders in the area who were asked by Mayor Jim Daley to share their thoughts on city processes and offer suggestions on how it can be better and more attractive to potential developers. Keith Farley, president of Oliver Construction; Jon Spheeris of Spheeris Development Corp. and Prudential Absolute Realtors and developer Jerry Erdmann, who is developing Brennan's Marketplace, also gave input on their experiences and ways the city can make the development process better.

UWM plays waiting game on Columbia Hospital purchase

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee administrators are playing a "waiting game" in their plan to buy the Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Inc. complex adjacent to campus, in hopes of seeing if the hospital's selling price drops. And the possible uses being floated for the Columbia complex, which will be empty by the end of this year, include non-student housing, such as apartments for the elderly. Those were among some of the more interesting tidbits disclosed at a Thursday morning meeting of the university's Academic Planning and Budget Committee. The advisory group met to discuss the pros and cons of two sites proposed for the new School of Public Health: downtown's former Pabst brewery, and Columbia.

UWM County Grounds development plan wins council approval

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's development plan for a portion of the Milwaukee County Grounds, east of Highway 45 and north of W. Watertown Plank Road, was approved Tuesday night by the Wauwatosa Common Council on a 13-2 vote. The council also voted 15-0 to approve zoning for the site, where UWM plans to develop a science research facility, technology-based business park and other buildings, including housing developed within the historic Eschweiler buildings. The development will be called Innovation Park.

Port Washington company moving headquarters, adding jobs

Franklin Energy Services LLC, which utilities hire to operate energy efficiency programs, is moving its headquarters to a larger site in Port Washington, and plans to add jobs there. Franklin now has 32 employees at its offices at 403 W. Foster St., Chief Executive Officer Paul Schueller said. The company is moving to the second floor of the former Smith Bros. Fish Shanty restaurant building, at 100 N. Franklin St., and hopes to be there by July 15. Franklin's current headquarters is in a converted church on three floors, where the company uses around 10,000 square feet. The new headquarters will have 12,000 square feet on one floor, which will be more efficient, Schueller said Tuesday.

Suburban office tenants likely to shift downtown, report says

Some local office tenants are expected to shift from suburban buildings to downtown Milwaukee as downtown building owners offer more rent concessions, according to a new report from commercial real estate services provider Marcus & Millichap. "These increased incentives are already drawing suburban tenants with expiring leases, including accounting firm Baker Tilly and engineering company CH2M Hill, both of which were priced out of the downtown area in recent years and are now looking to occupy space in the metro’s highest-profile office submarket," the report says.

Memory care facility proposed in Brookfield

A 40-bed residential care facility for people with memory issues has been proposed for a Brookfield site. Kenosha-based Dete Development LLC has proposed the 28,000-square-foot facility for 17100 W. Greenfield Ave. The facility needs a conditonal use permit. The proposal has an initial appearance before the Plan Commission at its Monday meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m.

Trading systems mishap suspected in wild Wall Street ride

Stocks took a harrowing ride Thursday, with the Dow falling nearly 1,000 points in a matter of minutes late in the trading day before regaining much of the loss in one of the wildest days in Wall Street history.

Cash for Caulkers moves on

Homeowners could collect thousands of dollars in Cash for Caulkers rebates for renovating their homes with better insulation and energy-saving windows and doors under a new economic stimulus bill that the House passed Thursday

Panel approves engineering for Milwaukee streetcars

A study committee voted Thursday to start preliminary engineering on a $95.8 million downtown Milwaukee modern streetcar line. The Milwaukee Connector study committee voted, 3-1, to seek Federal Transit Administration approval for the engineering work on the streetcar, which would link downtown attractions to the lower east side with trips every 10 or 15 minutes, from early morning to late at night, seven days a week, for $1 a ride. Common Council action would still be needed to start construction, probably next year. But if the federal government approves preliminary engineering, it would be the biggest step yet for a rail transit project in Milwaukee, after the failure of previous plans for light rail and guided electric buses.

Troy and Melissa Hottmann expect to close on their purchase of a three-bedroom ranch home in Oconomowoc this month. Eager to stop renting and have their own place, the couple probably would have bought a house at some point in 2010, Troy said. But the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers - part of the government's plan to stimulate the economy - spurred them to make an offer on a house before Friday's eligibility deadline. "The credit gave me all the motivation to do it sooner rather than later," said Troy Hottmann, who said he and his wife probably checked out more than 30 homes before they came back and agreed to pay $167,500 to buy the first house they visited.

Banks should make loans to sound borrowers

Regulators must do all they can to help banks make loans to creditworthy borrowers, especially small businesses, a development that's critical to strengthening the economic recovery, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday. It's a delicate dance for the Fed and other banking regulators. As regulators encourage banks to make loans to sound borrowers, they are also working to make sure banks get back on firmer footing after suffering through the worst financial and economic crises since the 1930s. "Our message is a simple one: institutions should strive to meet the needs of creditworthy borrowers, and the supervisory agencies should do all they can to help, not hinder, those efforts," Bernanke told a conference on banking in Chicago.

Jobs grow by 290,000, most in 4 years

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More confident employers stepped up job creation in April, expanding payrolls by 290,000, the most in four years. The jobless rate rose to 9.9 percent as people streamed back into the market looking for work. The hiring of 66,000 temporary government workers to conduct the census helped overall payroll growth last month. However, private employers - the backbone of the economy - boosted jobs, too. They added a surprisingly strong 231,000 positions last month, also the most since March 2006, the Labor Department reported Friday. "Clearly companies have a newfound confidence in the future of the economic recovery and on the part of their own business prospects," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "The broadbased job gains are an indication that businesses are feeling more comfortable about expanding their work forces," he said.

Shoppers hand retailers a solid spring, despite a cooling in April

Consumers slowed their spending in April, after splurging on Easter purchases in March. Retail industry sales gained just 0.8% for the month, the weakest performance since November. The shifting date of the Easter holiday skews sales number for March and April every year, so investors look at the two-month period to get a true picture of the spring selling season. This year, Easter was on April 4, meaning much of the shopping leading up to it was in March. Last year, Easter fell on April 12. On the two-month basis, comparing this year with last year, the news Thursday looked better.