Volume 2 - Issue 20 - Circulation 3,500 Week of 5.14.09 to 5.21.09

Wisconsin - Wisconsin Builder showcases 30 projects that stood out in 2008...

Ken Notes: Great projects in a tough economy. Congrats to all the winners. Check out all 131 submitted. HERE.

Madison - MAY 15, 2009 - After months of study, a special city committee is recommending a proposal by the Fiore Cos. to build a $43.6 million, six-story glass and brick Downtown library at the corner of Henry Street and West Washington Avenue. But as the Madison Library Board and City Council prepare to consider the recommendation, the big question remains whether the city can afford it...

Madison - May 15, 2009 - CORRECTION: Wrong library rendering shown The wrong rendering appeared with an article about a proposed Madison library on Page A3 of some editions of Friday's paper. The Fiore Cos. proposal that was endorsed by a special city committee is the rectangular building on West Washington Avenue (pictured lighted up at evening in the rendering). The rendering of proposal by T. Wall Properties, which was not chosen, pictures a building with a rounded glass corner. (Published 5/16/09)...

Ken Notes: The Fiore Proposal Details from their website are found HERE.

Whitewater - 5/20/09 The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the city of Whitewater are planning to development a technology business park. The city and the Whitewater Community Development Authority have agreed to locate the Whitewater University Technology Park in the southeastern section of the existing city Business Park, house the planned UW-Whitewater Innovation Center on the site and to acquire additional land for the entire project. The project will cost about $10 million....

Ken Notes: Again a public private partnership bringing great projects to the state!

Madison - 5/19/2009 - The commission also approved just one small portion of the 605-acre Shady Wood Neighborhood Development Plan. The proposed development is between County PD and Midtown Road on the city's far southwestern fringe. Adjacent property owners in the town of Verona expressed concerns about their lands being included in an Ice Age Trail corridor show in the planning map. So the commission voted to wait at least six months before approving the balance of the plan...

Ken Notes: This will create a very upscale neighborhood next to University Ridge Golf Course. This story is further down in the article.

Oregon - 5/15/2009 - The Oregon Village Board approved an "Assumption Agreement" Monday in which Oregon Community Bank & Trust assumes ownership and development obligations of the South Pointe Condominium project in the Alpine Meadows subdivision on the village's west side. The bank will also take over development of the Drumlin Addition nearby...

Ken Notes: In the "Around the State" section below, you will find two Milwaukee Banks trying to make lemonade out of a similar situation by offering great rates, no PMI and no appraisals for 5% down. Sort of a land contract deal for condo buyers. Not a bad idea considering the holding costs and the market.

Janesville - May 17, 2009 - In June 2008, the city of Janesville partnered with Forward Janesville to host a discussion about the community's future. Nearly 200 business leaders and citizens attended the session, which was seen as a first step in helping to chart a new, long-range economic development strategy for Janesville. The session produced more than 400 ideas to improve the local business climate and economic health. A few highlights, plus the latest on each goal or idea nearly a year later:...

Ken Notes: We can learn at lot from their ideas...

Wausau and Madison - 5/21/2009 - With a $1 million renovation completed, the Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co. on Friday will open its fourth location and its first outside the Madison area. The 10-week remodeling project of the former Hereford & Hops Steakhouse & Brewpub in Wausau is intended to make local residents forget about the former restaurant and provide travelers from Dane County a familiar pit stop on their way to the North Woods...

Ken Notes: Mmmm... Crop circle Wheat on my way to the north woods. Perfect!

UW-Madison - May 15, 2009 - This two-story brick and stone home in the colonial revival style can be yours for the low, low price of only $1. That's right. It's not a scam! It's just that, well, the home does have some quirks. Let's call it, charm. For instance, the paint is peeling a little. It has asbestos and maybe lead paint. There's no kitchen. And it's been used as an office building for the past 40 years. Oh, and you have to find a way to move it off the UW-Madison campus....

Ken Notes: This is a cool building. The UW Website for the home is HERE. There could be credits for the project as well. I'll give 1,000 dollars in ad credit to a successful project.

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 - 5/19/2009 - Those who like to do their dining -- or imbibing -- outdoors will have two new options downtown by the time the Badger football season kicks off next fall. The Madison Plan Commission on Monday night approved outdoor seating areas for the locally owned Brickhouse BBQ at 408 W. Gorham St. and the Austin, Texas-based Logan's at 322 W. Johnson St...

Ken Notes: Glad to see the Angelic site back as the new Logan's and if Samba owners duplicate even part of their previous efforts the BBQ will be outstanding.

TOKYO - 5/18/2009 - Toyota rolled out the revamped Prius on Monday, and said it already had 80,000 advance orders in Japan for the remodeled hybrid amid intensifying competition with Honda's rival offering, the Insight. The world's largest automaker said it aims to sell up to 400,000 units globally a year of the car....

Ken Notes: Not development per se but an observation can be made that in Japan at least the goal is to create better product and create more sales. We need this focus (no pun intended) in the US.

Wisconsin - 5/19/2009 - It's been nearly two weeks since Gov. Jim Doyle announced that state workers will experience what many in the private sector have already gone through because of the national recession. Awaiting some 67,000 state employees, 30,000 of whom work in Dane County, are 16 furlough days over the next two years and the state's decision to rescind a 2 percent pay raise for those who manage to keep their jobs...

Ken Notes: This could be a great year for tourism in the state. Stay and Play.

Middleton - May 16, 2009 - Plans to move the Mount Horeb Mustard Museum to a historic building in Middleton are getting an overhaul after a wall collapsed during the renovation this week. The new, more interactive mustard museum still is expected to open at Hubbard Avenue and Parmenter Street in November, but in a new building rather than a renovated historic one. The idea is to build the new museum using the original designs approved by the city and incorporating as much of the historic brick - which dates to 1866 - as possible, said Middleton Mayor Kurt Sonnentag...

Recent commercial property listings from PropertyDrive.

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

WASHINGTON - 5/21/2009 - It's an end of an era for the thousands of U.S. college students who rely on MasterCard or Visa to get them through tight times. Under a new law awaiting President Barack Obama's signature, credit card companies will be prohibited from giving cards to people under 21 unless they can prove they have the means to repay the debt or a parent or guardian co-signs for the loan...

Ken Notes: This could have a real effect on the Madison economy. I knew a student that could actually calculate the price of a $4 beer 5 years hence at 18% interest - and he bought it anyway.

Dane County - 5/19/2009 - The Dane County housing market remained in the doldrums in April, while the U.S. home industry hit record lows. The 397 homes sold here in April are down 18 percent from the 483 sold in April 2008, according to the South Central Wisconsin MLS...

Madison - 5/19/2009 - When economists read the statistical tea leaves, seeking signs of an easing recession, they often look for a bottoming of the stock market or an uptick in factory orders. But the economic picture for thousands of working people across Wisconsin won't improve until the job picture brightens. And on the jobs front, there's some good news for Madison, which was just rated No. 1 among medium-sized cities for so-called Next Generation workers...

Verona - 5/18/2009- The city took a big step toward adding more industrial park space Monday night with the approval of an agreement with landowner David Reinke and a resolution to add 246 acres in a different part of town to its urban service area. The actions were separate but not timed coincidentally, as the city had made clear that its expansion to the southeast side of the city, where Reinke's property is located, is secondary to its expansion southwest, where it has had its sights set for several years...

Fitchburg - The Common Council downzoned two lots near the northwest side of McKee Farms park, stopping a developer from proceeding with plans to construct the apartments. The proposed apartments had been strongly opposed by residents of the Chapel Valley neighborhood, who said it was incompatible with the singe-family homes and duplexes in the area...

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...

WASHINGTON - 5/20/2009 - The credit card companies seem to have few friends on Capitol Hill these days, with even the most business-minded lawmakers siding with consumers in speaking out against steep rate hikes and fees. The House was expected to pass, possibly as early as Wednesday, a bill that would enact sweeping new restrictions on the industry, including a requirement that customers penalized by higher interest rates because they missed a payment are given a chance to reclaim their lower rate after six months...

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!...

NEW YORK - May 21, 2009 - The economy will start growing in the second half of 2009, but it will be several years before the positive effects of a turnaround will be felt, the Congressional Budget Office said Thursday. "Even if the economy returns to positive growth this year, the loss in output, income and employment during the recession and the next few years will be huge," said Doug Elmendorf, director of the CBO, in testimony before the House Budget Committee....

5/15/2009 - I was a graduate student in 1969 and one of my favorite courses was macroeconomics. The class was quite small and our professor, Boris Peshek -- a PhD economist from the University of Chicago and a disciple of the late Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman -- told us how special government spending programs designed to stimulate recessionary economies can sometimes backfire. I've considerably softened his actual admonition...

Ken Notes: According to this article we can now bet on the federal stimulus efforts. I believe that the inflationary predictions may be true. Of course I am not sure we will see inflation in the housing market soon.

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 - MAY 20, 2009 - The summer vacation. For some travelers, it may mean a classic 10-day road trip to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Others will be off to San Francisco, Las Vegas or Hawaii, taking advantage of relatively inexpensive airfares and deals at hotels looking to fill rooms during the national recession. For those who have experienced cutbacks in their income, or been worried about their shrinking retirement funds, destinations like Monroe, Milwaukee, Madison or the Fox Valley may be the preferred option this year....

Ken Notes: This is a great state to hang out in. Great events, great food, great savings...

Sun Prairie - MAY 20, 2009 - Associated Bank said today it is acquiring the banking facility inside the Copps Food Center at 2538 Ironwood Drive in Sun Prairie. Associated will replace Guaranty Bank at that location, effective Aug. 17. Associated will also open a branch in the Copps Food Center now under construction at 640 E. Main St. in Sun Prairie. That branch will replace one in the Pick 'n Save store at 2001 Mc Coy Road. The store is scheduled to close in conjunction with the opening next year of the new Copps. Both Copps Food Center and Pick 'n Save are owned and operated by Roundy's Supermarkets...

Madison - MAY 20, 2009 - Three more Wisconsin banks are getting money through the federal government's Capital Purchase Program, including one in Dane County. Deerfield Financial Corp., parent company of the 122-year-old Bank of Deerfield, will receive $2.6 million. Also added to the list on Wednesday were Boscobel Bancorp, which is getting $5.6 million, and Brogan Bankshares, Kaukauna, $2.4 million...

Madison - 5/20/2009 - Uncertainty about the availability and cost of biomass fuels makes Gov. Jim Doyle's $251 million plan to overhaul a University of Wisconsin-Madison power plant somewhat risky, according to a report released Tuesday. Doyle has proposed converting the coal-fired Charter Street plant, long a major polluter in the area, to run on cleaner-burning biomass fuels such as wood chips and paper pellets. His administration says it would be one of the nation's largest biomass projects and the plan has delighted environmentalists...

Milwaukee - May 20, 2009 - City of Milwaukee officials are planning to create a tax incremental financing (TIF) district for the City Lights development project planned in the Menomonee Valley. The City Lights project is a planned redevelopment of a seven-building complex on a 25-acre property along the north side of the Menomonee River, southeast of West Greves Street and North 25th Street. Most of the buildings are about 100 years old and were originally used by the Milwaukee Gas Light Co. for the coal gasification process of burning coal to create gas to light the city's street lights. The property is owned by Milwaukee-based Mallory Properties....

Ken Notes: I am a little jealous of this project. I can not wait to see the Zimmerman HQ project.

Milwukee - May 20, 2009 - The 147-unit The Point on the River condominium development is providing buyers access to lending programs offered by Madison-based AnchorBank and Racine-based Johnson Bank. Buyers interested in purchasing a home at the 12-story soft loft development located at 106 W. Seeboth St. can take advantage of: conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 0.25 percent below current market rate, first-time buyer New Neighbor Program with a minimum 5-percent down payment and no private mortgage insurance (PMI), no property appraisals required....

Ken Notes: A great idea. Hope more projects are supported by the banks that have so much at stake. .25 percent vs holding costs is a no brainer. The PMI waver is also a great tool sort of pays the condo fees.

SHEBOYGAN - 5/15/2009 - Sheboygan. The final frontier. The Wisconsin Aerospace Authority is working to bring a spaceport to the eastern Wisconsin city. The facility would be a gateway for space travel or, in other words, an airport for rockets. A to-do list released Friday calls for a suborbital launch before the end of next year...

Ken Notes: Brat $ 2.50 Launch 2.5 Million first blogger in space priceless!

Milwaukee - May. 21, 2009 - A California couple has pledged $5 million to Marquette University's engineering school to endow a chair in secure and renewable energy systems. The faculty member who holds the Thomas H. and Suzanne W. Werner Chair in Secure and Renewable Energy Systems will lead a multidisciplinary research cluster of four to six faculty members and develop a cutting-edge curriculum, Stan Jaskolski, Marquette's Opus dean of engineering said in a news release. The gift will position Marquette as a leader in southeastern Wisconsin in this area...

Whitewater - May. 18, 2009 - A tech-oriented business park being developed by University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the City of Whitewater will be located in the city's exsting business park, it was announced Monday. The Whitewater University Technology Park would include the UW-Whitewater Innovation Center, which would allow faculty and students to work on ideas to encourage new business development, said Richard Telfer, UW-Whitewater chancellor....

Shorewood - May. 19, 2009 - The village has a new loan program for homebuyers and homeowners that is aimed at improving the housing stock and converting duplexes into single-family homes. The Neighborhood Improvement Loan Program was approved by the Village Board on Monday night. Loans would be for down payment assistance for homeowners, for improvements to the attics and exteriors of homes, and for the conversion of two-family dwellings into single-family homes...

Ken Notes: I want to point that many of the very best stimulus ideas will come from local governments not states a not the feds.

- May. 19, 2009 - The owners of the Sydney Hih building are working on a plan to convert the vacant property on Milwaukee's Park East strip into offices, shops and apartments. David Florsheim and Robert Ruvin, owners of Ruvin Development Inc., recently began making facade improvements to the Sydney Hih, 300-318 W. Juneau Ave. They are compiling cost estimates for renovating the vacant building, which dates back to 1876...

Milwaukee - May. 19, 2009 - Russell Davis, who operates Vecchio Bar and Grille, Riverwalk Boat Tours and other local businesses, wants to open a downtown outdoor catered event venue, overlooking the Milwaukee River. Mondo Events LLC, a company formed by Davis, would host corporate parties, weddings, fundraisers and other events on the site, at 1027 N. Edison St., according to Mondo's tavern license application filed with the City Clerk's office....

Milwaukee area - 5/20/09 The Milwaukee area's retail real estate market showed some signs of improvement during the first quarter, but is still not performing as well as the rest of the nation. The region's retail real estate vacancy rate was 11.1 percent at the end of the first quarter, an improvement from a 11.4 percent vacancy rate at the end of 2008, according to a new report from Boston-based Colliers International....

Oconomowoc - May. 20, 2009 - Oconomowoc - Pabst Farms officials said Wednesday that Shorewest Realtors Lake Country office has been named the exclusive listing agent for Village Crossing condominium development at Pabst Farms. The project calls for 144 side-by-side condos with ranch style and two-story models. Plans also call for a private clubhouse and outdoor swimming pool for the condo development. Prices for the condos range from $275,900 to $399,900...

Wauwatosa - May. 20, 2009 - Driving along Mayfair Road over the past year, you may have noticed a partly built three-story office building where work has been stopped since spring 2008. The 60,800-square-foot building, at 2999 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, is being developed by VJS Development Group, which had planned to lease it to Mayfair Radiology....

Milwaukee - May. 20, 2009 - A comprehensive plan for Milwaukee's near south side won a unanimous endorsement Tuesday from the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee. The proposed plan now goes to the full council. Among other things, it calls for development of affordable housing in the area, additional green space and improved transportation options for the area's workers...

- May. 19, 2009 - My colleague Erica Perez, who covers higher education, reports that a hearing has been set for 6 p.m. May 28 at City Hall on a proposal to use the former Pieces of Eight site for University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Freshwater Sciences....

Oak Creek - May. 18, 2009 - The city is planning to buy 240 acres that has been off the tax rolls for more than 20 years and resell it for future development. The Common Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on allocating $7 million for the purchase. The land, which has been leased for farming, is at the southwest corner of Howell Ave. and Oakwood Road....

Milwaukee - May. 18, 2009 - Sobelman's Pub and Grill is moving beyond its Menomonee Valley base to open a second restaurant on Milwaukee's east side--this one featuring burgers made with high-end ground beef. Dave Sobelman told me he's agreed to lease the former Patty Burger space, 1952 N. Farwell Ave., and plans to open his new restaurant there on June 1....

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

Available to commercial brokers, developers, financial professionals, community planners, public officials, the press and others who have expressed an interest in Wisconsin development. All stories should link to their original source in the original context. These pages may contain advertising, and I encourage patronage of both our sponsors and the related advertisers and publications I link too.

We link to Editorial and Opinion articles each week, this does not suggest we agree with the stance of the author. The "Ken Notes" items are the opinion of our editor. We will include any comments or feedback sent to WDN. Ken also writes a monthly column for Capitol Region Business Journal and other state publications.

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Ken

Kenneth Harwood
WisconsinDevelopment.com LLC
P.O. Box 930234
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ken@wisconsindevelopment.com