Volume 2 - Issue 22 - Circulation 3,500 Week of 5.28.09 to 06.04.09

Wisconsin - May. 19, 2009- Click link for a great slide show from the Milwaukee Journal. These are amazing photos and projects...

Ken Notes: I missed this in my email last week! Special thanks to Noel Radomski from the UW - Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education for sending me the link.

Madison - 6/04/2009 - The city of Madison is poised to add another hoop for developers to jump through when considering new projects: how many car trips will be generated. A resolution working its way through City Hall sets a goal of reducing the total amount of vehicle miles traveled here 25 percent by 2020. That could make it harder to build homes, offices or stores on the urban fringe where cars are the sole means of transportation...

Ken Notes: I am not sure the council or plan commission understands that this will lead to a substantial number of businesses moving to or starting up in Middleton, Verona, Fitchburg, and Sun Prairie. I doubt that is the intent, but if the approval process is substantially easier elsewhere, that is where new business will go. A far better solution may be incentives to encourage businesses that make efforts to reduce traffic. Epic comes to mind.

Fitchburg - 6/4/09 Milwaukee-based developer Mandel Group, Inc. announced today the acquisition of New Fountains Apartments, a 578 unit community located in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. The seller was a Dayton, New Jersey-located private investor group. The transaction value was not disclosed. Financing for the transaction was secured in part through a $20 million mortgage loan originated through the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA). As a condition of the WHEDA financing agreement, Mandel will offer a number of apartments at reduced rental rates for low-to-moderate income residents. Additional loan proceeds will be invested in a substantial rehabilitation of the property...

Ken Notes: I am a fan of the Mandel Group and believe they will do a nice job with this property. Welcome to Madison.

Madison - May 30, 2009 - As McGrath Associates struggles to begin its long-stalled Union Corners redevelopment on the East Side, the city is talking with the developer's banker about acquiring the prominent site. The 15-acre parcel at the corner of East Washington Avenue and Milwaukee Street is probably the largest urban infill property in Madison. The city is interested in acquiring the property, envisioned as a $100 million commercial and housing project, to make sure it's developed to its full potential...

International - June 1, 2009 - Since it opened 50 years ago, North Carolina's Research Triangle Park has been the epitome of science parks: a neatly landscaped campus of low-rise building buildings in exurbia, where scientists at aspiring technology spin-offs from nearby universities toil all day in cramped, low-rent "incubators" and then disperse each evening to fight the Interstate traffic on their way home. The rest of the world is moving far beyond that model.

Ken Notes: We need to continue to think outside the box as the UW works to place Madison on the world map in research and development. The competition is tough but we have the talent to compete we just need the vision so here are some of the best of the best. Watch the slide show and then send the Chancellor and Mark Bugher a note of thanks for our park and the new science facility and the vision the provide. Come grow with us...

DeForest - JUN 3, 2009 - Sanimax has announced the temporary shutdown of its DeForest biodiesel operation. About 20 of the operation's 30 employees will be laid off Friday. A few employees will remain at the plant while some will be transferred to other Sanimax facilities, said Daniel Hansen, a spokesman for the company based in Montreal, Quebec...

Ken Notes: We need a new plan. Bio fuel may not be the answer. Personally I like hydrogen and the Honda FCX (hydrogen fuel cell) is the coolest thing on four wheels. and Mercedes Benz and other have a bus VIDEO HERE.. The winter Olympics next year will have an entire fleet of buses Article HERE...

TOYOTA, Japan - 6/04/2009 - A Toyota executive overseeing research said Thursday a battery breakthrough is needed for electric vehicles to become mainstream, and hybrids will remain the best "green" car choice for some time. His comments came just hours after the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Toyota's Prius hybrid was the No. 1 selling vehicle in Japan for May, clinching the top spot for the first time -- even though the latest model had been on sale for only half the month....

Ken Notes: I see a UW project here, the Institute Of Battery Chemistry. We work with Rayovac and recruit a few of the best minds...

Madison - 6/03/2009 - The prominent corner of East Washington Avenue and First Street is poised for a major makeover that includes new apartments, retail space and an arched facade to shield pedestrians from traffic along the busy thoroughfare. On Monday, the Madison Plan Commission unanimously approved "Emerson East" for the northeast corner of the intersection, offering 26 housing units, 11,000 square feet of commercial space and 43 underground parking spaces...

UW-Madison - 6/04/2009 - Highly regarded UW-Madison stem cell researcher Clive Svendsen is heading to Los Angeles to become director of the new Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute. Svendsen, who is co-director of the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center at UW-Madison, will start his new position on Dec. 1...

Prairie du Sac - JUN 3, 2009 - The 40,000-square-foot building under construction along the Wisconsin River on the northern edge of Prairie du Sac is quite different from the basement office where owners of the company known for its ButterBurgers and custard first established their corporate office...

Ken Notes: This is a great company and a great asset to the region.

New Glarus - June 4, 2009 - The long-awaited expansion of the New Glarus Brewing Co. is nearly complete, with tours of the new $20 million Hilltop Brewery beginning this week and a grand opening scheduled Saturday, June 13. We're doing kind of a soft opening this week to get a feel for how it's going to go," co-founder Deb Carey said Wednesday...

Ken Notes: ROAD TRIP!!!

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 - 6/03/2009 - The winning candidate was a relative unknown, serving a few years in a lower elected office and making a name for himself in the nonprofit sector before taking on his first executive campaign against a more experienced opponent. He called for cooperation, a new style of government and most importantly, change. He was seen as highly personable, but also a cool intellectual, basing decisions on facts and reason...

Ken Notes: Interesting read. I like much of the vision he brings. I just hope that the community will support future growth without the hurdles that make other regions more attractive.

Madison - JUN 2, 2009 - Integrated Genomics, a Chicago biotech company, will receive a $200,000 state loan and a $50,000 grant from the Technology Venture Fund to relocate its laboratory and commercial operations to Madison. The move, which includes the purchase of laboratory equipment, could create up to 18 new Madison jobs. A specific Madison location and the move's timetable were unavailable...

Madison - May 31, 2009 - Once again, Madison has been highly ranked by a national business publication. This time, Madison is seventh on Kiplinger's Personal Finance 2009 Best Cities list. Kiplinger's list focuses on cities that have stable employment, the capacity to create good new jobs and a job market that insulates the local economy during recessions. Certainly, Madison's diverse economy helps lessen the effects of economic downturns. Since 1990, non-farm employment in the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has increased every year except 2003 and 2008, when employment was essentially flat. Between 1990 and 2008, average annual non-farm employment in the Madison MSA grew by 38 percent (96,500 jobs)...

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

Madison - June 2, 2009 - A casual dining restaurant will be the latest addition to the Arbor Gate Development, and developers of the twin tower office building along the Beltline near Todd Drive say they may announce more tenants soon. Bonfyre Grille, which will offer full lunch and dinner menus, is scheduled to open in October on the ground floor of the west tower at 2601 W. Beltline. Alfredo Teuschler, developer of Eno Vino Wine Bar & Bistro, 601 Junction Road, and the owner of Houlihan's restaurants in Madison and Lake Geneva, will select the wine list...

BENTONVILLE, Ark.- 6/04/2009 - As Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opens about 150 new or expanded stores in the U.S. in 2009, the company expects to hire about 22,000 people for new positions. Those positions include plenty of cashiers and stock clerks, but the world's largest retailer will also be adding store managers, pharmacists and personnel workers...

Ken Notes: You KNOW you are in a rescission when...

Wisconsin - 6/03/2009 - Wisconsin has lost nearly 140,000 jobs since the recession began in December 2007, according to a UW-Madison economic think tank that has launched a new publication devoted to the state's employment picture. Wisconsin Job Watch, a monthly feature from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS), is designed to provide a monthly snapshot of labor statistics and reports on key recession trends...

Madison - June 2, 2009 - After years of planning and delays, the city is poised for a $1 million remake of long-troubled Lisa Link Peace Park on State Street. The city now is considering design concepts for a building that will have a visitor center, police office and public bathrooms for the one-third acre park, a haven for the counterculture and a setting for aggressive panhandling, violence and other problems. The remake also includes a stage and amphitheater with lawn seating, "pop-up" spray water fountains, moveable tables and chairs, a storage building and landscaping....

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!...

WASHINGTON - 6/02/2009 - Fresh signs emerged Monday that the recession is letting up in the United States. Manufacturing's slide is slowing. Builders are boosting spending on construction projects -- including homes. And consumers aren't cutting back as much as some had feared. A trio of reports gave Wall Street a big lift on the same day that industrial icon General Motors Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection...

Fitchburg - 5/29/2009 - 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...

May 29, 2009 - Sometimes a pair of jeans become so comfortable, people feel they could live in them. Now, thanks to a clothing drive organized by Lands' End and Cotton Incorporated, some people can do just that. Until June 21, Lands' End Inlets are collecting gently used denim of any color that will be recycled into Ultra Touch Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation and used in homes under construction. The two Madison stores at 209 Junction Road and 411 State St. are part of the 13-store drive in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and New York. "I think it's a really nice opportunity for customers and employees to give back to the community in a really fun way," said Amanda Broderick, public relations manager for Lands' End....

Madison - May 31, 2009- Curiosity about what lurks beneath ratty old siding on historic houses has propelled many homeowners to arm themselves with pry bars in a quest to find out. Some are happily surprised, while others may want to run far, far away. In 2001, James Westring and his family bought a 100-year-old Craftsman-style house in the Greenbush neighborhood with wide aluminum siding on the bottom and faded asphalt on the top. He wasn't intimidated, since when he was younger he worked as a carpenter in Boston where houses dating to the late 1600s are common, and he now owns Westring Construction....

Madison Area - June 1, 2009 - Three Madison-area businesses joined by a number of partner companies were among the 27 winners of national Contractor of the Year awards issued by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. The winning local companies and their partners, if any, were...

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...

EDGERTON - June 3, 2009- Edgerton has spent thousands of dollars keeping up its City Hall, but it's up to the voters to determine whether they want to spend more than $1 million on a new facility. There's no question the facility needs work, but many are questioning whether now is the right time to build....

UW-Madison - May 30, 2009 - It wasn't at the top of UW-Madison's wish list for new buildings. But in the early hours Friday, Sen. Judy Robson, D-Beloit, inserted a $47 million facility for the UW-Madison School of Nursing into the state budget. It was one of a number of projects that were included as part of a sweeping motion passed by the Legislature's budget committee as it worked to bridge a new $1.6 billion budget shortfall...

Milwaukee County - June 3, 2009 - The state Department of Administration is seeking to lease 60,000 to 70,000 square feet of office space in Milwaukee County. The Department of Health Services wants to occupy the space by February 2010. The state is seeking a 10-year lease, with options totaling 25 years...

Ken Notes: All state space needs are HERE. If I should keep this link each week call me at 608 334 2174 and I will add it as an permanent link...

Milwaukee - Jun. 4, 2009 - City officials today are marking the 20th anniversary of downtown Milwaukee's riverwalk with Mayor Tom Barrett and others formally presenting a new artwork on the riverwalk near E. Mason and N. Water streets. The riverwalk has come a long way. I can remember how patchy it was during the early '90s, when I first started covering commercial development...

Milwaukee area - May. 30, 2009 - Piece by piece, a framework of research and development resources is being welded into place in the Milwaukee 7 region. The recent flow of news has been decidedly positive at a time when most economic news has been largely negative. Unlike Madison, where academic research and development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the main engine, multiple players are bringing intellectual horsepower to bear on revitalizing southeastern Wisconsin. It is the region's best hope for the future...

Milwaukee - JUN 3, 2009 - Milwaukee-based Mandel Group Inc. this week is hosting grand opening events for One Apartments, the first building that the firm has completed in its The North End development at the southwest corner of Water and Pleasant streets, the former Pfister & Vogel tannery site along the Milwaukee River in downtown Milwaukee. One Apartments is a five-story building with 83 apartments and 12,000 square feet of retail space....

West Bend - JUN 3, 2009 - Germantown-based Gehl Foods Inc. is working on preliminary plans to build a 133,000-square-foot expansion to an existing 116,000-square-foot industrial facility it built in West Bend three years ago, but has not yet put to use. The building is located at the southeast corner of Rail Way and Hron Road...

Glendale - Jun. 4, 2009 - A Chicago-based hotel operator is considering plans to develop an 83-room Staybridge Suites extended stay hotel in Glendale, which would mark the latest in a series of new Staybridge hotels opening in the Milwaukee area. Rachit Dhingra, owner of Odyssey Hotel Group, would develop the hotel at 7001 N. Port Washington Road. That site is currently home to the former Peking Palace restaurant, which closed in January 2006, and would be demolished....

Milwaukee - Jun. 1, 2009 - Milwaukee's rubber-tired downtown trolleys will range farther north and continue longer into the summer when service resumes Wednesday. The privately operated Milwaukee Trolley Loop is being extended to the East Pointe retail and residential development at the northeastern end of downtown, and some trips also will serve the Schlitz Park complex...

Ken Notes: If Madison readers are still with me, this may be an interesting program for downtown Madison...

Milwaukee County - May. 29, 2009 - Aurora Health Care Inc. has sold two more medical office buildings to Santa Ana, Calif.-based Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT Inc. An investors group affiliated with the real estate investment trust bought a 62,991-square-foot Aurora facility, at 3111 W. Rawson Ave., Franklin, for $19.8 million, according to documents filed with the Milwaukee County Register of Deeds....

PULASKI - 6/03/2009 - The parent company of a major employer in the village of Pulaski has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Carver Boats Corp. has been a mainstay in the northeastern Wisconsin community since the mid 1950s. The filing Monday by Genmar Holdings Inc. of Minneapolis...

Milwaukee - Jun. 4, 2009 - The developers of downtown Milwaukee's Staybridge Suites extended stay hotel, where work has been on hold since late December, are facing a lawsuit claiming they misappropriated money from their Icelandic investors. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges that Economou Partners Construction Inc. diverted at least $310,189 in funds, provided for the Staybridge project, to DOC Ft. Myers LLC, to be used to finance another development...

Oconomowoc - JUN 3, 2009 - A 128-room Staybridge Suites extended stay hotel opened at 1141 Blue Ribbon Drive, Oconomowoc, south of I-94 and west of Highway 67, on Tuesday. It's part of the Pabst Farms development, and is operated by Madison-based S&L Hospitality. It joins a Staybridge that opened in Franklin in March....

Milwaukee - Jun. 2, 2009- I spoke with Jim Plaisted, executive director of the East Side Business Improvement District, about my blog posting earlier Wednesday on the sale of the former Downer Garage building, which will be remodeled into retail space. Plaisted called it "great news," saying developer Wangard Partners Inc. will bring new life to a long-vacant building in a key part of the east side business district...

Greenfield - Jun. 1, 2009 - A 45,000-square-foot former Kohl's Food Store, 2750 W. Grange Ave., Greenfield, has been sold for for $1.9 million to Viet Hoa Holdings Inc., which plans to operate an Asian grocery and restaurant, and lease additional space to other retailers....

Ken Notes: The Kohl's buildings must hold a record for adaptive reuse.

Whitefish Bay - May. 28, 2009 - New Land Enterprises partner Boris Gokhman wants the Village of Whitefish Bay to provide financing assistance for a proposed 21-unit condominium development, Whitefish Bay Now reports....

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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Kenneth Harwood
WisconsinDevelopment.com LLC
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