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

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As a sign of how quickly Hammes Sports and Entertainment needs to move, the developer wants to take the new project designs, located in city and national historic districts, to the city Plan Commission Nov. 2, and to the Urban Design Commission Nov. 4. New designs for the Edgewater Hotel redevelopment were unveiled Wednesday, but time may be running out. The new plans are a response to criticism over the original proposal, which included an 11-story tower. The developer, Hammes Sports and Entertainment, has knocked three stories from the tower and two more from an existing 1973 addition, among other changes. In all, Hammes has trimmed around $16 million from its $109 million first draft. Despite the savings, Hammes is still asking the city for the same level of assistance -- $16 million in tax increment financing. This request has already drawn criticism from alders and the public. Hammes president Bob Dunn says the subsidy needs to stay the same even though the project will cost less because the loss of income-producing space will make private financing more difficult.

Goodbye disco-era eyesore. Hello Lake Mendota panorama. To address neighborhood concerns, a developer has dramatically changed plans to remake the historic Edgewater Hotel, lowering a 1973 addition to allow a two-tiered public terrace that opens views to Lake Mendota and reducing the height of a new hotel tower from 11 to eight stories. The changes are winning raves from city officials, and business and neighborhood supporters. But they don't satisfy critics in the historic Mansion Hill neighborhood, who are still concerned about the height of the tower, traffic and parking and vowing to fight the new plan. Robert Dunn, president of Hammes Co., paused the city review process last month to reshape plans and says the proposed $93 million "Edgewater at Mansion Hill" is his best and last effort to address issues raised by opponents. "We've satisfied every concern in a very effective way," he said. "This is an opportunity for a distinctive class of hotel and a destination in the Downtown. We have an opportunity to create a great public space." Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who liked Dunn's initial proposal, and Susan Schmitz, president of Downtown Madison, Inc., praised the design. But attorney Fred Mohs, part of a neighborhood steering committee studying the project, said the group will fight the plan and go to Dane County Circuit Court if needed."The lowering of the 1970s addition is excellent," Mohs said. "(But) the size and volume of the tower and the location of the tower are still unacceptable."

Groundbreaking began Thursday for a $13 million expansion of the Madison facility for Danisco USA, a Danish producer of food ingredients. The state Department of Commerce awarded Danisco $390,000 in tax credits for the project, which will house a new storage freezer at its facility on the Southeast Side at 3322 Agriculture Drive. The new project will create 25 additional jobs in Madison, said Commerce spokesman Tony Hozeny. Danisco took over the former Marschall Dairy Laboratory in 2004. It produces enzymes, cultures and flavors for food, human health, animal nutrition and other industries.

A 2-acre piece of commercial real estate along bustling Greenway Boulevard owned by T. Wall Properties is the latest example of an arcane state law that allows developers to dramatically reduce their property tax liability. Dane County records show that two parcels off the Beltline owned by Wall Land Investment LLC were reclassified this year as agriculture property, saving the company about $34,000 in local taxes. Owner Terrence Wall says he has been renting the land to a farmer, who this year planted a crop of pumpkins that were later sold to raise money for a Middleton youth group. "If a parcel of land has an ag crop on it, it qualifies for ag use assessment under Wis Statute, Wall said in an e-mail. "That's the law; we're following it. But I guess in this town, no good deed goes unpunished." In 2008, the parcels at 8225 and 8235 Greenway Boulevard had assessed values of $1.04 million and $961,000, respectively. But after an appeal from Wall, the assessments were lowered to less than $1,000 under the state's "use value" law, which requires that land in active production be valued for tax purposes as farmland, not for its development value. The issue was raised last week by the left-leaning group One Wisconsin Now, which had earlier criticized Wall for registering his real estate LLCs, or limited liability companies, at an address in Delaware.

Hy-Vee is already a well-established chain in Iowa, but it set its sights on Madison as the place that would be right to open its first LEED-certified (green-built) store. "We thought Madison would be a great place to try making our buildings more carbon efficient, and do more recycling," says Hy-Vee C.E.O. Ric Jurgens, in town in advance of next week's grand opening. Madison is well known as "a socially conscious community," says Jurgens, and so consumers here should be interested in the steps that Hy-vee has taken to be both green in its operations and in what it is doing as a company to improve its shoppers’ health.

A South Side small business incubator that has helped low-income and minority business owners could be in jeopardy after its lender filed Monday to foreclose on its mortgages. But Richard Jones, president of Genesis Development Corp., said the incubator won't lose the Genesis Enterprise Center at 313 W. Beltline Highway because it has enough income from its tenants to pay off back taxes that prompted the foreclosure action. "It'll be all right," Jones said Tuesday. "We'll work it out. We have enough income to take care of this." The foreclosure was filed in Dane County Circuit Court by the Wisconsin Community Development Legacy Fund, a non-profit agency that loaned Genesis nearly $3 million in December 2005. WCDLF is a Community Development Entity made up of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, Legacy Bancorp and Impact Seven, and is responsible for allocating funds from the federal New Markets Tax Credit program launched in 2000. According to court documents, WCDLF alleges that Genesis failed to comply with certain covenants in the loans, including its obligation to pay real estate taxes and to make loan payments when due.

Could a new library building be a source of nourishment for the body as well as the mind? A grass-roots Madison group is working to make the idea blossom. The Downtown Community Gardens Group is hosting a public meeting Thursday to spread information and stimulate discussion on a proposal to put a community garden on top of the proposed six-story, $37 million library at West Washington Avenue and Henry Street. A presentation on rooftop gardens starts at 7 p.m. Thursday in Room 204 of the current Central Library, 201 W. Mifflin St. An open Q&A session will follow. Urban rooftop gardens are springing up all over the United States. To the south, Chicago sells honey from beehives on the City Hall's expansive rooftop garden. To the east, Milwaukee is home to a rooftop community supported agriculture garden, whose origin you can learn about here. The Kansas City, MO public library, in a converted bank building, boasts an ornamental garden on its roof. To find out if a rooftop garden on the new Madison library is feasible, the group already asked prospective developer Fiore Cos. for estimates on the cost. But for the idea take root, it will take grass-roots support from Madisonians dedicated to expanding the city's tradition of community gardens as the urban agriculture movement flourishes.

Rates for 30-year home loans have inched up, hitting 5 percent for the first time in nearly a month after bond yields edged up. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was 5 percent this week, up from 4.92 percent a week earlier, mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday. It was the highest average since the week of September 24, when rates averaged 5.04 percent. While above the record low of 4.78 percent hit in the spring, rates are still attractive for people looking to buy a home or refinance. To prop up the housing market and help the economy recover from the worst recession since the 1930s, the Federal Reserve has been engaged in an extraordinary level of support, spending $1.25 trillion on mortgage-backed securities, which has driven down rates on home loans. Last month, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues agreed to slow down the pace of the program to buy mortgage securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Instead of wrapping up the purchases by the end of this year, the Fed now plans to do so by the end of March. Despite the government's effort to support the housing market, qualifying for a loan is still tough. Lenders have tightened their standards dramatically, so the best rates are available to those with solid credit and a 20 percent down payment. 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, often in line with long-term Treasury bonds.

The State Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that extends the City of Racine's authority to use tax increment financing for environmental cleanup and other improvements at the former Walker Manufacturing site on Lake Michigan. The Senate voted 27-5 to approve a bill, authored by three local lawmakers, to extend by 10 years the life of the Tax Incremental Finance district that covers the Walker site. The property in question is the site of the failed $200 million Pointe Blue residential and retail development. The TIF district in which the property is located is set to expire soon and not extending the termination date could prevent the city from being able to act quickly to finance the necessary clean up and other improvements for redevelopment, according to Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, one of the authors of the bill. "This bill gives the city the tools it needs to create new jobs and redevelop a prime but unused piece of property on our beautiful lakeshore for public use and enjoyment," Lehman said in a news release.Senate Bill 132 is scheduled for a vote in State Assembly on Thursday.

Metropolitan Milwaukee’s 5.8% loss of jobs in the last year ranked on the high end of the nation’s largest metro areas, according to government figures released today. All of the biggest metro areas suffered job cuts since September 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, led by an 8% decrease in the Phoenix area, a 7.8% drop in the Detroit area and a 6.2% loss in the Las Vegas area. Besides Detroit, the only other major metropolis in nearby states that approached Milwaukee’s rate of decline was Cleveland, where employers also cut 5.8% of the jobs since September 2008. Among all 369 metropolitan areas, only 10 showed increased employment in the last year.

A Neenah lawmaker wants to repeal recent changes to the state’s auto insurance laws. Senator Mike Ellis says provisions in the state budget required minimum amounts of coverage for all drivers in Wisconsin and they’re driving up insurance rates. The Republican lawmaker says for some people, insurance costs are climbing by as much as 40 percent. Ellis says his office is receiving more phone calls and letters on the car insurance changes right now than any other issue. He claims majority Democrats have taken Wisconsin from one of the least expensive states for auto insurance, to one of the most expensive. Assembly Democratic Majority Leader Tom Nelson made waves earlier this month when he told an angry constituent it’s not the Legislature’s fault that premiums are rising. He later blamed the insurers’ desire for profits.

Flambeau River Biofuels has chosen Honeywell International Inc. to help design their proposed plant in River Falls, WI. Here are a few facts about the project: Expected to be operational in 2012, the plant will use wood waste and forest residue to produce biodiesel. •Once completed, the plant is expected to produce 18 million gallons of biodiesel per year. •The plant will be the largest second-generation biodiesel plant in the U.S. “Bio Industry Basics” is a series of weekly facts from the Wisconsin Bio Industry Alliance highlighting the positive benefits of bio fuel, bio power, and bio products production and use in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Bio Industry Alliance is a diverse group of businesses, environmentalgroups and statewide and local organizations that have come together to build both public and legislative awareness of the Bio Industry in Wisconsin.

The government has overstated by thousands the number of jobs that it has created or saved with federal contracts under the president's $787 billion recovery program, according to an Associated Press review of data released in the program's first progress report.A Colorado company said it created 4,231 jobs with the help of President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan. The real number: fewer than 1,000. A child-care center in Florida said it saved 129 jobs with the help of stimulus money. Instead, it gave pay raises to its existing employees.Elsewhere in the United States, some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two, three, four or even more times. The government has overstated by thousands the number of jobs that it has created or saved with federal contracts under the president's $787 billion recovery program, according to an Associated Press review of data released in the program's first progress report. The discrepancy raises questions about the reliability of a key benchmark that the administration uses to gauge the success of the stimulus. The errors could be magnified Friday when a much larger round of reports is released. It is expected to show hundreds of thousands of jobs repairing public housing, building schools, repaving highways and keeping teachers on local payrolls.

Before the jack-o'-lanterns are off the porch, Christmas ads will hit the airwaves, as retailers push the season to its earliest start ever.Before the jack-o'-lanterns are off the porch, Christmas ads will hit the airwaves, as retailers push the season to its earliest start ever. Kohl's Corp. and other big chains will launch their holiday campaigns next week, trying to drum up interest in what retailers expect will be another dreary selling season. "Halloween is the kickoff to the holiday season," said Richard Hastings, consumer strategist with Global Hunter Securities in New Orleans. Kohl's will build on its "The More You Know, the More You Kohl's" campaign. The Menomonee Falls-based chain's first holiday TV spot will run Monday, and stores next weekend will begin staying open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays."We read in our research that value is much more important than ever before," Kohl's Chief Executive Kevin Mansell said. Kohl's is stepping up its promotions this season in an attempt to take market share from competitors. The company will offer nine more days when shoppers can earn $10 in-store credits for each $50 spent, and will allow an extra 19 days to redeem those credits, known as "Kohl's Cash."

Mitchell International Airport recorded its busiest month ever in September, with the number of passengers up 16.85% from a year ago, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker said Wednesday. Mitchell International Airport recorded its busiest month ever in September, with the number of passengers up 16.85% from a year ago, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker said Wednesday. A total of 648,779 passengers flew out of Mitchell last month, up from 555,234 passengers in September 2008. The number of seats flown - a measure of airline output - increased 19% in September from a year earlier. Those increasing flights, and more competitive fares, are drawing passengers from throughout Wisconsin and the northern Chicago suburbs, Walker said. U.S. Department of Transportation data shows that the average fare for a Milwaukee departure was about $44 less than the average fare for a flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, saidBarry Bateman, Mitchell International director.Mitchell International's 12 airlines offer nonstop flights to 50 cities.

In a nod to mired hiring conditions, Washington appears to be on the verge of extending unemployment insurance benefits yet again "We should be able to get it done next week," said Rick McHugh, a Michigan-based staff attorney for the National Employment Law Project, a policy group advocating the extensions. By NELP estimates, about 7,000 Americans a day exhaust their jobless benefits, a group that will number about 600,000 by the end of the week. According to Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development data, a record 56,000 individuals exhausted their unemployment insurance benefits in Wisconsin in August, the latest month available. That was more than twice the number of workers who ran out in August 2008. Adjusting for seasonal fluctuations, the number of exhaustions has been climbing 14 months in a row. And the number of jobless seeking benefits keeps growing. Figures released by the state Wednesday showed that through the 43rd week of 2009, new applications for unemployment assistance were already 26% beyond the 2008 total.

In a move meant to rebuild one of Wisconsin's strongest and oldest trade links to China, Gov. Jim Doyle announced an agreement Wednesday between a major Chinese distributor of holistic health products and Wisconsin's ginseng growers with a value estimated at $12 million in the next five years. Tong Ren Tang Ltd., an established and widely recognized brand in China, becomes the exclusive distributor of Wisconsin-grown ginseng under the agreement with the Wisconsin Ginseng Board, which represents 200 growers, nearly all of them in Marathon County. Ginseng might be a niche product in the U.S., where its best known among health food consumers, but it is a widely advertised product among the Chinese, who buy it for medicinal purposes. For most of the last century, Chinese have placed a high premium on Wisconsin-grown ginseng, making it the state's best-known agricultural export on the mainland. The Chinese value the state's climate, soil and resulting flavor of Wisconsin's ginseng over the same root cultivated in China or Korea. On his previous trade missions to China, Doyle gave wrapped boxes of Wisconsin ginseng to each dignitary he met.

We Energies and a Chicago wind developer continued to spar over the Milwaukee company’s proposed Glacier Hills Wind Park proposal on Wednesday. A consultant hired by the Milwaukee utility said the We Energies Glacier Hills proposal is less risky and more cost-effective for utility customers over the long term. Invenergy, meanwhile, filed detailed applications for its alternative proposal Wednesday but urged the commission to endorse both the We Energies project and its wind farm. Invenergy proposes to build 94 to 100 wind turbines south of Green Bay in four towns in Brown County. If approved next year, the project would go into service in 2011, the company said. Given the need for We Energies to expand its reliance on renewable power in the coming years to comply with the state’s green-power standard, it will be cost-effective for We Energies customers to have both projects in the We Energies fold, said Mark Leaman of Invenergy. We Energies, meanwhile, said it has “firsthand experience” with independent power producers that have failed to honor terms of their agreements, “forcing the company to take over the projects.” That happened with the Blue Sky Green Field project, which was originally proposed by another developer but ultimately built by the utility.

While the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee delayed a decision Tuesday on the proposed Moderne high-rise loan, committee members While the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee delayed a decision Tuesday on the proposed Moderne high-rise loan, committee members indicated they'd likely approve the proposal--with some changes--at a meeting on Nov. 3. Meanwhile, a proposed city loan guarantee for the Bookends North apartment high-rise will be delayed indefinitely until the city comptroller has time to analyze the proposal, and make a report to the committee. That will likely take a few weeks. The 19-story Bookends North would have 224 units at the northeast corner of E. Kilbourn Ave. and N. Van Buren St. The $60.2 million building is being developed by New Land Enterprises and Wiechmann Enterprises, and financed mainly by a $51.7 million loan from St. Louis-based Love Funding Corp. The developers are seeking a federal guarantee for that loan, and would also have $5 million in equity financing and a $3.5 million loan from Emerald Isle Investment Trust.

Lake Lawn Resort, in Delavan, is in foreclosure, according to an article in GazetteXtra.com. The lender is Madison-based AnchorBank, which is also taking a bath on its loan for The Point on the River condo complex in Milwaukee.

Developer Doug Weas has dropped plans to buy the Columbia Hospital complex, next to University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, that university officials hope to convert into space for student housing, and other purposes. A difficult lending climate, and lack of a firm commitment from UWM officials to use the buildings, led Weas to drop the purchase offer, according to sources who asked not to be identified. The buildings, owned by Columbia St. Mary's Inc., will become available for development in fall 2010 after the hospital complex closes.

A proposed Milwaukee ordinance that requires apartment buildings to be certified by building inspectors before they can be rented was recommended for approval Tuesday by the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee. Under the proposal, to be reviewed by the full council at its Nov. 3 meeting, landlords would apply for an inspection by the city Department of Neighborhood Services to make sure each rental unit meets building and zoning codes. The inspection will cost the landlord $85 per unit, with the certification for each unit lasting four years if no health and safety code violations are found after the initial inspection, said Art Dahlberg, department commissioner. If such violations are found, the landlords will be required to undergo annual inspections. The ordinance would apply only in two neighborhoods with older rentals, and problems with code violations: an area near University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, bordered by Edgewood Ave., Newberry Blvd., Cambridge Ave. and Hackett Ave., and the Lindsay Heights neighborhood on the north side, Dahlberg said. It would affect around 3,700 units.

Amalgamated Bank this morning won a partial victory in its court fight to take control of the financially troubled Park Lafayette condominium development on Milwaukee's east side. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Timothy Dugan appointed a receiver to operate the 281-unit Park Lafayette, at 2000-2038 N. Prospect Ave. But the receiver, Robert Monnat, of Mandel Group Inc., for now has limited powers--a victory for Park Lafayette developer Warren Barr. New York-based Amalgamated hopes to gain full control of the property at a Nov. 16 court hearing. For now, Monnat is only authorized to pay the property's utility bills, and to inspect the property so he can create a plan for selling its units. An overdue electricity bill of $116,000 could result in the power being shut off at Park Lafayette, according to John Van Lieshout, Amalgamated's attorney. He said that bill will be paid immediately. Van Lieshout told Dugan that the bank is willing to pay the property's expenses while creating a plan to sell Park Lafayette's condos. But Amalgamated isn't willing to pay Barr and his partners "another dime." The bank is suing Barr's investment group, Renaissant Lafayette LLC, saying it defaulted on the project's construction loans and owes over $100 million.

Local developer Deb Lindner hopes to begin construction next spring on a 32-unit apartment building in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood. Lindner, of Citywide Development, told me the three-story building would be developed west of S. Robinson Ave. and north of E. Ward St. That site is about a block west of S. Kinnickinnic Ave., between E. Becher St. and E. Lincoln Ave. The apartments will include renewable energy systems and other environmentally sustainable features, Lindner said, and will be marketed mainly to people who want to live in a "green" development. The building will have one- and two-bedroom units, and underground parking, she said. Ald. Tony Zielinski, whose district includes Bay View, is supporting the project, Lindner said. Zielinski is sponsoring an ordinance to provide zoning approval for the project when it comes before the Plan Commission and Common Council.

Despite more vigorous leasing activity, consistent with a stabilizing economy, U.S. office vacancies rose another half point during the third quarter of 2009, coming in at 16.0 percent, according to the third-quarter office report from Colliers International.As with the previous quarter, national office vacancies kept rising in both downtown and suburban markets. The national downtown vacancy rate increased 37 basis points and the suburban vacancy rate jumped 66 basis points. In the downtown Milwaukee market, the third-quarter office vacancy rate rose to 19.5 percent from 15.9 percent in the same period a year ago. The suburban Milwaukee office vacancy rate increased to 18.1 percent from 15.0 a year earlier.Nationally, absorption presented a relative bright-spot during the July through September period. While occupied space shrank during the quarter, registering negative 17.7 million square feet (msf), this decrease was less than the negative 25 msf posted in the first and second quarters of this year. Thus, "less bad is the new good," Colliers reported.

C.H. Coakley & Co. has withdrawn its bid to provide space for a state Department of Health Services Center in a building the company owns at 2151 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. in Milwaukee’s Bronzeville district. Under a state Department of Administration plan, the Department of Health Services center would have moved to the King Drive building from its current location in the Marcia P. Coggs Human Services Center at 1220 W. Vliet St., Milwaukee. But the move was opposed by Milwaukee aldermen who said the DHS center would hurt efforts to redevelop the Bronzeville area. The decision by Coakley to drop its bid for the DHS was announced by Ald. Milele Coggs. A representative for C.H. Coakley could not be reached for comment.

Home prices rose in August for the third straight month, setting a rapid pace of recovery that surprised economists and raised questions about how long the trend can last. After a steep three-year descent, home prices rebounded this summer at an annualized pace of almost 7 percent, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index showed Tuesday. The speed of the recovery even stumped Robert Shiller, economist and co-creator of the index. "It's a time of exceptional uncertainty," Shiller said. "It doesn't seem like a time to see home prices booming, but that's what's happening." He expects prices will continue to rise for the next few months, but can't forecast beyond that, explaining, "There's no way to be a statistician about this." The Case-Shiller index of 20 major cities climbed 1 percent from July to a seasonally adjusted reading of 144.5. While prices were down 11.4 percent from August a year ago, the annual declines have slowed since February. Rising home prices are a key ingredient to rebuilding the economy. Homeowners feel wealthier when their property appreciates in value and are more likely to spend money. Rising prices also help millions of homeowners who owe more to the bank than their homes are worth. But many economists expect a double dip in prices. Despite signs the economy is recovering, home prices could decline again as unemployment and foreclosures rise and a tax credit for first-time homebuyers expires next month.

The state Department of Commerce will investigate the sales of deeply discounted mobile homes at Oak Park Terrace on Madison's North Side, a spokesman said Wednesday. In at least eight instances, buyers who paid as little as $1 for the homes were unable to make extensive and costly repairs needed to provide heat, water and electricity to the homes, said city officials who inspected some of the homes this week. State officials learned of the problems by reading a story in Wednesday's Wisconsin State Journal, said Commerce spokesman Tony Hozeny.

Milwaukee 's mayor would have the power to not only appoint the city school system's superintendent but also set its annual tax levy under a legislative proposal Gov. Jim Doyle detailed Tuesday. Flanked by five Milwaukee-area legislators, Doyle released more components of what he said would be within a bill introduced in the Legislature giving the mayor a strong hand in governance of Milwaukee Public Schools. With little time left in the legislative session and the bill still in the drafting stage, Doyle said he may call a special session this year to consider mayoral takeover of MPS. "I think we all feel this incredible sense of urgency that this has to be done," Doyle said. The plan would not just give the mayor the ability to fire and hire the MPS superintendent, according to a handout drafted by the governor and legislators. It also would move authority over budget and fiscal issues, curriculum, facility decisions and collective bargaining from the School Board to the superintendent. The mayor would set the annual tax levy. School Board members would provide oversight and perform duties related to community relations and student discipline. A referendum to reauthorize mayoral control would be held after seven years.

The creation of a local distressed property index is just the latest of many changes in the Dane County housing market in response to rising foreclosure rates. Others involve: Banks. To cut their losses, some banks are more willing to negotiate short sales with homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages. The bank accepts less than it's owed so a home can be sold quickly, while forgiving the deficiency entirely or in part for the seller, who walks away with nothing but protects his or her credit rating better than a full-out foreclosure would. Real estate agents. Because short sales are complicated and any mistakes can be costly and time-consuming, many agents are getting more training in how to handle distressed properties. The training lets agents market themselves as experts, and presumably improves their service to clients on either side of a short sale or bank-owned sale. In August, 28 area agents spent about $400 each on a two-day course in Madison by an outside company offering certification in distressed properties, while the local Realtors association and individual real estate companies have trained dozens more internally. Transactions. Tightened rules for credit, appraisals and other sale aspects have made the basic real estate transaction far more complex and often more time-consuming today than two years ago, agents say. And that goes for almost everyone, not just people selling or buying distressed properties.

Woldenberg's, which has sold clothing in Madison for a century and at Hilldale Shopping Center since 1991, will be moving to Greenway Station in Middleton next week. "It's a big decision, but the economy tells us we have to do that," said co-owner Marvin Prue. Woldenberg's will lease space at 1650 Deming Way near Chico's while a permanent space is being constructed. The store will be 4,500 square feet, Prue said, about the same size as the current Hilldale location. Prue declined to comment about rent at Hilldale, saying he preferred to look at is as an opportunity at Greenway Station. "They wanted our store," he said. "They wanted our business." It's not the first move for Woldenberg's, which sells designer men's and women's clothes. It opened on Capital Square in 1909, opened a second store on University Avenue in 1981 and closed the Downtown store two years later. The store moved across University Avenue to Hilldale 10 years later. The move to Greenway Station will happen Monday, Prue said, and the new store will open on Tuesday.

Brewing is about to return to the Whitney Square Shopping Center. The owners of a Downtown bar and grill are remodeling the former J.T. Whitney's, 674 S. Whitney Way, and plan to open the Vintage Brewing Co. in mid-December. Brewing would likely begin by the first of the year, said Trent Kramer, one of six people investing in the project. He and his wife, Brittany, opened Vintage Spirts & Grill, 529 University Ave., in 2002 and eventually plan to serve beer brewed on the West Side at their Downtown location. "We've got a lot of pretty interesting ideas," said Kramer, who has lived in the neighborhood for 11 years. "If this wouldn't have had the brewing equipment in it, I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought." J.T. Whitney's closed earlier this year after it was served an eviction notice. When it opened in 1995, it was only the third brew pub in Dane County. There will soon be eight with the addition of Vintage. Kramer, who grew up in Spring Green, plans to emphasize local ingredients. He'd like to grow hops at the family farm near Spring Green, brew 1,000 barrels of beer a year and serve other local beers and food. Kramer estimates he's saving about $250,000 in the remodeling project by doing much of the work himself along with skilled trades people he has worked with in the past. Properly managing the business will be the key to its success, he said.

A new Target store specializing in office furniture opened in Madison this week, offering products for large office spaces or homes. Target Commercial Interiors opened Thursday at 1020 John Nolen Drive, near the Sheraton Hotel. The space had been a Target district office and a sales office for Target Commercial Interiors. Now it's a 6,400-square-foot showroom for the furniture as well as 8,000 square feet of staff offices. It's the fourth commercial interior store for Minneapolis-based Target, which has done contract work for big business clients such as American Family Insurance and Covance in Madison. Now the goal is to reach smaller companies and homes, too, said John Jurgensen, director of marketing for Target Commercial Interiors. More retail outlets are planned, including one in Green Bay. "So many people are working at home, or out of work and starting consulting businesses at home," Jurgensen said. "This is a market that's not going to go away."

Planners of a proposed Target store to be built next to the Hilldale Shopping Center on the West Side got an earful Monday night at a neighborhood meeting that drew a crowd of 300 concerned residents to the Covenant Presbyterian Church. Developers want to build the store at University and Hilldale avenues, where currently a large hole languishes - the remnants of a scrapped Whole Foods store project. Designs for the store still were very preliminary, organizers said, but renderings called for a two-level facility with underground parking for about 160 470 cars. It would be structured differently from Madison's other two Target stores, developers said, following the pattern of more urban stores. "You can't just plunk a store down in the middle of (a community) and think it's going to be right," design project manager Mary Shaffer said. The plan for two levels would allow the store to take up 5.45 acres, about half that of a typical Target, developers said. It would have about 155,000 square feet of store space and would employ between 150 and 200 mostly hourly workers, developers said.

In some ways, Monday's "public listening session" about the Edgewater Hotel felt a bit more like a trip to the principal's office. More than an hour into the scheduled hour-and-a-half of the meeting, developer Bob Dunn was still in the midst of a presentation/lecture that aimed to address the benefits of and concerns about the Edgewater Hotel project. In all fairness, I didn't stay for the whole meeting -- I left at about 6:40 p.m. to head to the meeting about a potential Target store at Hilldale Mall, so I didn't hear the public comments that the listening session was intended to receive, but I was struck by a few things in Dunn's presentation. Namely, what was interesting was the tone, which at times veered into what felt like an incredulous critique of some Madisonians' criticism of the project -- although I think it's fair to say there is wide support for it, as well. At one point, Dunn called out a member of the audience who was shaking her head at something he said (something city officials will tell you is not a rarity at any public meeting), saying "she must know something he doesn't."

A developer is proposing a $30 million to $50 million housing project near the Capitol Square that might involve demolitions and building next to or moving a landmark Frank Lloyd Wright house. But the developer, Apex Enterprises, is also exploring a deal with the city that would save houses on the 200 block of East Mifflin Street and put housing above a city parking garage across the street. In a tough economy and saturated condo market Downtown, Apex would initially rent units built to condominium standards and sell them later.The proposals, which would create about 120 housing units, are meeting resistance from historic preservationists who want to protect the Wright house and single-family home scale of East Mifflin Street and from owners at the Capitol Point condos at 125 N. Hamilton St., who would lose views under the parking garage option. Apex, based in Madison and one of the city's largest owners and managers of rental property, is working with interested parties to see if a plan can be ironed out.

At 10 years old, Larry Barton spent his spare time scraping excess mortar off masonry joints for 25 cents an hour in his dad's construction company. "Instead of getting a baby sitter, he would take me to the job site," Barton recalled. In high school, he did construction work, masonry and carpentry for the company. In August, Barton was named president of Strang, a Madison architecture, engineering, interior design and construction administration firm now celebrating its 75th year. Barton has worked there for just over 24 years, in his first and only job so far after getting his architecture degree in 1985. "I like to think design and construction runs in my family," he said. "I've been exposed to it from a very early age."Strang designs a variety of building types, including commercial, research and development, higher education, health care, municipal, mixed use and religious facilities. Barton has done more than 20 church projects and well-known local spots including Alliant Energy Center's Exhibition Hall, City Center West and Monona State Bank, along with several jobs for the cities of Middleton and Madison.

Debates about city spending and development may soon revolve around facts provided by a new database that pulls together hard-to-find and hidden information on the condition of every Madison neighborhood. The Neighborhood Indicators Project went online today after years of negotiation between government agencies over how to protect individual privacy and technical work by the UW-Madison Applied Population Lab. Anyone with an Internet connection can use the project's data to sort and compare dozens of factors - about such things as poverty, crime, traffic crashes, code violations, infant health, property values, and school achievement - in 70 Madison neighborhoods, said Madison City Council President Tim Bruer.

A Fargo, N.D., maker of DNA and protein products is putting a research and sales operation in Madison, Gov. Jim Doyle said Thursday. A Fargo, N.D., maker of DNA and protein products is putting a research and sales operation in Madison, Gov. Jim Doyle said Thursday. Aldevron was founded by two North Dakota State University graduates, has more than 70 employees, and provides products and services to pharmaceutical companies and diagnostic test-makers. It is one of eight companies Doyle welcomed to the state at an event at University Research Park, where Aldevron will open its new office. " Madison really has a very active biotech community and significant amount of critical mass around that industry sector," said Tom Foti, general manager of Aldevron's Madison office. The office will open Nov. 2 with six employees. Doyle also welcomed to Wisconsin: RJA Dispersions, VitalMedix and Rapid Diagnostek, which moved to Hudson from Minnesota; Flex Biomedical and Exact Sciences Corp., which moved to Madison from Massachusetts; NanoMedex, which is moving to Fitchburg from Florida; and Inviragen Inc., which is based in Colorado and put operations in Madison. Biotechnology is the fastest-growing segment of the Wisconsin economy, with an annualized growth rate of nearly 7%, Doyle said in a statement. The sector has 400 companies in the state with 34,000 employees.

The Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin has announced its 2009 awards: Lifetime Achievement Award--Deborah A. Sobczak, Eastmore Real Estate. Realtor of the Year--Scott M. Welsh, Inland Cos. Affiliate of the Year--Chicago Title Insurance Co. Industrial Deal of the Year—Center Point Properties/Tire Centers USA industrial lease. Roger Siegel, Trent Poole and Scott Furmanski, of CB Richard Ellis Inc. Jeff Horn, Grubb & Ellis/Apex Commercial. Investment Deal of the Year--Jetson Apartments on Farwell investment sale, Tom Shepherd, Inland Cos. Office Deal of the Year--Citadel/Compass Properties office sale, David L. Barry, Colliers Barry Retail Deal of the Year--Shoppes at Fox River retail sale & lease. Dan Rosenfeld and Mike Fitzgerald, Mid-America Real Estate Group.

Shares of Associated Banc-Corp rose 4.3% Thursday after the company returned to profitability and beat Wall Street expectations with its third-quarter earnings. The Green Bay-based parent company of Associated Bank posted a profit of $8.65 million, or 7 cents a share, which was down 77% from 37.8 million, or 30 cents, last year but nonetheless marked a quick rebound from a loss of nearly $25 million in the second quarter. Stock analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News had projected, on average, a loss of 9 cents a share. After the financial results were reported, shares of Associated closed up 48 cents at $11.54 Thursday. Although the bank added $95.4 million to its reserves to cover potential bad loans, compared with $55 million in the year-earlier quarter, the provision for loan losses was smaller than the $155 million put into reserves in the second quarter. "The lower quarterly loan loss provision is the result of moderation in the pace of credit quality deterioration," said Paul S. Beideman, Associated's chairman and chief executive.

New Land Enterprises' proposed downtown apartment high-rise took a step forward today, with the city Plan Commission unanimously recommending approval for the project's detailed design. The next stop for design approval is the Oct. 27 meeting of the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee. But the real show at that meeting will be the scheduled discussion of possible city financing assistance for New Land's project, and for another proposed apartment high-rise: developer Rick Barrett's Moderne project. New Land's 19-story tower with 224 units, proposed for the northeast corner of E. Kilbourn Ave. and N. Van Buren St., is seeking a federal guarantee for a $52 million loan the firm would obtain through St. Louis-based Love Funding Corp. The Love Funding loan will fall short of the $59 million to $60 million needed for the project, so New Land will seek a second loan of $3 million to $4 million from another source, along with equity financing. New Land wants the city to provide a guarantee for that second loan. Meanwhile, the 30-story Moderne, with 203 apartments and 14 condominiums, has received preliminary approval for a federal loan guarantee, has won city design approval, and is ready to begin construction immediately.

Yes, the downtown condo market is slow, developer Boris Gokhman said at Monday's city Plan Commission meeting. But that doesn't mean high-end luxury apartments, like the ones Gokhman is trying to develop with city financing assistance, won't find renters, he said. His comments came as the commission recommended detailed design approval for Bookends North, a 19-story tower with 224 units, proposed for the northeast corner of E. Kilbourn Ave. and N. Van Buren St.Gokhman's firm, New Land Enterprises, is seeking a federal guarantee for a $51.8 million loan the firm would obtain through St. Louis-based Love Funding Corp. The Love Funding loan would fall short of the $59 million to $60 million needed for the project, so New Land will seek a second loan of $3 million to $4 million from another source, along with equity financing. New Land wants the city to provide a guarantee for that second loan. The Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee is scheduled to consider that request at its Oct. 27 meeting. It also will consider a request from developer Rick Barrett for $9.3 million in city loans to help finance the $55.2 million Moderne apartment tower, which would be built at the southwest corner of N. Old World Third St. and W. Juneau Ave.

A developer plans to build apartments, instead of condos, in Menomonee Falls because of the housing market's downturn, according to Menomonee Falls Now.com. The plan is to build 57 apartments, instead of 48 condos, south of the Alta Mira senior apartments and west of the Buena Vista senior condos on Northfield Drive.

I first reported Monday that Brynwood Country Club is losing its name, and might be sold to Wisconsin Club, through the impending merger of Brynwood and Wisconsin Club--an arrangement that gives members of both clubs access to each location's facilities. Missing from the article was the fact that the Brynwood facilities, 6200 W. Good Hope Road, will undergo some renovations once the merger occurs. (It got cut because the story ran too long for the print edition. Blame me. Or my editor. Actually, blame my editor).Brynwood's ballroom will get new carpet, wallpaper and other updates, said Wisconsin Club General Manager John Constantine. The remodeling work will begin Jan. 2.Other planned renovations include new sand traps for the golf course; new furniture for the swimming pool area, and resurfacing for two of the six tennis courts, he said. Constantine has overseen several remodeling projects at Wisconsin Club, 900 W. Wisconsin Ave., since he arrived in 1990. During that time, the club's membership has increased from 400 to 1,300, he said. The merger will make Wisconsin Club the state's only private club to offer both downtown facilities and a golf course, Constantine said. He said only a small number of clubs in the United States have such arrangements. But Constantine expects to see more such alliances because of declining membership at clubs throughout the country.

Around $100 million in federal stimulus cash will help finance Wisconsin apartment developments, including $18.8 million for Milwaukee-area projects, Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority Executive Director Antonio Riley announced today. The funding, in the form of loans and grants, was approved by the authority for 36 developments that have been stalled over the past year. The projects were to be financed in part with affordable housing tax credits. The authority gives those federal tax credits to developers, who use them to provide equity financing for their projects and attract construction loans. In return, the developers agreed to lease the apartments, at below-market rents, to people earning no more than 60% of their area's median income. Projects have stalled because developers have run into trouble selling the credits to raise cash over the past year. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the authority will use $30 million to fill gaps where private funding falls short, an authority statement said. The authority will also exchange previously allocated tax credits for $72 million provided under the act. The projects will create 2,252 apartments and over 2,076 construction and construction-related jobs, according to the authority. The Milwaukee area projects include the Hide House Lofts, a controversial project in the Bay View neighborhood.

When it opened in the late 1960s, the apartment building at 1601 N. Farwell Ave. was a place where Austin Powers might have felt at home. The building had an indoor swimming pool, a rarity for Milwaukee apartments at that time, and attracted a lot of what we now call the young professionals. Flash forward four decades, and the place was a dump: the pool closed; building code violations galore, and homeless folks living illegally in some of the apartments. The building was taken over by Madison-based AnchorBank, which filed a foreclosure suit against a developer whose plans to convert the rental units into condos failed. Enter Mequon-based Feldman Real Estate Inc., which AnchorBank hired in 2008 to redevelop the property. The firm did a full renovation of the 65-unit building, kicked out the squatters, got the dozen or so tenants to sign leases, and gave it a new name: The Jetson on Farwell. "Everything was redone," said Gary Feldman, president of Feldman Real Estate. This summer, the building had an 85% occupancy rate when it was sold to Eastmore Real Estate for around $3 million, Feldman said. As a result, the Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin recognized broker Tom Shepherd, of Inland Cos., for the Investment Deal of the Year in its recent awards.

Journal Sentinel's Gary D'Amato has more details from new owner Andy Ziegler. Developer Bob Lang is apparently selling at least part of his interest in Erin Hills Golf Course, in the Town of Erin, to Andrew Ziegler, CEO at Artisan Partners, reports Kelly Smith, at LivingLakeCountry.com. Smith has more details here. This would be the latest in a series of real estate sales by Lang. In July, I reported that Lang is adding partners to his Delafield Hotel operation. In December 2007, Lang sold 13 buildings totaling around 150,000 square feet million to Ace Delafield Properties LLC, an affiliate of Steinergroup for $20.5 Inc.

An apartment building with up to 88 units is planned for Milwaukee's east side, another indication of demand for new rentals in that area. Wangard Partners Inc. plans to develop the apartments on land east of HighBridge condominiums, 1888 N. Water St., said Wayne Wiertzema, executive vice president. Wangard has the land under contract, and is still working on its plans for the site, Wiertzema told me today. The land is owned by Mosaic Condo LLC, led by developer Brian Kliesmet. Wangard will submit detailed plans to the Department of City Development by the end of November. A meeting with neighborhood residents will be held once those plans are ready, said Ald. Nik Kovac, whose district includes the site. Current zoning allows up to 88 units, but Wangard hasn't decided how many units would be appropriate for the site, Wiertzema said. There is a demand among young professionals for new apartments on the east side, Wietzema said. That's been echoed by other developers, include Max Dermond, who's building the 90-unit Latitude apartments at the southwest corner of N. Farwell Ave. and E. Kenilworth Place. Wangard's apartments would be on a hillside overlooking the Milwaukee River, in an area where several new condos have been built. I’ll have a more detailed article later at JSOnline.com, and in Thursday’s print edition of the Journal Sentinel.

Here's a sneak preview of what developers Boris Gokhman and Rick Barrett will likely say to Milwaukee aldermen next week in their bids for city financing help. Gokhman and Barrett each want to build apartment high-rises: the 19-story Bookends North, with 224 units at the northeast corner of E. Kilbourn Ave. and N. Van Buren St., and 30-story Moderne, with 203 apartments and 14 condominiums at the southwest corner of N. Old World Third St. and W. Juneau Ave Gokhman's firm, New Land Enterprises, is seeking a federal guarantee for a $51.8 million loan from St. Louis-based Love Funding Corp. to finance Bookends North. That would fall short of the $59 million to $60 million needed for the project, so New Land will seek a second loan of $3 million to $4 million from another source, along with equity financing. New Land wants the city to provide a guarantee for that second loan. Barrett is getting a $41.4 million loan through Capmark Financial Group Inc. of Horsham, Pa., and the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. Barrett also is seeking $9.3 million in city loans to help finance the $55.2 million Moderne. He has additional financing lined up from equity investors.

A proposed Milwaukee ordinance that requires apartment buildings to be certified by building inspectors before they can be rented is drawing criticism from a local group. Under the proposal, landlords would apply for an inspection by the city Department of Neighborhood Services to make sure each rental unit meets building and zoning codes. The inspection will cost the landlord $85 per unit, with the certification for each unit lasting four years if no disqualifying code violations are found after the initial inspection. The ordinance would apply in two neighborhoods with older rentals, and problems with code violations: the area near University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the Lindsay Heights neighborhood on the north side, said Ald. Nik Kovac, one of the proposal's sponsors. The certification process is needed, said Kovac, because a lot of tenants, such as new UWM students, don't know enough about the building inspection process to notify the city of code violations. Also, some landlords delay on correcting code violations, he said.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee officials met this week with residents and business operators who live and work in the neighborhood near the Great Lakes WATER Institute, the likely location of UWM's future School of Freshwater Sciences headquarters. There were no dramatic announcements at the meeting, according to one of the persons who attended. But university officials did say they're waiting to hear back from Department of City Development officials on what the city will do to improve the area. As I've previously reported, (here and here), UWM is likely to build the school's headquarters at or near the institute, 600 E. Greenfield Ave. That location surfaced as the likely spot after UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago pulled the plug on the Pieces of Eight site. But a big factor is how much the city is willing to spend to improve the area, which is in pretty rough shape. The meeting was organized by state Rep. Pedro Colon, whose district includes the area.

Michael Cudahy’s support for the project has vanished, and some University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee faculty members are questioning plans to develop a science research facility and business park in Wauwatosa. But UWM officials are still committed to the development, a big part of Chancellor Carlos Santiago’s campaign to attract more research dollars—and make the university a bigger player in the area’s economy. They’re confident funding will be found, and say dozens of professors have expressed interest in doing research work at the Wauwatosa facility. I'll have a detailed look at the Tosa project in an upcoming Journal Sentinel and JSOnline.com article. It includes comments from UWM faculty who both oppose and support the project. The supporters say it would help UWM obtain large research grants, particularly those provided by the National Institutes of Health, the nation's largest provider of such funds. Opponents say creating research facilities for engineering and other science-related subjects in Wauwatosa would make it more difficult to build research partnerships among engineering professors and faculty in other departments, such as chemistry and physics, that are based on the east side campus.

For decades a prime piece of Loop property has captured the imagination of developers, politicians and retailers. And in their imaginations it flourished. The reality has been marred by disappointment. Block 37, as the property is known, stymied developer after developer trying to bring to life the parcel of dirt bounded by State, Dearborn, Washington and Randolph streets. Now, just weeks before the first stores were finally scheduled to open their doors, Block 37 is in trouble and its future is in doubt. Again. Bank of America and a group of lenders are moving to foreclose on the retail and transit portion of the mixed-use development, claiming Chicago developer Joseph Freed and Associates LLC has, in essence, run out of money, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court.

Wisconsin , the District of Columbia and two other states had the biggest job losses percentage-wise in September, according to a Labor Department report. The number of jobs fell in 43 states and D.C. in September, the Labor Department reported, and the unemployment rate rose in 23 states, compared with 19 states where it declined. The steepest job losses, in percentage terms, were in D.C., New York, Kentucky and Wisconsin. Many parts of the U.S. economy are showing "modest improvements," the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday, but bursts of activity in the manufacturing and housing sectors were overshadowed by weakness in the job market. The Fed's latest "beige book," a compilation of anecdotal reports from businesses around the country published eight times a year, offers a portrait of an economy in transition in the early weeks of the fall, moving from recession into a tentative and uncertain expansion. Businesses surveyed "indicated either stabilization or modest improvements in many sectors since the last report," the beige book says, "albeit often from depressed levels." The Fed added that while reported gains in economic activity generally outnumbered declines, "virtually every reference to improvement was qualified as either small or scattered."

Construction started Monday on St. Mary's Janesville Hospital, a joint venture between Dean Health System and SSM Health Care of Wisconsin, which owns St. Mary's Hospital in Madison. Construction started Monday on St. Mary's Janesville Hospital, a joint venture between Dean Health System and SSM Health Care of Wisconsin, which owns St. Mary's Hospital in Madison. Work on the $140 million, 50-bed hospital, along with a doctors office building, was initially scheduled for March. The project was delayed because of a tight credit market, hospital officials said. The complex, near Interstate 39-90 and Highway 11, will open in two years and employ more than 300 people, officials said.

Uniek, a Waunakee manufacturer of picture frames, is boosting staff because it is bucking the trend to outsource. Since February, Uniek has added 17 jobs and upgraded 30 temporary jobs to regular, full-time positions for a total staff of nearly 400, as the company prepares for the holiday season. Uniek converted some of its machines so that they could produce plastic in two ways, reducing the company's dependence on sources in China for one of those types of extruded plastic, said Jeffrey Armstrong, vice president of manufacturing. The result will be lower manufacturing costs, a wider variety of picture frames and higher-quality frames, he said. Uniek also is investing in a new source for its plastic. For now, Uniek is working with other suppliers to recycle plastic foam but plans to install its own equipment in the plant, probably by next summer, Armstrong said. The company might set up a drop-off point for the public, he said, to accept the pieces of plastic foam found in shipping consumer goods, such as appliances and electronics. "That's a future picture frame just waiting to happen," Armstrong said.

If you thought home prices were bottoming out, you may be wrong. They're expected to head a lot lower. Home values are predicted to drop in 342 out of 381 markets during the next year, according to a new forecast of real estate prices. Overall, the national median home price is predicted to drop 11.3% by June 30, 2010, according to Fiserv, a financial information and analysis firm. For the following year, the firm anticipates some stabilization with prices rising 3.6%. In the past, Fiserv anticipated the rapid decline in home-sale prices over the past few years -- though it underestimated the scope. Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody's Economy.com, agreed with Fiserv's current assessments. "I think more price declines are coming because the foreclosure crisis is not over," he said.In fact, those areas with high concentrations of foreclosure sales will experience the steepest drops, according to Fiserv. Miami, for example, is expected to be the biggest loser. Prices are forecast to plunge 29.9% by next June -- after having already fallen a whopping 48% during the past three years.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday to celebrate the start of construction of a new, 177,557-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter store at South West Avenue and Highway 59 in Waukesha. The general contractor for the construction project is Elmhurt, Ill.-based International Contractors Inc. The store will replace the 120,000-square-foot Wal-Mart store at W226 S1500, Highway 164, Waukesha, which will close when the new store opens next fall. Unlike the existing store on Highway 164, the new Wal-Mart store will include a gocery department. The Highway 164 store opened in 1991. All of the 202 employees from that store will be transferred to the new store and an additional 85 jobs (mostly full time positions) will be created at the new store. The Highway 164 store is located in the Town of Waukesha. The new Wal-Mart store will be the first Wal-Mart built in the City of Waukesha. “ Waukesha eagerly looks forward to the first Wal-Mart in the city,” said Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson. “It will help our economic development with new jobs and offer more shopping options for all of our residents, especially in the southern half of the city.” Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has 83 Wal-Mart stores and 12 Sam’s Club stores in the state.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is guaranteeing a $700,000 loan from the Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corp. for a planned Melting Pot restaurant that would be located in the Historic Third Ward in Milwaukee. The Melting Pot is a Tampa, Fla.-based chain of fondue restaurants. There are more than 140 Melting Pot locations in the U.S., but the only other Melting Pot location in Wisconsin is in Brookfield at 19850 W. Bluemound Road. Matt Soik, the Melting Pot franchisee that operates the chain’s Brookfield location, is planning to open another location in the former Milwaukee Antique Center building at 341 N. Milwaukee St. The Melting Pot’s web site indicates that the restaurant in the Third Ward will open during the “winter of 2010.” The five-story, 43,200-square-foot building in the Third Ward is located at the southwest corner of North Milwaukee Street and East St. Paul Avenue. According to David Stroud, one of the investors that owns the building, Soik plans to purchase a commercial condominium space in the building for the restaurant. However that purchase has not closed yet, Stroud said, and no closing date has been set. Soik is still trying to put together the details of the project, Stroud said. The sale of the space could close within the next 60 days, he said.

Milwaukee-based Wired Properties plans to break ground within 30 days of a 4-story, mixed use building that it plans to build at the northeast corner of Kensington Boulevard and Oakland Avenue in Shorewood, said Wired Properties owner Blair Williams. The building will have 25 apartments and 11,000 square feet of first floor retail space. Tenants have been committed for most of the retail space, Williams said, including Alterra, which will open a café in an 1,800-square-foot space at the corner of the building. Alterra currently has 7 cafes in the Milwaukee area.

Marquette University has selected Rosemont, Ill.-based Opus North Corp. as the design-builder for the construction of the university’s new $100 million College of Engineering facility. Hammel Green & Abrahamson (HGA) collaborated with Opus on the conceptual design phases of the 100,000 square-foot building, which is the first phase of the College of Engineering project. “We’ve very proud of our work at Marquette University as it is always an honor to work with a university that is so dedicated to building ground-breaking educational facilities,” said Tom Kennedy, vice president and general manager of project management for Opus North. The first phase will involve construction of a five-story building. Preparation of the site has already begun with soil testing, environmental and demolition work on four university-owned buildings.

Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday to unveil its new Aurora Wilkinson Medical Clinic and Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic. The facility, which will begin accepting patients on Oct. 26, is part of the new hospital complex that Aurora is building southeast of I-94 and Highway 67 in the Town of Summit, near Oconomowoc and within the Pabst Farms development. The hospital is scheduled to open in early 2010. The new Wilkinson Medical Clinic will replace the current location for the clinic and the Aurora Vision Center at 915 Summit Ave., Oconomowoc, although urgent care services will continue to be offered at that location. The Aurora Pharmacy at 915 Summit Ave. will also remain open and a new pharmacy will open at the new clinic. The new clinic will also replace the Aurora Wilkinson Women’s Center at 1248 Summit Ave., Oconomowoc.

The 81-year-old former Majestic Theater building in Cudahy, is getting a makeover. The 81-year-old former Majestic Theater building, located at 3620 E. Layton Ave. in Cudahy, is getting a makeover. It is the first building to get a facelift with assistance from the city’s new façade improvement program. Work crews have removed the 1970’s-era stucco from the exterior of the building. The project’s goal is to return the structure to its original appearance, including restoration of the cream city brick, new siding, awnings and tile and a brand new marquee. Construction will continue over the next several weeks and then be completed in spring. The building is owned by the Ademi and O’Reilly Law Firm, which is the building's anchor tenant. Other tenants in the building include Anderson Smith Advertising Consultants, Scherrer Insurance and Mr. Paul’s Hairstyling for Men. The Façade Improvement Program provides design and construction grants to help commercial business and property owners reinvest in existing downtown properties “It is fitting that the city’s first façade improvement project be done to such a significant building in Cudahy’s history,” said Mayor Ryan McCue. “The revitalization of this structure is just the beginning of the rebirth of our entire downtown area.”

Milwaukee-based MGIC Investment Corp. has reported a third quarter net loss of $517.8 million, or $4.17 per share, which was worse than a net loss of $115.4 million, or 93 cents per share, for the same period a year ago. Curt Culver, chairman and chief executive officer of MGIC and Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., said the weak economy, higher unemployment and lower home prices continue to keep cure rates low, which resulted in an increase in the delinquent inventory and consequently higher losses incurred for the quarter. Culver said that while there has been minimal financial benefit to date, for the first time the company is seeing signs that the various loan modification programs of the U.S. Treasury Department and the private sector that are designed to help responsible homeowners avoid foreclosure are being implemented. Culver reported that Fannie Mae has approved MGIC Indemnity Corp. as an approved mortgage insurer in selected jurisdictions. MGIC is working closely with Freddie Mac and hopes to have its approval soon, Culver said. Once Freddie Mac's approval is finalized, Culver said he is optimistic that the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Wisconsin will issue a decision allowing the reactivation of MIC in the very near future. MGIC's total revenues for the third quarter were $413.3 million, down from $461.6 million in the same period a year ago.

With the loss of almost 50,000 positions in the last year, metropolitan Milwaukee dropped to the lowest number of jobs for September since 1994. The state Department of Workforce Development reported Wednesday that payrolls continued falling from year-ago levels in all of the state's metro areas last month. Meanwhile, unemployment rates showed seasonal improvement but remained higher than the year before. Employers in the four-county Milwaukee area have cut 49,600 jobs since September 2008, a 5.8% drop that was the worst drop in 42 years of gathering data. Last month, payrolls combined for 804,600 jobs in the metro area, the lowest count for September since 1994, when there were 799,700 jobs. According to Census Bureau estimates, the metro area population increased 4.9% to about 1.55 million in 2008 from 1.48 million in 1994."That's the bad news of all this. There's been a big drop," said Dennis Winters, chief labor economist with the Department of Workforce Development. Aside from a slight increase in employment in July, the year-to-year job deficit has grown every month this year." The big question is when a more identifiable turning point is going to firm up a little bit, and we certainly haven't seen that yet," said Bret Mayborne economic research director for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

The developer seeking to remake the Edgewater Hotel is hosting two public meetings for citizens to learn more about and provide input on the $109 million project. The Hammes Co., which proposed to restore the original hotel, add a public plaza atop a 1973 addition and create a public stairway to Lake Mendota, and build a new hotel tower, is currently meeting with residents to address concerns about the height of the new tower, traffic, parking and other issues. The public listening sessions are set for 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday at the Brink Lounge, 701 E. Washington Ave., and at a yet-to-be-determined time and location on Nov. 5.

Things have gone quiet at the site of a proposed four-story hotel near Camp Randall Stadium. Construction crews left last week, fencing around the project is gone and the front entrance is wrapped with red tape that says "Do Not Enter." Developer and architect Bob Sieger had said earlier this year that the plan was to open in time for part of the football season. In an interview last week, Sieger said construction was halted because of product delays. He had two crews running throughout the summer to make the deadline. "The original goal was to push like crazy to see if we could have gotten any of the football season," Sieger said. "What we were trying to achieve in the fall was not achievable."

The University of Wisconsin-Madison, which has been a hub of construction activity in recent years, has been named the "Developer of the Year" by Wisconsin Builder magazine. "We're pleased to be recognized for making an investment in the campus and creating a better place to learn, work and live," says Alan Fish, associate vice chancellor for facilities at UW-Madison. "We have benefited by great, forward-looking partnerships with state government and generous donors." For the past several years, the campus has been in the midst of its biggest building boom since the 1960s. And construction cranes continue to punctuate the campus skyline as the 2009-10 academic years unfolds. Following the 2005 campus master plan, historic buildings are being renovated while 1960s-era building characterized by poor construction and excessive energy use are being replaced. Funding for these projects does not include tuition, and generally less than one-third of construction costs are supported by taxpayers, Fish says.

It has the sex appeal of a phone book. But the new, 244-page proposed zoning law for Madison, still likely to expand by 100 more pages, will shape the city's future and, potentially, yours. It has the sex appeal of a phone book. But the new, 244-page proposed zoning law for Madison, still likely to expand by 100 more pages, will shape the city's future and, potentially, yours. "It's one of the most important things I will do in my term in office," Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said of the code rewrite, which began last spring. The existing 43-year-old code was forged under different values, Cieslewicz said, encouraging sprawl and discouraging mixed uses and compact neighborhoods. The draft code, with a theme of environmental sustainability, promotes mixed uses and more density, requires less paved parking and, for the first time, supports urban agriculture.

Let the Dane County Regional Transit Authority debate begin (again). County Board Chairman Scott McDonell on Thursday introduced a resolution that would create an RTA board to coordinate transit planning in the Madison area. The resolution would create a new governmental body with the power to levy a sales tax and to determine whether local mass transit will focus on rail or bus. The resolution itself doesn't make those decisions. McDonell said that because the RTA issue has been discussed for so long, the County Board could vote on the resolution by mid-November. "This is an important step, but the bigger things are later," he said. He and other elected officials reiterated their commitment to the RTA board holding a referendum in the affected communities before creating a sales tax, even though a referendum is not required by state law.

Madison 's financial committee on Monday scrutinized but endorsed Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's proposals for a $37 million central library and $16 million in public assistance for redevelopment of the Edgewater Hotel. In a marathon six-hour meeting, the Board of Estimates voted 6-0 to reject a bid for a binding public referendum on the library in April, and it deadlocked 3-3 with Cieslewicz casing a tie-breaking vote to keep $16 million in tax incremental Financing (TIF) support for the Edgewater project in the mayor's proposed $185.8 million capital budget for next year. The board also added $7.5 million to the mayor's budget proposal, including $5 million to buy and landbank developable parcels of land. Alds. Judy Compton and Michael Schumacher, who sought the library referendum but are not board members, said they might push for a public vote when the City Council considers the capital budget and the mayor's proposed $239.4 million operating budget the week of Nov. 10.

Fairway Mortgage in conjunction co-hosting with The Dane County Housing Authority (DCHA) is hosting a free seminar for prospective first time homebuyers on Thursday, October 22nd, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. at the West Side Community Building, 2498 W. Main St., Sun Prairie. The Dane County Housing Authority partners with industry professionals in the provision of pre and post purchase homeownership education annually hosting 16 first time buyer courses and partnering with Project Home to offer post-purchases courses ranging from Weatherizing Your Home to Managing Money Once in the Home. Becoming mortgageready, learning the advantages of home ownership and down payment assistance programs will be discussed. DCHA has also enlisted Steve Baumann of Fairway Independent Mortgage to share his mortgage lending expertise. “With interest rates at their lowest levels in 20 years, it is a lot easier today to qualify for your first home purchase,” says Baumann. “People have not yet become fully aware of just how simple it is to qualify, and how affordable homes are today.”

Goodbye, Laverne & Shirley. Hello, neon lights and swanky cocktails. The city's Alcohol License Review Committee on Wednesday will take up a proposal for a club with boutique bowling to replace the Madison Avenue nightclub at 624 University Ave. with a Brazilian-inspired entertainment center called Segredo Madison. Madison native Michael Hierl is majority owner in the business, which would be be part-bowling alley, part-cocktail lounge and part-sports lounge with food and specialty drinks, some made with Babcock Hall ice cream. Hierl is partnering with Ryan Dionne, a chef and food and beverage executive who is currently director of operations at a PGA-affiliated club in Princeton, N.J. If approved by the ALRC and the City Council, Hierl plans to begin construction in early November.

More than 426,000 mid-level job openings are projected for the state by 2016, according to a study by the Workforce Alliance and the Skills2Compete-Wisconsin campaign. The jobs will require more than a high school diploma, but less than a four-year degree and are expected to play a role in the state’s economic recovery. The report projects that middle-skill jobs, including new jobs and replacement, would account for 46 percent of all openings between 2006 and 2016.Funds from federal economic recovery legislation, especially the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, are also expected to create more than one million new jobs across the country -- especially in industries dominated by middle-skill occupations like construction, manufacturing and transportation. Prior to the national recession, Wisconsin, like most states, was already experiencing shortages of middle skill workers in crucial industries. About 54 percent of all jobs are classified as middle-skill but only 46 percent of Wisconsin workers likely have the credentials to fill them. “This is really an important time for Wisconsin to invest in training,” Andrea Ray of TWA, the convening organization for the national Skills2Compete campaign, said in a statement. “If Wisconsin seeks timely economic recovery and long-term prosperity, the state must ensure that its work force has the necessary education and training to meet the labor demands of the future.”

The industrial space vacancy rate in southeastern Wisconsin dipped from 7.9 percent in the second quarter to 7.7 percent in the third quarter. The industrial space vacancy rate in southeastern Wisconsin dipped from 7.9 percent in the second quarter to 7.7 percent in the third quarter, according to The Dickman Company’s third quarter industrial market statistics and analysis for southeastern Wisconsin. The decrease in the region’s industrial space vacancy rate is largely attributed to Racine and Kenosha counties, which had a positive net absorption of 325,978 square feet during the quarter, the report said. During the third quarter Kenosha County’s industrial space vacancy rate fell from 12.2 percent to 9.7 percent and Racine County’s fell from 8.5 percent to 5.6 percent. Milwaukee County’s vacancy rate increased from 9.9 percent to 10.0 percent (the highest in the region), but its net absorption improved during the quarter from -691,806 square feet in the second quarter to positive 222,701 in the third quarter. The news was not as good in Waukesha, Ozaukee, Sheboygan, Walworth and Washington counties, which all had increases in industrial space vacancy during the third quarter. Waukesha’s increased from 5.3 percent to 5.6 percent, Ozaukee from 8.5 percent to 9.9 percent, Washington from 6.6 percent to 7.7 percent Walworth from 6.7 percent to 7.8 percent and Sheboygan from 2.5 percent to 2.6 percent.

Treasures Media plans to construct a new 80,000-square-foot distribution center in Racine's Southside Industrial Park. Treasures Media plans to construct a new 80,000-square-foot distribution center in Racine's Southside Industrial Park. The site is working with builder and contractor BCI Group to construct the center at the site, which is known locally as the former Jacobsen-Textron property. Treasures Media distributes Christian merchandise, through its City of Racine retail location and through the internet. The company is currently leasing a 50,000-square-foot facility in Racine's Badger Plaza. However, with the growth of its business, Treasures has outgrown the space.

The company employs 27 people and plans to nearly double its employment to 53 as a result of the new construction project. The Racine County Economic Development Corp. (RCEDC), together with the City of Racine staff, was contacted for assistance several months ago by Jerry Bloom, owner of Treasures Media.

Kohl's Corp. today announced it will close its 530,000-square-foot distribution center in Menomonee Falls on Jan. 29. All of the functions handled at the Menomonee Falls center will be shifted to the company's distribution center in Ottawa, Ill. Approximately 250 employees working at the Menomonee Falls center will be offered positions in other distribution centers around the country, said Vicky Shamion, vice president of public and community relations for Kohl's. Kohl's will assist employees who are willing to move to other locations with moving expenses, she said. However, if employees choose not to relocate, they will be offered up to two weeks of severance pay for every year they have worked at Kohl's, Shamion said. In addition, the company will give every employee two weeks of additional vacation pay, up to 18 months of COBRA payments to continue health benefits, continued tuition reimbursements and other severance benefits.

With the construction industry in a major slowdown, union and construction industry officials are lobbying Milwaukee aldermen to provide loans for The Moderne and the Bookends North developments. “I think it’s a great opportunity for the city to get the construction industry out of the black hole that it’s in,” said Lyle Balistreri, president of the Milwaukee Building and Construction Trade Council. We’ve got people who have been off of work for a long time. I’m lobbying hard for (the Moderne loans). We need it badly. Anything that puts people to work right now.”The Moderne is a proposed 30-story, $55 million building that investors led by developer Rick Barrett at the southwest corner of Old World Third Street and Juneau Avenue in downtown Milwaukee. The building would have 203 apartments, 14 condominiums and 7,500 square feet of retail space. Bookends North is a 19-story, $70 million building that New Land plans to build at the northeast corner of Kilbourn Avenue and Van Buren Street in downtown Milwaukee. It would have 224 apartments and 3,000 square feet of retail space.

Both projects are seeking loan guarantees under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s 221(d)4 program.

John’s on the Lake will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m. to celebrate the start construction of a 21-story, 88-unit expansion project. Pewaukee-based VJS Construction Services is the general contractor for the project. Saint John’s is a senior apartment complex located at 1840 N. Prospect Ave., on Milwaukee’s east side. With the help of West Bend-based B.C. Ziegler and Company, Saint John’s sold $83 million in tax free municipal bonds to finance the expansion project. The tax free municipal bonds were made available through the Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority. So far about 75 percent of the 88 apartment units in the planned expansion have been reserved. Construction for the expansion project is expected to be complete in mid-2011

The Green Bay Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday approved a development agreement with Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corp. to move ahead with redevelopment of Port Plaza Towers. The agreement stipulates that the towers, formerly the Northland Hotel, be restored to a high-end historic hotel with some retail and residential condominium elements allowed. About 140 elderly and disabled occupants of the building will be moved to new residences.

Wisconsin 's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September was 8.3%, an improvement from August, but a big increase when compared with September 2008. The rate in August was 8.8%. The September 2008 rate was 4.7%.Eric Grosso, state labor economist, said the trend was encouraging. But he added: "We've got a ways to go for a recovery in the economy." Wisconsin fared better than the nation as a whole, which had a September seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 9.8%. The national rate compares to 9.7% in August and 6.2% in September 2008. Total employment in Wisconsin was up by 5,600 jobs in September from August, but down by 124,400 compared with September 2008. "In any downturn, it takes a while for the job market to catch up," Grosso said. Almost every sector of the job market in Wisconsin saw losses in September. The exceptions were educational and health services, which gained on a month-to-month and year-over-year comparison. The gains in education jobs were a reflection of the start of the school year, Grosso said. But the health care gain of 4,100 jobs compared with September 2008 is part of a non-seasonal growth trend, he said.

Harley-Davidson Inc. said Thursday it will discontinue its Buell motorcycle brand and divest its recently acquired MV Agusta lineup as part of the company's long term business strategy. By 2014, more than 40% of the company's sales will be outside the United States, Harley executives said Thursday. Starting next year, the company will begin adding 100 to 150 dealerships in Europe and other foreign markets. India is high on Harley's priority list because of its burgeoning middle-class population and desire for American products. China and Eastern Europe also are places where Harley could extend its presence with heavyweight touring motorcycles. Harley assembles virtually all of its bikes in the U.S., although various parts come from overseas. The world's largest manufacturer of heavyweight bikes has a solid reputation as an American icon, one that is recognizable and popular around the world.

Three Chicago-area investors in the Park Lafayette condominium towers say the financially troubled project's second high-rise was built before a proper level of condos was sold. That claim is made in documents filed this week in Milwaukee County Circuit Court by Richard Borkowski, John Borkowski and Edward Borkowski. They provided personal guarantees for repayment of an $87 million loan that helped finance Park Lafayette, on Milwaukee's east side.

New York-based Amalgamated Bank recently filed a foreclosure suit targeting Renaissant Lafayette LLC, which owns the 281-unit Park Lafayette development at 2000-2038 N. Prospect Ave. The bank also is suing Warren Barr, president of Renaissant Development Group, of Oak Brook, Ill.; James Carroll, the firm's vice president, and the Borkowskis. The suit says Park Lafayette, which features two 20-story towers, has completed sales so far of just eight condos, with nine units leased to renters who plan to eventually buy them. Another 17 units are the subject of lawsuits filed by prospective buyers who are trying to rescind their purchase contracts. However, Barr says there are dozens of other units with pending sales.

The PGA Tour's 42-year run in Milwaukee is over. The board of directors of Milwaukee Golf Charities Inc. voted Wednesday to dissolve the organization, which had run the Greater Milwaukee Open - later the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee - since 1968. The tournament had been searching for a title sponsor since U.S. Bank announced this year that it would not pick up the three-year option beginning in 2010. "We explored several different avenues and several different companies and it was not the time and place to do anything," said Dan Croak, the tournament director since 1998. "With no funds available, we couldn't go any further." Croak said the tournament donated $520,000 to charity this year and "we walk away with no debt in place." Croak and three other full-time employees of Milwaukee Golf Charities Inc. are out of work.

Developer Jason Steiner, who operates several buildings in Delafield, says he's committed to the community despite a series of economic setbacks, according to an article at LivingLakeCountry.com. During the past two years, tenants in five of Steiner's buildings have either not renewed or cancelled leases because the companies have either downsized or gone out of business. Steiner also expects Lang Holdings Inc. is to cancel its lease for 7,000 square feet of office space as the company reorganizes under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Green Fields Trading Co., which operates a clothing, jewelry and gift shop at 1800 N. Farwell Ave., plans to move to a new building planned for Brady St. Shawn Hutchens, who operates Green Fields, owns a lot at the southwest corner of Brady St. and Arlington Place. Hutchens has submitted plans to the Historic Preservation Commission for a two and one-half-story building at the lot, at 1239 E. Brady St. The proposed building has around 1,200 square feet on each floor, said Deb Lindner, of Citywide Development LLC, which will be the general contractor. Green Fields plans to move to the building's first floor, Lindner said. Hutchens couldn't be reached for comment. The Historic Preservation Commission will consider the plans at its Monday meeting. The design would blend with the historic nature of nearby buildings, Lindner said.

New Land Enterprises' proposed downtown apartment tower will seek detailed plan development approval at Monday's city Plan Commission meeting, according to the newly issued agenda. If that design approval is forthcoming, it would allow New Land to show the project is moving forward. That's a crucial point, as New Land's tower is potentially competing with another proposed downtown high-rise for city financing assistance. New Land's 19-story tower with 224 units, proposed for the northeast corner of E. Kilbourn Ave. and N. Van Buren St., is seeking a federal guarantee for a loan the firm would obtain from St. Louis-based Love Funding Corp. The Love Funding loan would likely fall short of the $55 million needed for the project, so New Land will seek a second loan of $4 million to $7 million from another source. New Land wants the city to provide a guarantee for that second loan.

A three-story former downtown warehouse, initially planned as a condo conversion project, is being sold to a local nonprofit group for its new headquarters. An investors group, organized by Dave Jorgensen, a partner in VJS Construction Services, is selling the 45,000-square-foot building, at 728 N. James Lovell St., to Community Advocates Inc. for $1.8 million. That group, which provides health care advocacy and other services to poor people, plans to renovate the building for its new offices, according to city Redevelopment Authority documents. Community Advocates now has offices at multiple locations, including the Commerce Center, 744-748 N. 4th St., and at 4906 W. Fond du Lac Ave. The agency's board, at its Thursday meeting, will consider issuing city bonds to help finance the $5 million project. Community Advocates would be responsible for repaying the bonds, which are issued in the authority's name to provide tax-exempt status. That allows Community Advocates to pay a lower interest rate to the investors who buy the bonds.

My colleague, Tom Tolan, had a great feature story Sunday on Wildenberg's Evergreen Hotel, Bar and Mobile Home Park (gotta love that combination), an interesting property that sits amid a lot of change occurring on S. 27th St. It looks like the area business operators and city officials who are seeking to make improvements on S. 27th St. would like to see some changes at the Wildenberg. But that property's owners are happy with the way things are.

T he Port of Milwaukee's access to Lake Michigan barge traffic, two railroad lines and I-794 amount to a huge asset in attracting businesses that use all three forms of transportation. That's according to Roy Cook, general manager of Kinder Morgan Inc.'s local bulk storage terminal at the port. Cook, whose company processes barge shipments of coal and other bulk materials, spoke at a recent meeting of the city Board of Harbor Commissioners. He suggested that port officials promote the area to attract businesses that use barge and rail, as well as trucks, to receive and ship goods. Having two railroad lines that pass through the port is "huge," he said. Charter Wire, which is moving from the Historic Third Ward to the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center, would have been an ideal candidate for the port, Cook said.

In a slap to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, City Council members want a public referendum on a proposed $37 million central library and to block $16 million in public assistance for redevelopment of the Edgewater Hotel. Cieslewicz, facing a test of his political clout, said he'll continue to fight for both projects, saying its a good time to invest in the future. The library and tax incremental financing (TIF) money for the Edgewater are the most controversial pieces of the mayor's proposed $185.8 million capital budget for 2010. Alds. Judy Compton, Michael Schumacher and others have proposed a budget amendment that would force a binding April referendum on the library, the city's biggest building project since Monona Terrace opened 12 years ago. "I think taxpayers need to speak," said Compton, who represents the 16th District.

There are 154 unemployed union electricians waiting for negotiations to end and work to begin on Madison's Edgewater Hotel redevelopment. There are 154 unemployed union electricians waiting for negotiations to end and work to begin on Madison’s Edgewater Hotel redevelopment. “Any delay certainly dims the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Mark Hoffman, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 159. “Even if this gets through in the city budget, it’s a long ways off, but it’s looking longer and longer.” The electricians will get their chance, said Bob Dunn, president of Brookfield-based Hammes Co., developer of the proposed $100 million project, but not until he and the neighborhood opponents of the project try to settle their differences. “I’m not trying to bracket this thing with a timetable,” he said. “I need to be sure everyone gets fair and equal consideration.” Dunn last month suspended the proposal’s movement through city committees after project opposition increased from the Mansion Hill Historic District and Capitol Neighborhoods Inc., a collective of all downtown neighborhood groups. “The mere fact that he decided to meet with Mansion Hill neighborhood was a step in the right direction,” said Madison Alderman Mike Verveer, who represents the downtown area. “They were on a collision course in City Hall.” The opposition focused on the project’s height, scale, scope and effect on future development in the Mansion Hill neighborhood, said Fred Mohs, a member of CNI’s steering committee, which is working with Hammes.

As the economy struggles, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is proposing to support basic services, barely increase spending and raise city taxes $70 on the average $245,000 home in 2010. On Tuesday, Cieslewicz will propose a $239.4 million "budget for hard times" that largely protects services such as public safety, streets, parks, libraries and busing without layoffs, mandatory furloughs or pay cuts. "The primary theme is steadiness," the mayor said in an interview Monday. "The biggest challenge for the city is to revive the economy. We're providing the basic services and the infrastructure upon which the economy can grow." A 3.8 percent increase in taxes on the average home, slightly higher than approved by the City Council last year, is still below the average 4.3 percent increase for the past 15 years.

Madison — A Dane County judge has upheld a new law that bans owners of private land enrolled in a state managed forest program from leasing the land for hunting. But the judge says a portion of the law that immediately scrapped existing leases was unconstitutional. Court records say the Legislature passed the managed forest lands law in 1985, allowing landowners to either open the property to the public for recreational activities or close it to public access. The property tax break is less for land that is closed. A new law effective Jan. 1 banned landowners from leasing land to others for hunting or other recreational purposes and declared all existing leases as void, The Tigerton Lumber Co., with 22,000 acres in the program, sued the state. Court records say more than 2 million acres of forest land are enrolled in the program, with slightly less than half open to public access.

Local real estate developer Terrence Wall hasn't officially announced a bid for the U.S. Senate seat held by Russ Feingold. But critics are already questioning Wall for registering much of his business activity in Delaware. One Wisconsin Now, an advocacy group based in Madison, last week noted that the principal office of T. Wall Properties LLC is listed as Wilmington, Delaware. "There is no evidence that Mr. Wall actually builds anything in Delaware," says Scot Ross, executive director of the group. "It would appear his only Delaware construction project was building a shelter to dodge his obligation to Wisconsin taxpayers."

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk proposed a 2010 budget Thursday that would spend less money than this year's budget but raise property taxes far more than in past years. Falk is counting on a 3 percent reduction in employee salaries, even though the unions so far have not agreed to the cuts. If the cuts aren't accepted by Jan. 1, Falk is threatening as many as 90 layoffs. Spending would fall mostly because capital borrowing is down more than $11 million, including a significant reduction in land purchases. To keep operating expenses down, Falk is asking social service agencies to stomach 3 percent cuts in funding. Falk cut funding for 25.75 vacant positions but added 9.3 new ones. She also said she trimmed from several smaller programs and included fewer spending initiatives than usual.

Need a new lease on life? IB called a panel of four area experts for a candid discussion on what landlords and tenants can really expect in this economy. Given the state of the economy, it's a tenants' market in commercial real estate, as the delicate balance between landlord and tenant is out of whack in favor of those who lease. But if you think office tenants are in a commanding position, one in which they can dictate their own terms, you may be in for a rude awakening, according to a panel of experts IB summoned to discuss commercial real estate. In this, our annual Commercial Space Guide, we set out to determine exactly how much leverage tenants have to improve their lease arrangements. As it turns out, they do have some power to make better deals, but it's not a "my-way-or-the-highway" proposition. Landlords are willing to work with you, especially if your business is really challenged in this economic environment, but property owners are business people, too, and they will expect something in return.

A withering recession has put commercial real estate development on hold, and caused local builders and developers to reassess their business strategies. The financial chain reaction set off by the Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy has put the commercial construction industry in a downward spiral that may not be reversed for years. The health of the commercial real estate development industry in Madison has never been more precarious, thanks to a financial and credit-induced recession that has directly impacted virtually every type of business and indirectly put the commercial real estate market in a funk. "I think it's probably as challenged as I've seen it in the past 10 years," said Mark Meloy, president and CEO of First Business Bank. "I think it can be fairly apparent to anybody that drives down Mineral Point Road or East Washington Avenue and sees a number of empty commercial spaces." "Empty" is the word to describe the state of local commercial real estate. Developer Terrence Wall, president/CEO of T. Wall Properties, cited Madison's unemployment rate, which at 5.9% is about double what it normally is during a recession. "This is coming from the outside and impacting on Madison," Wall said. "Large companies like GE have layed off huge numbers of people in town. Famous Footwear left town, and Rayovac filed for bankruptcy with plans to come out of it, so there has been a big impact from the outside on Madison.

Renovation of the former Pieces of Eight restaurant on Milwaukee's lakefront could get government approval without a hearing despite arguments that such a public project needs public input. Renovation of the former Pieces of Eight restaurant on Milwaukee’s lakefront could get government approval without a hearing despite arguments that such a public project needs public input. Michael Cudahy, who holds the lease (PDF) on the property along the Lake Michigan shoreline, and Joe Bartolotta, owner of Bartolotta Restaurant Group LLC, plan to fix up the decrepit building and open a restaurant. “When it’s finished, I think all of you know me well enough to know it will be first class,” Cudahy told the Milwaukee Board of Harbor Commissioners Finance & Personnel Committee on Tuesday. Cudahy and Bartolotta were the only speakers at the meeting before the committee endorsed the project. But Gregory Francis Bird, a designer who lives in Milwaukee, said he wants the vacant downtown building put back into use but not without more public involvement in the planning. “Before any additional funds are expended by the leaseholder in such a public position, place, venue along the lakefront,” Bird said, “the leaseholder needs to get the public on board with the design.”

In the last 12 months, including actions approved today, the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands has approved 265 loan applications totaling $261.2 million. The loans can be made to municipalities and school districts for any public purpose. The Board also approved the sale of eight parcels of Trust Lands totaling almost 400 acres. These parcels are located in Taylor, Washburn, Rusk and Chippewa counties and will be offered for sale to the public by sealed bid process. Legal notices of the sales will be published in local newspapers. The agency has sold nearly 6,500 acres of land poorly suited for timber production or otherwise located within the boundaries of another government agency. As directed by the legislature, proceeds from the sale of those Trust Lands can be reinvested in other property which helps the agency meet its goal of consolidating its Trust Lands. This consolidation will improve land management efficiency for the agency. The agency’s land bank authority, granted unanimously during the 2006 legislative session, enhances BCPL’s ability to support sustainable forestry, reduce forest fragmentation, permanently protect unique natural areas and improve public access.

The city Redevelopment Authority plans to clean up a riverfront parcel that would be sold to a local restaurant operator and developer. The authority is seeking a federal grant to do an environmental cleanup on a city-owned parcel just south of the Highland Ave. footbridge, on the Milwaukee River's east bank. The 20,000-square-foot vacant lot then would be sold for $512,000 to Russell Davis, who holds a one-year purchase option for the property, at 1027 N. Edison St.The cleanup plan won approval this week from the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee. Davis, who operates Vecchio Bar and Grille, Riverwalk Boat Tours and other local businesses, has plans for a building with a restaurant, banquet hall, offices and condos. The development would include underground parking, and a riverwalk. Meanwhile, Vecchio, 1137 N. Old World Third St., is now closed for three to four weeks to remodel and create a new menu. Davis told me he wants something fresh in place when the nearby Aloft Hotel, 1230 N. Old World Third St., opens in early December.

The Point on the River condominium development, which overlooks the confluence of the Milwaukee and Menomonee rivers, has sold more than 50% of its units, according to a statement from Garrison Partners Consulting, which is overseeing marketing efforts. That's a turn-around for the 147-unit development at 106 W. Seeboth St., once known as First Place on the River. The project's developer, Scott Fergus, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last year, and the property was taken over by a court-appointed receiver on behalf of Madison-based AnchorBank, the main construction lender. Since then, Garrison Partners, Mandel Group Inc. and Smocke & Associates Inc. have worked to complete construction on the project, and renew sales efforts for the units. Also, a dispute between the receiver and a condo investor was settled in May.

A foreclosure suit has been filed against the owners of the troubled Park Lafayette condominium development on Milwaukee's east side. New York-based Amalgamated Bank, the project's construction lender, is suing investment group Renaissant Lafayette LLC, of Oak Brook, Ill., an affiliate of Renaissant Development Group, and Renaissant Development President Warren Barr, according to online court records. The case is pending before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Timothy Dugan. Also named as defendants are Renaissant Development Vice President James Carroll, of Naperville, Ill.; Richard Borkowski, of Lisle, Ill.; John Borkowski, of Hickory Hills, Ill., and Edward Borkowski, of Burr Ridge, Ill. Barr couldn't be immediately reached for comment. The 292-unit development at N. Prospect Ave. and E. Lafayette Place was completed this summer. But only about 30% of the development's condos have been sold. The development also has been hit with 11 separate lawsuits filed by people seeking to drop their agreements to buy condos. Those cases are still pending. If Amalgamated obtains a foreclosure judgment, it would likely end up as owner of Park Lafayette, which has been hurt by a plunging demand for downtown and east side condos. The bank is seeking to have Dugan appoint a receiver to operate the property, according to online court records. I’ll have a more detailed article later at JSOnline.com, and in Wednesday’s print edition of the Journal Sentinel.

A planned vote on a proposal for $10 million in city loans for the Moderne apartment and condo high-rise has been delayed. The Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee had been set to consider the proposal at its Tuesday meeting. But Ald. James Witkowiak, committee chairman, decided not to schedule the proposal for Tuesday, according to Martha Brown, deputy development commissioner. I was unable to immediately reach Witkowiak for comment. The delay gives the comptroller's office more time to finish a report on the loan proposal. Aldermen have often relied on the comptroller's office to help them make decisions involving city loans tied to commercial developments. Moderne developer Rick Barrett told me the delay is neeeded because aldermen need more time to consider the proposal. That additional time, he said, will help build support for the loans, which some aldermen have been questioning. The next committee meeting is scheduled for Oct. 27. I'll have a more detailed article later at JSOnline.com, and in Tuesday's print edition of the Journal Sentinel.

Aurora Health Care Inc. has sold 10 eastern Wisconsin buildings to a Massachusetts-based real estate investment trust for $169 million, a company spokesman said Friday.Aurora sold the facilities, which are medical office buildings and outpatient surgery centers, to SNH Medical Office Properties Trust Inc., a real estate investment trust based in the Boston area, said Aurora spokesman Ron Irwin. The buildings sold to SNH Medical will be leased back to Aurora, which has previously done similar sale-leasebacks. Those transactions allow Aurora to invest cash into its medical operations, as well as reduce its debt.

The buildings are in Glendale, Wauwatosa, Pewaukee, Grafton, Mount Pleasant and Sheboygan, Irwin said.

The Milwaukee Redevelopment Authority is getting a $150,000 federal grant to pay for creating a strategy to revive the N. 30th St. industrial corridor, Gov. Jim Doyle announced Wednesday. Court records say the Legislature passed the managed forest lands law in 1985, allowing landowners to either open the property to the public for recreational activities or close it to public access. The property tax break is less for land that is closed. A new law effective Jan. 1 banned landowners from leasing land to others for hunting or other recreational purposes and declared all existing leases as void,

Court records say more than 2 million acres of forest land are enrolled in the program, with slightly less than half open to public access.

The town of Magnolia and a farming company are taking their development dispute to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals with both sides predicting dire consequences if they lose. Agricultural development in the state will die if Larson Acres Inc., Evansville, loses the case, said Eric McLeod, an attorney in the Madison office of Michael Best & Friedrich LLP who’s representing Larson over a livestock-feeding building it built and began operating in Magnolia six years ago. “Other states have made it much easier to build and operate these kinds of buildings,” he said. “If you’re looking at building a large livestock operation and there’s less regulation elsewhere, you’re going to see these people move.” But if the state, not local governments, controls where the buildings are built and the level of pollution they create, the local environment will die, said the town’s attorney, Glenn Reynolds of Madison-based Reynolds & Associates.

Two contractors went straight from Milwaukee's City Hall to the courthouse after a government panel rejected their challenges to a local bid preference. Underground Pipeline Construction Inc. (PDF), New Berlin, and American Sewer Services Inc. (PDF), Rubicon, are protesting the city’s recommendation to award two sewer contracts to MJ based on a 5 percent bidding cushion for Milwaukee-based companies. The two argue MJ does not meet the standards to receive the bidding advantage. “I’m not saying MJ Construction doesn’t operate out of Milwaukee,” said Dennis Biondich, president of American Sewer, “but that’s not what the ordinance said, ‘operate out of Milwaukee.’ They were very specific.” The Milwaukee Public Works Contract Appeals Committee will consider the two appeals at 10:30 a.m. Monday in room 501 of the Zeidler Municipal Building, 841 N. Broadway. Milwaukee gives a 5 percent cushion on bid prices to companies that pay property taxes to the city. Michael Tomasini, MJ Construction owner and president, and Kathleen Tomasini own the contractor’s headquarters at 8617 W. Kaul Ave., Milwaukee. The company name is not listed as the owner of the property.

A Wisconsin law designed to make it easier to develop small wind farms is freezing the market as local governments block plans until the state offers specific guidelines. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin wants to work quickly to draft the wind farm placement rules, said PSC spokeswoman Kailey Bender, but there is no deadline. And as the state develops its standards, wind farm developers are looking beyond Wisconsin. “We are very anxious to see the PSC review the issues and come up with guidelines, and we have a lot of hope for wind farm development in Wisconsin,” said Tom Green, senior project development manager of St. Louis-based Win Capital Group LLC. “But we’re also making the calculation on a daily basis if it’s more advantageous to do projects in about a dozen other states.” The law, signed by Gov. Jim Doyle last week, requires the PSC create turbine-placement rules for wind farms that would generate less than 100 megawatts of electricity. The law also prevents local governments from passing ordinances more restrictive than the rules the PSC creates, and suspends local governments from passing ordinances between the governor’s signing of the law and the state’s approval of the new rules. At least 10 local governments passed wind farm ordinances in the past two years, according to Better Plan Wisconsin, an independent community group that studies renewable energy projects.

One, the 83-unit apartment building that is the first phase of Mandel Group Inc.s North End development, is almost completely leased. read moreOne, the 83-unit apartment building that is the first phase of Mandel Group Inc.’s North End development, is almost completely leased. The development is located along the Milwaukee River in the Park East corridor in downtown Milwaukee. All but one of the units has been leased, and there are applicants for the final unit, Mandel officials say. About 75 percent of the residents have moved to the building from outside of the city, said Mandel senior vice president Richard Lincoln. "There is a strong pent-up demand for new apartments in the downtown area," he said. "There really haven't been any market-rate apartments built downtown in the last 8 or 9 years."In addition, Mandel has obtained a letter of intent its first retail tenant for the building, said Lincoln. He declined to name the tenant, which will occupy about 3,000 square feet of the building’s 12,000 square feet of retail space.

Communications recently relocated its office from 400 E. Wisconsin Ave. in downtown Milwaukee to The Renaissance building at 309 N. Water St. in the Historic Third Ward. The company, which has 6 employees, is occupying about 3,000 square feet of space in the building, said Primum president Colin Hutt. “This move is huge for Primum,” said Hutt, who started the agency in 2005. The new office gives Primum clients dedicated studio space for video and photography. There will also be a creative brainstorming room, a conference room and optional additional square footage for future growth within the agency.

Town of Bristol-based American Land Development LLC plans to build a two-phased apartment development in Kenosha with about 600 units. The development, called Hawk’s Ridge Apartments, would be built on a vacant 50-acre site on the south side of 60th Street, about a quarter-mile west of I-94. American Land Development already has city approval to build 112 apartment units on the site and the company is seeking approval for a second phase with 484 units.

Regional flood-prevention rules designed to add only a little to development costs actually will add a lot, according to city planners who did the math. Regional flood-prevention rules designed to add only a little to development costs actually will add a lot, according to city planners who did the math. A panel of municipal engineers from the 28 communities served by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has proposed changing storm-water runoff regulations (PDF) for redevelopment projects. The original rules were created in 1997. “They wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t be so stringent that it would prohibit redevelopment,” said Debra Jensen, MMSD planning services supervisor. But not all municipalities in the region are sold on the idea. “We are concerned with the rules,” said Michael Lewis, West Allis city engineer, “and we certainly think there are greater cost impacts than have maybe been found.” The new storm-water runoff rules would apply to all redevelopment projects. Current rules apply only to those that would add a half-acre of new impervious surfaces, such as parking lots or rooftops, that won’t absorb rainwater.

Frozen pizza maker Palermo Villa Inc. announced Thursday plans to expand its corporate headquarters in Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley Industrial Center. Palermo is buying 3 acres south of its current location. The company hopes to break ground on site preparation in October, and begin construction in April. The addition would likely be over 50,000 square feet, according to a preliminary plan. The expansion will pave the way for future growth, and allow the company to respond quickly to increased demand. The additional space will accommodate a bigger production area, as well as employee locker rooms and parking Palermo’s currently employs more than 400 people at its 135,000-square-foot facility, 3301 W. Canal St. The number of jobs that will be added through the expansion has not yet been determined.

A six-week work stoppage, along with bad publicity tied to several lawsuits, were among the factors that led Park Lafayerre to default on its mortgage, bringing a $100 million foreclosure suit. That’s according to court documents filed with the foreclosure suit, brought by New York-based Amalgamated Bank against Renaissant Lafayette LLC, which owns the Park Lafayette condo towers, on Milwaukee's east side. I reported the foreclosure suit earlier this week. In an upcoming story, I'll have more details on what went wrong at Park Lafayette. Look for it at JSOnline.com, and in the print edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The restaurant planned for the former Pieces of Eight site on Milwaukee's lakefront might include some boat slips. That was mentioned at today's meeting of the city Board of Harbor Commissioners, which approved conceptual plans for the restaurant proposed by developer Michael Cudahy and restaurateur Joe Bartolotta. The plans were unveiled Tuesday to a board committee. The boat slips would be installed through an agreement between the Port of Milwaukee and the state Department of Natural Resources, said Ron San Felippo, a harbor commissioner. The city owns the Pieces of Eight site. Cudahy bought the restaurant lease this summer for $1 million from the former Pieces of Eight operator.Cudahy and Bartolotta hope to reopen the restaurant by next spring. It will feature crab, lobster and shrimp, as well as items such as burgers and steak sandwiches. The restaurant will have a typical food and beverage tab of $35 to $45 per person for dinner, But it also will have lunch items priced from around $8 to $15. Cudahy and Bartolotta will return to the commission with more detailed plans for further approval.

The city Redevelopment Authority plans to clean up a riverfront parcel that would be sold to a local restaurant operator and developer. The authority is seeking a federal grant to do an environmental cleanup on a city-owned parcel just south of the Highland Ave. footbridge, on the Milwaukee River's east bank. The 20,000-square-foot vacant lot then would be sold for $512,000 to Russell Davis, who holds a one-year purchase option for the property, at 1027 N. Edison St. The cleanup plan won approval this week from the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee. Davis, who operates Vecchio Bar and Grille, Riverwalk Boat Tours and other local businesses, has plans for a building with a restaurant, banquet hall, offices and condos. The development would include underground parking, and a riverwalk. Meanwhile, Vecchio, 1137 N. Old World Third St., is now closed for three to four weeks to remodel and create a new menu. Davis told me he wants something fresh in place when the nearby Aloft Hotel, 1230 N. Old World Third St., opens in early December.