Volume 2 - Issue 13 - Circulation 3,500 Week of 4.2.09

Madison - 4/01/2009 - The potential to capitalize on a growing industry during a down economy led the Madison City Council to vote 15-4 on Tuesday in favor of providing $2.6 million for a bio-agriculture business incubator on the city's southeast side. The commitment to local funding is part of the city's application for an additional $4.5 million in federal funds from the U.S. Economic Development Administration,...

Ken Notes: I remain a fan of the "grow your own philosophy" and we have seen the success of these projects in the UW research park and other incubators. I hope the research will shift us from food for fuel to food for feeding the world, but that is a personal bias.

Wisconsin - April 01, 2009 - Gov. Jim Doyle is proposing a $1.4 billion spending plan for state buildings that includes construction of several new research laboratories and a first-time state subsidy for the Bradley Center. Doyle's plan includes a major expansion at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, new energy and medical research buildings at UW-Madison and a new state public health laboratory in Madison. His plan also would spend $5 million over 10 years on maintenance at the Bradley Center, home of the Milwaukee Bucks...

Fitchburg - APR 1, 2009 - Four former executives of Berbee Information Networks have bought back part of the Fitchburg company from CDW and formed their own business, Singlewire Software, also based in Fitchburg. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it took effect Wednesday. The new owners were described as a "small group of private investors."...

Ken Notes: Congratulations. New Website HERE.

Madison - APR 1, 2009 - Johnson Bank will open a new East Side office early next year on the first floor of a building in the American Center. Developer Terrence Wall said the $4 million, three-story building at 5201 E. Terrace Drive will be completed by the end of the year. The bank will occupy about 15,000 square feet on the first floor of the 45,000-square-foot building...

Madison - 4/01/2009 - It was December 2003 when Mayor Dave Cieslewicz first floated the idea of redeveloping the Garver Feed Mill. The building, nearly 100 years old at the time, had been purchased by the Olbrich Botanical Society in 1997 and used for garden storage since, but Cieslewicz had grander plans for the former sugar beet processing factory and granary. It's got so much history and it's such a beautiful building," he said. "It's a link to Madison's industrial past. I think a lot of people, when they think of Madison, don't think about the fact that the city has had some industry, particularly on the east side."...

Ken Notes: I like this project a great deal I hope the community can pull it off. Also thumbs up to Cap Times for the video insert. "The times they are a changing."

MADISON - 4/01/2009 - Common Wealth Development's roots reach deep into the iconic east isthmus neighborhood it calls home. Williamson Street is dotted with properties whose renovation by the nonprofit development corporation helped transform the once-seedy area into the thriving district it is today...

Ken Notes: These are both ambitious projects but when we think of the "Neighborhoods" that define Madison you have to give Common Wealth a lot of credit. I just hope CW will focus on the profitability of both projects.

Madison - March 28, 2009 - It is not difficult to look at the old Garver Feed Mill near Olbrich Gardens and recognize that something special is possible there. The long-vacant facility is made up of classic Madison industrial and warehouse buildings that are strong in character and physical possibility. Neighborhood activists, artists and smart urban planners see the potential for these buildings to become a working arts center -- the Garver Arts Incubator -- where local artists would have studios and both Madisonians and visitors to our community would have a chance to interact with those artists, view gallery shows, take art classes, attend performances and eat at a cool new cafe....

Ken Notes: I am a little worried that we are having to vote on this. This is an example of well intentioned policy getting in the way of good planning. An uninformed public could shut this project down even though it is a great idea. I wrote about this in '07. Poor Planning Pontifications.

Madison - APR 1, 2009 - Meriter Hospital will open a clinic this fall in the Capitol West development in Downtown Madison, the hospital announced Wednesday. The clinic, staffed by internal medicine physicians, will provide lab and medical imaging services and minor surgical procedures, a Meriter news release said. Capitol West, at 345 W. Washington Ave., includes condominiums, townhomes, retail space and plans for a hotel...

Ken Notes: Downtown is shaping up nicely despite the economy. I still hope boomers will see the area as a great place to live.

Dane County - March 31, 2009 - The state is granting Dane County $4 million in federal stimulus money to build a taxiway at the Dane County Regional Airport, Gov. Jim Doyle announced Monday. The taxiway will allow planes and ground vehicles to maneuver more easily without blocking the existing runways, which will reduce the risk of collision and allow planes to take off and land more quickly. Business and cargo planes, commercial airliners and Wisconsin Air National Guard jets would all benefit from the improvement....

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 (Greater Madison) - WED., APR 1, 2009 - If your company is looking for a change of scenery, you may be in luck: There are plenty of empty offices in the Madison area just waiting to be occupied.But if you are a developer or a commercial property landlord, that's anything but good news...

MADISON - March 26, 2009 - Maison would get $2.4 million for energy improvements under the federal economic stimulus law, the White House announced today. That money is part of the $37.2 million headed to Wisconsin for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program portion of law. The money builds on $197 million in weatherization and energy funding being sent to the state and announced earlier this month. The money announced today would be used for such activities as energy audits in residential and commercial buildings, the...

Middleton / Mt. Horeb - March 26, 2009 - A wrecking crew tears down portions of the former Middleton Antiques Mall at the corner of Parmenter Street and Hubbard Avenue in Middleton on Wednesday, where a "mustard palace" is expected to stand later this year. In October the Middleton City Council approved $1.4 million of tax incremental financing and $50,000 in relocation costs to bring the Mount Horeb Mustard Museum to Middleton...

Ken Notes: Barry has asked that I remind everyone the Museum is still open in Mt. Horeb and will be open all summer. If you have not been, this is a great road trip to a great community.

Wisconsin - March 26, 2009 - Hospitals are good for a community's economic health, according to a study released Thursday by the University of Wisconsin Extension and the Wisconsin Hospital Association. The report examining the state's 145 hospitals showed the facilities generate $22 billion in economic activity while employing more than 100,000 people...

MADISON - 4/01/2009 - The University of Wisconsin - Madison Campus is seeking information on available space within close proximity of UW Hospital and Clinics on Highland Avenue, preference will be given to those within walking distance. We are seeking a 5-year lease term for approximately 8,800 square feet. This is office / studio type space that will house up to 55 staff, approximately 35 are in open office type setting...

Ken Notes: FYI in case you missed this.

Recent commercial property listings from PropertyDrive.

Greater Madison - March 26, 2009 - The listing of area building permits is gathered from records filed with planning officials in Madison, Fitchburg, Middleton and Sun Prairie...

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 - March 28, 2009 - Construction for the Villager Mall redevelopment project officially began Friday with the groundbreaking of the mall's atrium and a building that will be shared by several Madison organizations. The Villager Mall, 2200 S. Park Street, will be home to the new Urban League Center for Economic Development & Workforce Training in what is now a parking lot in front of the mall. The Urban League Center also will house the new South Madison library branch, which will increase in size from 3,000 to 12,000 square feet, and...

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!...

Dane County - 4/01/2009 - Passenger trains haven't rumbled through Madison since the early 1970s, and I'd wager against seeing regular service here again any time soon. There are just too many stars that need to align. But political foes of County Executive Kathleen Falk are betting that Falk's support for a commuter rail system between Middleton and the outskirts of Sun Prairie will help bring victory to challenger Nancy Mistele...

Ken Notes: The transit issue deserves at lot more discussion than this. Neither candidate seems focused on long range planning or using the taxpayers dollars wisely and this is to bad for the county.

National - March 28, 2009 - Charter Communications on Friday filed for a prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy to get relief from its creditors. The nation's fourth-largest cable operator, which is based in St. Louis and has significant operations in Wisconsin, seeks to emerge from bankruptcy as early as the end of summer and doesn't plan on selling any assets to competitors. After Chapter 11, interest costs at Charter, which has never posted a profit since going public in 1999 due to massive debt interest payments, will be cut in half to $830 million a year...

Ken Notes: That'll teach em not to show Badger games! Actually this could be a problem for the area, in that many of us use Charter for internet services.

March 31, 2009 - There's a silly notion going around that newspapers are dying, but all it comes down to when you get past the moaning and doom-saying is that newspapers are going online. This means faster, cheaper delivery, no bulky paper to recycle and millions of trees that won't be ground into newsprint every year. Leonard Pitts Jr.'s syndicated column in the March 23 State Journal said that investigative reporting will end and government abuses will no longer be exposed. That's a concern because the State Journal has done such a splendid job of championing openness and candor in government. But this need not end. Why would that change just because the print is going from paper to monitor screen?...

Ken Notes: As in development, we need a variety of products for a variety of consumers. WDN has 3,000 regular readers but our source data is most often print media. News delivery is changing but we have to figure out a way to maintain accuracy. My thanks to the local press who more often than not gets the story right.

MADISON - Given the bad economy, it might seem like an odd time to be talking about building another major hotel in Downtown Madison. But the need is real and the potential rewards are great for the city and region. City officials should keep talking with the potential developer to try to reach a tentative deal that's good for everybody. Any pitch for a public subsidy deserves scrutiny yet shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. Monona Terrace, the city's Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired convention and community center on Lake Monona, needs more hotel rooms within a couple blocks to attract bigger conventions...

Ken Notes: I agree.

Madison area - APR 1, 2009 - Madison businesses now have a free guide to surviving summer road construction. The Small Business Advisory Council, an advisory committee to the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz on Wednesday released an eight-page document with tips and business practices to consider before, during and after road construction. According to the guide, a recent survey reported 68 percent of businesses suffered revenue declines during a road project...

Ken Notes:

Middleton - March 28, 2009 - It wasn't long ago that Money Magazine rated Middleton the No. 1 small city in the United States. Our community took great pride in this award. Middleton offers much to its citizens. But the biggest factor in determining these statistics is the quality of the schools we share with Cross Plains and the surrounding area. We have a great school district, and people move here because of its reputation. For the last several years, however, growth in the number of students has outpaced the size of our schools. The need is immediate. On April 7, Middleton-Cross Plains area residents face a referendum on three issues:...

Stoughton - 4/1/2009 - The bare bones of the new Stoughton Youth Center under construction in an old tobacco warehousel have been installed over the winter, including supporting beams for first floor's different rooms, ventilation systems and new windows. The first floor is expected to be completed by the end of the summer, but there are still several many more projects that need to be completed...

RICHLAND CENTER - April 2, 2009 - A 61-year-old woman was arrested on Wednesday in connection with a fire that destroyed a downtown building in Richland Center earlier this week, according to police...

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...

Wisconsin - Apr. 1, 2009 - New online maps can help land buyers avoid wetlands, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. Wetland status can make it difficult to develop properties. The online maps, and other information, are available on the Locating Wetlands pages of the department's Web site. Other information includes a real estate addendum that the department developed with the Wisconsin Realtors Association and Wisconsin Wetlands Association....

Ken Notes: The new website is HERE.

MADISON - Apr. 1, 2009 - The University of Wisconsin-Madison will partner with the world's largest manufacturer of wind turbines to conduct wind energy research. The agreement announced Wednesday calls for Denmark-based Vestas to sponsor as many as 10 graduate and undergraduate engineering students working on wind technology projects. The company also will provide visiting research fellows and start a small research-and-development facility near the engineering campus to transfer research into the marketplace...

MILWAUKEE - The State Building Commission has approved a $23 million maintenance plan over the next 10 years for Milwaukee's Bradley Center. Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, proposed an amendment to reduce the timeframe to six years, noting that he didn't want to encumber future legislators with planning for the home of the Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette basketball teams...

MILWAUKEE - 4/01/2009 - Cardinal Stritch University announced recently that it has decided not to purchase 90 acres of land owned by Wisconsin Energy Corp. near the Cousins Center property that the university planned to purchase from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. "As it gathered more information about the We Energies land, the university decided against purchasing the property because of the downturn in the economy," the university said in a news release. "Discussions on purchasing the Cousins Center without the We Energies property will continue...

MILWAUKEE - 4/01/2009 - Construction on a 14-story mixed use building at the southeast corner of Water Street and Juneau Avenue in downtown Milwaukee, which has been halted for weeks, is expected to resume later this month, according to Lisa Aldrich, general manager of the Staybridge Suites hotel that will anchor the building....

MILWAUKEE - Mar. 31, 2009 - The Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin has endorsed Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's proposal to sell county-owned parcels in the Park East area to the City of Milwaukee. "The City has the tools, resources and expertise to work directly with potential developers and investors, as well as the County, to ensure the best and most effective use of the property," said Jim Villa, group president, in a statement...

MILWAUKEE - 4/1/2009 - The Milwaukee Common Council last week adopted an ordinance that requires developers that receive $1 million or more in city assistance, typically tax incremental financing, to pay workers "prevailing wages." Prevailing wages are determined by surveys done by the state. In addition, the ordinance requires developers receiving more than $1 million in city assistance to have 40 percent of worker hours performed by unemployed or low income city residents...

Ken Notes: I see more projects on the fringe of Milwaukee to avoid these restrictions.

Brookfield - 4/01/2009 - Brookfield-based Hunzinger Construction Co. plans to build a 34,000-square-foot building on Gateway Road in the Gateway West Commerce Center in Brookfield for Environmental Systems Inc. (ESI). ESI will move its headquarters to the building from a 15,000-square-foot building at W223 N603 Saratoga Dr. in the City of Pewaukee...

Milwaukee - Apr. 2, 2009 - The 24-unit Prairie Apartments, a new development aimed at low-income Milwaukee residents who are homeless, will have its grand opening Friday. The apartments, at 1218 W. Highland Ave., was developed by Guest House of Milwaukee Inc...

Menomonee Falls - Apr. 1, 2009 - Development of a 135-room hotel in Menomonee Falls, which ran into delays because it was unable to obtain a construction loan, could resume this spring, the developer says. Madison-based Professional Hospitality LLC hopes to soon complete a financing package for the project, said Derek Kritzer, general counsel. The hotel is planned for W14776 Main St., just west of ...

Milwaukee - Apr. 1, 2009 - Restaurant operator John Vassallo has been hit with a foreclosure suit filed by Harris Bank, which says he defaulted on two loans and now owes around $5.1 million. The bank's lawsuit, filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, is seeking to foreclose on two adjacent buildings that Vassallo's investors group, MoStreet LLC, owns at 152 W. Wisconsin Ave. and 725 N. Plankinton Ave...

Waukesha - Mar. 30, 2009 - Hey, I'm not fooling; a new antique store is opening downtown on April 1. It's in the former church of the former Sentry. Yes, it's next to the Huelsman antique mall on Barstow (former Salvation Army store) and across the river from Joe Apollo's antique haven...

Waukesha - Mar. 30, 2009 - Despite the controversial closing of the YWCA nearly five years ago, residents who gathered Monday in its frigid gym shared heart-warming stories about swimming lessons, basketball games and jogging a few lunch-hour laps around the indoor track. Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas and Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson used the setting to announce plans for the next chapter in the property's life: transforming it into a subdivision of 11 to 16 new owner-occupied homes valued at $150,000 to $200,000...

Oak Creek - Mar. 27, 2009 - The City of Oak Creek's efforts to redevelop its Carrollville area are inching forward with plans to demolish a dilapidated building. Building owner Jim Jalovec will soon raze the former Peter Cooper glue factory, 9006 S. 5th Ave., said Doug Seymour, community development director...

Hartford - 4/01/2009 - The Hartford Area Development Corp. (HADC) is continuing to invest in the city's future by purchasing a 40-acre tract of land abutting the Dodge Industrial Park in Hartford. The agency also plans to purchase at least 24 additional acres later this year. By selling the Innovation Center to long time tenant Key Logo Inc. last December, the HADC freed up funds to acquire the 40-acre parcel...

Fox Valley - Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today that the Winnebago Circuit Court has entered judgment for over $73,750 against Fieldcrest Developers, LLP, of Kaukauna, its partners, Roger Bowers Construction, Inc., K&B Developments, Inc., and Pat Gambsky Builders, Inc., as well as Patrick F. Gambsky individually, for environmental violations...

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Kenneth Harwood
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