Volume 2 - Issue 11 - Circulation 3,500 Week of 3.12.09 to 3.19.09

Madison Area - March 15, 2009 - Developer Joe Alexander recently took over as president of The Alexander Co. from his father, Randy Alexander. The company - which specializes in urban infill, new construction, brownfield revitalization and historic preservation - most recently purchased Northgate Shopping Center on Madison's North Side and has plans to refurbish the center. Some of the high-profile projects in Madison include Capitol West, a residential development Downtown, and Novation Campus, a commercial development at Rimrock Road and the Beltline....

Ken Notes: Great projects!

VERONA - 3/17/2009 - There's a buzz at Epic Systems, despite the drumbeat of sour economic news. Inside the sprawling $300 million "Intergalactic Headquarters," a half-dozen job candidates await interviews on cushy sofas, enjoying a view of the upper Sugar River valley as sunshine pours through the full-length windows on a bright, though chilly, March morning. "A lot of what we've done here is to help us attract staff," explains Epic recruiter Jon...

Ken Notes: Can we sell other companies on the concept that a great campus is good for business and a great community attracts great employees?

MADISON - March 17, 2009 - In a stalled housing market, developer Randy Alexander may have to repay Madison up to $4.27 million for not selling condos as quickly as promised at a massive housing project Downtown. The City Council will soon decide whether to demand repayment of public subsidy or give Alexander an extension for meeting sales requirements at the Capitol West project on the 300 block of West Washington Avenue. A council fight is already brewing...

Ken Notes: If the council calls this in it would be a huge mistake. Why further depreciate an asset that in the long run will bring more residents closer to work and downtown. Of course these people could move to Middleton or another county and drive in. Put Randy on the hook for a fair interest rate for the balance and encourage residents to move downtown...

WASHINGTON - 3/19/2009 - With the country sinking deeper into recession, the Federal Reserve launched a bold $1.2 trillion effort Wednesday to lower rates on mortgages and other consumer debt, spur spending and revive the economy. To do so, the Fed will spend up to $300 billion to buy long-term government bonds and an additional $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...

Ken Notes: This will not help if we keep credit card rates at 28% and foreclose on the sub prime loans of those who can least afford to be homeless. I do not see those with a secure income lining up to buy new home in this market regardless of low rates. My editorial HERE.

Wisconsin - March 13, 2009 - Gov. Jim Doyle has proposed that all developers getting government financing pay their construction workers the prevailing wage. State surveys determine the prevailing wage in each county for various types of construction work. In Milwaukee County and other areas with strong unions, it's often union-level pay on large projects...

MAR 18, 2009 - MAR 18, 2009 - Gov. Jim Doyle's proposed budget would raise taxes and fees on individuals and businesses by $1.7 billion over two years, the Legislature's budget office said Wednesday. That figure provided the best total yet for already unveiled tax proposals that include a 75 cent per pack increase in the state...

UW - March 15, 2009 - Chadbourne and Barnard residence halls on the UW-Madison campus soon will get a facelift, but at a higher price tag than initially expected. The UW Board of Regents approved a request this month to increase the budget to renovate the two dorms by $1.3 million, bringing the total to about $13.7 million. To pay for the project, the university will borrow about $10 ...

Wisconsin - 3/17/2009 - Over 1,000 commercial property records were updated this week suggesting the "Craigs List" approach may be just the ticket for economic development in the state. The beta release of 72 county websites from The FutureWisconsin Project includes 4,000 listings, 2,000 business cards and 1,000's of links to existing websites in our state. Data can be added or updated by anyone doing business in our state...

WISCONSIN - This is a comprehensive data base of all business professionals in development, planning, government, commercial real estate, architecture, construction, and service providers to business. Any professional may enter his or her own business card for free. FutureWisconsin is Wisconsin's own social networking data base to promote new business in the state...

Ken Notes: Network with professionals doing business in the state...

Madison - 3/18/2009 - Madison-based First Business Financial Services avoided the fate of many banks by remaining profitable in 2008, although slightly less so than 2007. The bank holding company focuses on financial solutions for businesses, executives, and high net worth individuals through operating companies that include First Business Bank-Madison, -Milwaukee and -Northeast; First Business Trust & Investments; First Business Equipment Finance LLC; and First Business Capital Corp....

Middleton - March 17, 2009 - Middleton officials hope to make the city's new police station and courthouse - rarely a destination of choice - a place people will want to go see. Earlier this month, the City Council approved spending $50,000 on four stained-glass windows for the estimated $10 million building at 7341 Donna Drive. Construction is expected to start this spring. "The idea is to make it look like something more than another public building," said Robert Conhaim, chairman...

Ken Notes: Thumbs up. We need to think about the value of our structures to the community and art is good way to accomplish this. I might have found a local artist...

WISCONSIN DELLS - March 18, 2009 - With a dark and grim outlook lingering for the national economy, there's at least one bright spot in the local economic forecast...

Ken Notes: And it's often out of state money!!!

WASHINGTON - 3/16/2009 - America's recession "probably" will end this year if the government succeeds in bolstering the banking system, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday in a rare television interview. In carefully hedged remarks in a taped interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," Bernanke seemed to express a bit more optimism...

Wisconsin - March 18, 2009 - Wisconsin is the ninth-worst state in which to do business, according to a survey by Chief Executive magazine. The magazine polls chief executives across the country and ranks the states on what it calls "a broad range of issues" including natural resources, regulation, tax policies, quality of living, education and infrastructure....

Ken Notes: A: don't shoot the messenger. B: It is OUR responsibility to fix this. Call a CEO and invite them to do business in Wisconsin. If you read the report you will find many misconceptions about the state.

Recent commercial property listings from PropertyDrive.

MADISON - March 12, 2009 - When Wisconsin's first territorial legislators met in Belmont in October 1836, they considered 19 proposals for the new capital. After several days of debate they picked James Duane Doty's paper town, "Madison City." Why? Doty was the most effective lobbyist, and he had the best product. It was located exactly halfway between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi. It was surrounded by the richest and largest swatch of farmland in the new territory. It was named after President James Madison, who had just died several months earlier. And the unique isthmus site was drop dead beautiful. Though it played a smaller part in the first Legislature's decision, there was one other factor in Doty's success...

Ken Notes: I would argue that the Terrace has added to the landscape and great architecture can be an asset to the community. We need to work with our planners to enhance what we have and make sure additions are an improvement and include great spaces for the public.

Wisconsin - More than $336 million in federal stimulus money has been allocated to counties, cities, towns and villages in Wisconsin. Of that total, about $124 million has been allocated through the state Department of Transportation for road, bridge and transit projects. And more than $48 million in Housing and Urban Development funds has been allocated...

Ken Notes: Great Resource

MADISON - 3/13/2009 - Two Madison area restaurants have closed and one is changing ownership. Closed are Delitalia, 7854 W. Mineral Point Road, an Italian-style delicatessan that has occupied several Madison locations since 1983, and Tony Roma's of Fitchburg, which opened seven years ago. J.T. Whitney's, 674 S. Whitney Way, closed temporarily due to an ownership change but is expected to reopen soon...

Madison - Mar. 18, 2009 - At 9 a.m. in the state Capitol on a recent weekday, with the temperature outside in the single digits, about 20 people gathered in the building's marble basement. Some read papers, while others talked and sipped coffee, and one raucous group started dealing cards for a version of rummy. Many homeless people find respite in the Capitol from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., spending their days in the basement...

3/16/2009 - Charter Communications Inc., the nation's fourth-largest cable operator, said Monday its loss for the fourth quarter widened from a year ago and one of its subsidiaries, CCH II LLC, will not make a scheduled interest payment on some of its debt....

Ken Notes: We will see a huge paradigm shift in the way we receive data and tv in our homes. Winners will figure out how to provide the new signal and how to charge for it. Don't count cable out.

Wisconsin - March 12, 2009 - Wisconsin will receive almost $200 million from the economic stimulus package in weatherization and energy funding, according to an announcement Thursday by Gov. Jim Doyle. The $196,990,133 in funding includes $141,502,133 for the Weatherization Assistance Program and another $55,488,000 for the State Energy Program...

Middleton - 3/12/2009 - On Tuesday, March 3, the Middleton Common Council voted unanimously to authorize borrowing not to exceed $10 million for construction, furnishings and equipment for a new police station and municipal courthouse...

The seller of real estate is required to file a Real Estate Transfer Return (RETR) with the County Register of Deeds when recording deeds of property conveyances. State statutes require those returns to be filed electronically beginning July 1, 2009. Below is a link to the electronically filed Real Estate Transfer data as of July 1st 2009 and forward. The data will be updated on a weekly basis...

Ken Notes: This link is a regular feature of WDN...

Treasury Department Debt to the Penny Link
CNN Money Scorecard
Government Recovery Website
Wisconsin State Budget Google News

Create a vibrant, innovative and prosperous entrepreneurial business climate, nurturing, connecting and celebrating entrepreneurs and their companies...

Ken Notes: A valuable resource worth visiting for all businesses in the state. A special thanks for BizStarts for compiling and sharing the resource!...

National - March 12, 2009 - A growing number of states suffered double-digit unemployment rates in January, and others are close behind, buttressing fears that the national jobless rate could hit 10 percent by year's end. The rising joblessness reflects the pain that the housing, credit and financial crises - the worst since the 1930s - has caused workers and companies. The latest figures were issued Wednesday in the Labor Department's monthly report on state unemployment. "There is hardly any escape from this recession...

Madison - 3/17/2009 - Madison-based Musicnotes Inc., the market leader in downloadable sheet music and guitar tablature, announced that it recently reached a milestone by selling its five-millionth download since the its site launched in 1999. The five-millionth download was a Guitar Guru Session of Don McLean's "Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)"...

Ken Notes: bye bye miss American pie... It will be in my head all day now...

MADISON - MAR 18, 2009 - Last December, in an article in the State Journal, Madison Area Technical College architecture instructor Bob Corbett talked about a great opportunity that was being offered his students to put together a DVD about Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin in Spring Green. The hope was the animated DVD would play in New York in May, at the 50th anniversary celebration of the realization of Wright's famed Guggenheim Museum design....

Greater Madison - 3/16/2009 - Local biotech entrepreneur Russell Smestad announced the launch of a Web site that aims to enhance the visibility of the Madison biotechnology industry, to facilitate finding local career opportunities in biotech, and to provide a private networking forum for its executive talent. Smestad's new company is Biotech Profiles LLC and the site is BiotechProfiles.com....

- March 17, 2009 - Construction season started downtown on Monday, causing problems for area businesses and some residents. The first phase of the University Avenue/Gorham Street reconstruction project began, promising increased traffic headaches for those passing through as well as those who live and work in the area. Workers with Silver Mine Subs said the increase in traffic congestion and the loss of parking stalls on the street will cause problems for their customers and delivery drivers...

Town of Middleton - 3/12/2009 - The Middleton Town Board agreed on March 2 to accept $27,500 proposed by Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk as full settlement of the planning costs of a town safety building that was scrapped when the county withdrew from the project. The proposed settlement resulted from negotiations last week between town chairman Milo Breunig, town board supervisor Bill Kolar and Falk and two of Falk's staff...

Wisconsin - This section allows you to access any of our current space needs and acquire some brief detail regarding each. You'll notice that in addition to posting our current RFPs and RFIS, we are listing other significant needs for which we are seeking space....

Ken Notes: Brokers should check this often...

National - 3/13/2009 - Imagine, just the slightest whiff of good news and pow! The Dow Jones Average leaps 5.8 percent! Yes, the Dow jumped 379.44 points on Tuesday to 6926.49 and, according to Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, it recovered a big chunk of wealth for investors. So what was this whiff of good news? On Monday evening, Citigroup's Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit released a memo to employees saying the company was profitable in January and February...

Cassville - MAR 18, 2009 - Too few people were looking at a gift house in the past month, so Luke and Darcy Ploessl have extended their Cassville essay contest to win a $100,000 home for $100. They were optimistic that enough entries would be received to award six houses they own, to their financial disadvantage, in the Mississippi River village to winners by March 15. They would have needed up to 1,500 entries per house, but by the March 15 deadline the effort had attracted only 400 entries....

Ken Notes: I'll write an entry if someone want's to spot me...

Wisconsin - March 17, 2009 - Wisconsin's new state slogan isn't all that new. Gov. Jim Doyle said Monday the state will use "Live like you mean it" to promote Wisconsin as a tourism and business destination. The Department of Tourism plans to use the phrase in advertising campaigns and is encouraging other state agencies to follow suit. But motivational speakers, authors and even Bacardi have used the phrase in marketing campaigns. Some say they aren't thrilled the state is overtaking their slogan and may oppose its attempt to get federal trademark protections on it or even take legal action...

MADISON - March 17, 2009 - A lobbyist leprechaun is asking lawmakers to save the film industry's "pot of gold" this St. Patrick's Day. Ann Rawlinson, a film scout from Pewaukee, donned a green suit, tights and a top hat as she lobbied lawmakers at the state Capitol to save the industry's generous tax credits....

Ken Notes: Only in Madison...

National - MAR 18, 2009 - Last month, for the first time in eight months, housing starts in the United States increased, surging 22 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Tuesday. The monthly increase, which was the largest in 19 years, was fueled by a spike in new construction of apartment buildings, as fewer consumers are qualified to be homeowners with the more restricted flows of credit....

MILWAUKEE - City property values are projected to plunge $1.5 billion, leaving an $11.8 million revenue hole in the 2010 budget, according to information from City Assessment Commissioner Mayor Reavey...

Ken Notes: This story will begin to repeat across the state...

Janesville - 3/18/2009 - General Motors Chairman Richard Wagoner says the company isn't planning to reopen its Janesville assembly plant. Wagoner said Tuesday the Janesville community shouldn't be "overly optimistic" about the prospects of GM bringing different products there. The plant used to be where GM made large SUVs...

Ken Notes: Wisconsin needs to focus on the next generation of automobile. A fuel cell or electric maybe??

Green County - March 15, 2009 - Reconstruction of the streets and sidewalks around the courthouse square isn't the only big change coming to downtown Monroe this year. In August, the Green County court system will move from the courthouse. Dating to 1891, the building is known for its 120-foot-tall clock tower and ornate main courtroom with original wooden chairs. A $12.6 million, 64,000-square-foot Justice Center is being built next to the sheriff's department and jail on Monroe's east side, said County Clerk Mike Doyle....

Milwaukee - Mar. 17, 2009 - Gov. Jim Doyle has done his part to kick-start the transformation of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Now, it's up to the state's Building Commission and Legislature. The governor proposed authorizing $240 million for building projects at the Milwaukee school, ranging from freshwater sciences to public health. If approved, the money would be the biggest cash infusion into the state's No. 2 UW campus in its 50 year history and comes at a key point in its development - as the region searches for an economic catalyst....

Milwaukee - Mar. 13, 2009 - Ending a 17-year-long dispute, Congress has thrown its support behind a modern streetcar system in downtown Milwaukee. With local officials deadlocked over how to spend $91.5 million in long-idle federal transit aid, Sen. Herb Kohl and Rep. David Obey quietly inserted a provision in the massive federal omnibus spending bill to hand 60% of the money to the city for a downtown rail line and 40% to Milwaukee County for buses. President Barack Obama signed the $410 billion package into law Wednesday....

Green Bay - MARCH 19, 2009 - The city of Green Bay will loan $3.5 million to developer John Vetter to get redevelopment of the Younkers department store site back on track. Vetter, of Vetter Denk Architects, Milwaukee, and city officials on Wednesday presented to the edevelopment Authority an agreement that provides Vetter with loans from three entities to restart the downtown project. Construction could start in May. ...

MILWAUKEE - Mar. 16, 2009 - Here's a twist: instead of a condo buyer trying to back out of a sale agreement, a condo seller is hoping to kill the deal. The dispute centers on downtown Milwaukee's The Point on the River condominiums. The project's court-appointed receiver wants a judge to toss out an agreement by the Point's developer to sell nine condos at alleged below-market prices...

MILWAUKEE - Mar. 18, 2009 - Real estate developers, investors and brokers call it the "shadow market." They're condos, mainly in Milwaukee's east side and downtown areas, that have been sold to investors who had hoped to resell them relatively quickly. But with a steep drop in demand, the investors haven't been able to unload the units. They are now covering their monthly mortgage payments by renting out the condos...

West Allis - Mar. 19, 2009 - The Six Points Neighborhood apartment development in West Allis is NOT in foreclosure. Developer Helmut Toldt, who's building the apartments south of W. Greenfield Ave. and west of S. 65th St., said he's received dozens of calls after a foreclosure suit was filed on a nearby, similar-sounding development: Six Points East, a condominium building at 6330 W. Greenfield Ave. Toldt's project will encompass 178 apartments in four buildings...

- Mar. 19, 2009 - So first on Wednesday, Barack Obama filled out his NCAA tournament bracket for a national television audience. Then later in the day, the government announced it was placing a bet of $1.2 trillion. That's trillion. As in trillion. The government will start the printing presses to buy some of the mortgage-backed securities that the economy has grown to hate over the past two years and to buy U.S. government bonds....

- Mar. 18, 2009 - Triangle Tool Corp., which makes industrial molds, is adding 18,000 square feet to its 155,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on Milwaukee's northwest side. Triangle, 8609 W. Port Ave., expects to complete the addition by June, said Victor Baez, technology sales manager. The Redevelopment Authority on Thursday will consider issuing $6 million of redevelopment revenue bonds for the project....

Wisconsin - Mar. 16, 2009 - Employees of Central States Mortgage Co., which shut down abruptly March 9, have lost their health insurance and say they are owed wages for up to five weeks of work but have been told by the firm they won't get the money...

Ken Notes: Ouch...

March 18, 2009 - Two different Staybridge Suites hotel developments are experiencing very different fates. The 118-room Staybridge Suites hotel at the southwest corner of Ryan Road and South 27th Street in Franklin opened recently. Meanwhile, construction of a 14-story mixed-use building including a Staybridge Suites hotel,...

- MAR 18, 2009 - Brookfield-based Briohn Building Corp. was awarded the remodeling work for Aurora Advanced Health Care in Whitefish Bay. In addition, Briohn has completed the design and construction of a showroom expansion for Makino Production Machinery Group at W229 N2510 Duplainville Road in Pewaukee. Briohn has also completed the design and construction of remodel work in C.G.J.M.A Real Estate Leasing, LLC's building for Badger Wire at W226 N758 Eastmound Drive in Pewaukee....

MILWAUKEE - MAR 18, 2009 - Viet Hoa Holdings Inc. plans to open an Asian-themed restaurant called "Imperial Buffet" and an Asian grocery store called Viet Hoa Supermarket in the former Kohl's building at 2750 Grange Ave....

A single source for all economic development news for Greater Madison and beyond. Wisconsin Development News, (WDN) is published weekly by Ken Harwood.

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Ken

Kenneth Harwood
WisconsinDevelopment.com LLC
P.O. Box 930234
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