Volume 2 - Issue 28 - Circulation 3,500 Week of 07.09.09 to 07.16.09
Always Online at WisconsinDevelopment.com
NOTE: There were some technical difficulties with the links for Wisconsin State Journal this morning. If my links do not work you may try accessing the paper directly at www.madison.com/wsj/
Middleton - 7/14/2009 - The City of Middleton (population 16,960) is pleased to acknowledge CNN/Money Magazine's designation for Middleton as #4 among "The Best Place to Live 2009" (populations between 8,500 and 50,000). We wish to thank CNN/Money Magazine for their research and hard work in rediscovering Middleton (we ranked 1st in 2007 for cities less than 50,000 in population; and 7th in 2005 for cities of populations of 14,000 and more) as well as our tremendous residents, businesses, citizen volunteers and employees who make Middleton the "Good Neighbor City"....
Ken Notes: Congratulation! This speaks volumes about Greater Madison as a business region. We need to acknowledge the UW, Business Community, and Health Facilities in the area for putting Middleton on the map. The Middleton article is HERE.
Madison - JUL 15, 2009- The public will have regular access to a large plaza overlooking Lake Mendota, a grand staircase to the water and piers that are part of a massive redevelopment of the Edgewater Hotel, the developer promised skeptical neighbors on Wednesday. "There's no question there's going to be a true means of public access to the waterfront" to the water's edge," said developer Robert Dunn, president of the Hammes Co. "The public will be able to enjoy access to the waterfront 365 days a year."
Ken Notes: There will be more issues to deal with but this is a very impressive project.
Madison - 7/14/2009 - A Target store with a special design may fill the big hole in the ground at the upscale Hilldale Shopping Center on the West Side. The mall owners, Joseph Freed & Associates of Palatine, Ill., have been transforming the vintage 1962 shopping center at the corner of Midvale Boulevard and University Avenue and are negotiating with Target to locate a store there, city officials and Target confirmed Monday...
Ken Notes: Target will have a positive effect on transportation and other retailers in the area. I hope they have a design that will please the city.
Madison Area - 7/15/2009 - For the past 30 years, Trish Moran has been convinced the U.S. must face two big challenges related to energy and natural resources- make better batteries and figure out how to desalinate sea water on a large scale. She hasn't made much progress on un-salting the oceans. But the battery part is done...
Ken Notes: 10K for the extra battery. Ouch! There is a market waiting for a solution here. UW, Ray-o-Vac are you reading this. Greater Madison has the resources to fix this and become the next Detroit - Not that we want to be Detroit - but you get the idea.
Madison - July 13, 2009 - After a few delays, a 151-room Hyatt Place Hotel is on track to open in spring at 333 W. Washington Ave. as part of the Alexander Co.'s Capitol West development.
Concrete has been poured for about half of the 11 floors, said Don Marvin, executive vice president of development and construction for LodgeWorks of Wichita, Kan., the hotel developer.
When the hotel was proposed in May 2007, the developer said the hotel could be finished in late 2008. But city approvals took some time and Marvin said the original financing fell through. He said U.S. Bank now is providing financing for the $20 million project...
Madison- 7/12/2009 - Request for Proposal ("RFP"): Dysfunctional City (of Madison) seeks eternally optimistic developer to spend a year and a half, along with tens of thousands of dollars and lots of staff and consultant time, to propose a project that won't happen. Must have a thick skin and be prepared to take on dozens of naysayers as well as be bashed by a slew of Monday morning quarterbacks, know-it-all-but-haven't-produced-anything types, only to be told "sorry" in the end....
Ken Notes: This is a must read. Please see our policy on editorials below. My Opinion - I applaud the Mayor and Library Board for considering the proposals in the first place. I remain a strong advocate for public private partnerships and hope the Library project comes to fruition.
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 - 7/10/2009 - For nearly 40 years, Thorstad Chevrolet has been a business anchor on Madison's south side.
Not only has Thorstad sold or serviced thousands of vehicles and employed hundreds of workers, it's proven a good neighbor, whether sponsoring youth sports teams or tending flower beds in the Park Street median.
So when news broke that General Motors was shuttering the dealership at 1702 S. Park St. as part of GM's Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, community leaders feared the worst....
Madison - July 12, 2009 - It's not just another hotel project.
Developer Robert Dunn's dynamic plan to restore and remake the Edgewater Hotel on Lake Mendota offers Madison a vastly improved public asset in a valuable Downtown location.
The concept - featuring a new tower of rooms, a public rooftop terrace and grand staircase offering public access to the lake - deserves strong support from city officials and the residents....
Ken Notes: It is a visionary proposal and would help attract new conventions and events. Lets all agree to stay at the table on this one.
Madison - 7/15/2009 - More than 25,000 people, 1,000 tractors, a famous country singer and a local author will all be in Madison July 23-25 for the 20th annual Red Power Roundup, the worldwide gathering of International Harvester Collectors.
This annual gathering will be hosted by the Wisconsin chapter of the International Harvest Collectors Club, which boasts more than 7,000 members worldwide. Madison was selected as the site for this year's festival, in part because of the International Harvester-McCormick Collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society...
Wisconsin - July 15, 2009 - Gov. Jim Doyle announced Wednesday that he will lead a delegation of Wisconsin business representatives on a September trade mission to China and Japan, the state's third- and fifth-largest export destinations. The trip, covering just more than a week, is scheduled for Sept. 13 to 22 and will include Commerce Secretary Richard Leinenkugel and Rod Nilsestuen, secretary of the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection...
Ken Notes: If your company needs a stand in I'm available.
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
Wisconsin - July 12, 2009 - Our state motto is "Forward," but Wisconsin is falling behind in the economic race to create jobs and raise family incomes. We're lagging our own economic performance of the 1990s and losing ground to other states - especially to other upper Midwest states such as Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. This sobering assessment transcends the usually polarized debate in Madison. From the left, right and center, the view is equally grim...
Ken Notes: We do need to shift to a more positive message regarding business in the state. As long as economic development is in the hands of political entities we may continue to struggle.
Wisconsin - July 11, 2009 - Wisconsin came up empty in the competition to land a new General Motors Corp. car plant, but tax breaks that were a part of the state's pitch may end up helping other businesses stay or expand.
"Coming in second or third on this GM plant may turn out to be a long-run blessing," said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, which advises the governor and Legislature on economic development and other issues.
GM closed its Janesville production plant in April, cutting about 1,200 jobs. The state lobbied the auto giant to reopen the plant to make a new line of small cars, but GM chose a Michigan plant instead...
Madison - July 14, 2009 - The Cardinal Bar is back for another incarnation with its longtime former owner, Ricardo Gonzalez.
When Gonzalez sold the dance club to the most recent owners in 2004, he said part of the agreement was that the Cardinal, 418 E. Wilson St., would return to his control should they default on their payments....
Madison - July 12, 2009 - John Hutchinson had an advertising job lined up in Chicago 37 years ago, but decided instead to open a Madison business.
Fontana Sports Specialties, named after Hutchinson's Wisconsin hometown, began in 1972 as an Army-Navy surplus store and its focus evolved to outdoor recreation as it added camping and scuba equipment.
The store competes in a crowded outdoor recreation market that includes smaller stores as well as giants like Gander Mountain and Dick's Sporting Goods....
Ken Notes: The end result was also very nice. I hope State remains one of the nations best pedestrian malls.
WISCONSIN - 7/15/2009 - Oshkosh Corp. says it plans to hire as many as 500 workers in Wisconsin and recall up to 650 employees at its Pennsylvania subsidiary. The Oshkosh-based vehicle maker won a $1.1 billion Army contract last month to build new off-road trucks for ground forces in Afghanistan...
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 - 7/09/2009 - More than half of potential homebuyers say they're still not prepared to jump into the market, and fear of losing their jobs is the No. 1 reason, a new poll shows. With unemployment at a 26-year-high and rising, nearly 53 percent of consumers who said they were planning to buy a home in the future cautioned they're not ready to take such a large financial step right now, according to the survey released Thursday by Realtor.com....
Fitchburg - 7/14/2009 - The campaign to raise $4 million in donations for the new Fitchburg library is still on hold. Two members of the Library Board - Treasurer Phil Sveum and Vice President Marykay Zimbrick - told the Common Council on June 24 that donors will be more likely to contribute when additional progress has been made toward construction....
Ken Notes: I have been involved in two library projects and this is always a catch 22. Neenah created a threshold for funding before construction could start and was able to reach it, Verona is still raising funds 2+ years after opening. Both were successful projects.
Oregon - 7/10/2009 - An experienced manager of a sports bar and grill in Evansville says he's thrilled to have an opportunity to run Hawthorn's Dining & Celebrations and hopes to turn the ailing business around. Greg Ardisson was offered the job of managing the large restaurant/bar/banquet facility on Oregon's southeast side two weeks ago, after Union Bank & Trust Co. prevailed in a lawsuit against Hawthorn's Dining & Celebrations LLC and 1150 Park Street LLC, the entities that owned and operated the business....
Ken Notes: A good read on the restaurant business...
Verona - 7/15/2009 - Less than six months after its grand opening, one of the biggest restaurants in Verona has closed. Megan's of Verona, a homegrown project of seven-year resident Roger McMunn, was plagued by inconsistencies from the start and could not sustain the crowds it was designed to generate...
Ken Notes: I a very tough business this place has loads of potential. I hope it is not dark for long.
Wisconsin - July 10, 2009 - The main tool used by Wisconsin communities to help finance commercial development is the tax increment financing district, which geeks like myself call TIF districts. Typically, a community will borrow money by selling bonds, and use the cash to help finance improvements, such as street work or building renovations. The property taxes generated by those improvements, known as the increment, pay off the city's debt. Once the debt is paid, the property taxes flow to the city, school district and other local governments....
Wisconsin - JUL 15, 2009 - From the beginning, efforts to restore the abandoned Badger Army Ammunition Plant near Baraboo to native prairie and savanna have been marked by about as much controversy and heartache as attended the construction of the plant in 1941. Even so, many stalwarts found a way to remain focused on the landscape of prairie grass and oak islands they see beneath the acres of concrete and steel that have covered the 7,354-acre site for so many years....
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 - 7/15/2009 - Nearly half of Wisconsin technology industry executives responding to a new survey are optimistic that the state's economy will improve during the next year. The first quarterly WisBusiness.com Tech Leaders Survey, conducted between June 23 and July 6, collected responses from 277 people. The response rate was 29.5 percent....
Madison Area - 7/15/2009 - Madison-based WPS Insurance will have a piece of two health contracts for the Pentagon's TRICARE program for military members, their families and survivors across the nation. WPS Executive Vice President Bill Bathke called the contracts huge wins for the company in a statement to employees Tuesday that also said the transition period on the work would begin immediately with an official start-work date of April 1, 2010....
Ken Notes: Congrats lets hope we can demonstrate great administration leads to more cost effective programs!
WISCONSIN - July 16, 2009 - The production of Harley-Davidson Sportster powertrains in Wauwatosa will be shut down for about 14 weeks late this year, including the company's entire fourth quarter. The announcement comes with the news that the company is cutting 1,000 more employees as its second-quarter profit sank 91% on falling motorcycle sales. Harley V-Rod and Sportster operations in Kansas City, Mo., also will be shut down during that time, the company said Thursday in a conference call with analysts...
Ken Notes: I wonder if they could go to a four day work week leaving three days to ride. Wisconsin should be a mecca for motorcycle touring. Great destinations, great facilities, great scenery. The roads in Southwest Wisconsin alone are worth getting on my bike - which I hate to admit is a Honda - but I am saving up. Also if anyone is listening China now buys more cars than the US and they love Harleys! LETS RIDE!!
Milwaukee - 7/15/2009 - Rivianna Development Group LLC, which includes Bob Schultz and Harry Drea, received approval this week from the City Plan Commission of a detailed planned development for their proposed apartment and hotel towers development planned for just south of the Historic Third Ward...
Ken Notes: Project website is HERE.
Wisconsin - 7/12/2009 - As an energy producer, wind is fickle: Maybe it'll blow when you need it. Maybe not. So the race is on to find more efficient ways to store the electricity wind produces when it's blowing, so the lights can stay on when it isn't. A Milwaukee company is smack in the middle of that race - a player in a high-tech sector that local economic strategists hope will become a growth engine for the region....
MILWAUKEE - July 15, 2009 - The city Redevelopment Authority has set the stage to spend around $3 million on riverwalk improvements, including a new section that would be built in conjunction with a planned upscale food store.
The authority on Tuesday approved expanding the borders of a tax incremental financing district along the Milwaukee River north of downtown. That would allow for a future grant to help pay for a riverwalk that would be built adjacent to the Habhegger Wheel and Axle property, at E. Brady and N. Water streets. That grant could amount to around $2 million, according to the Department of City Development...
Milwaukee - July 13, 2009 - The developers of Rivianna, a planned hotel and housing complex, have reached an agreement to buy the project site in the Walker's Point area, it was announced Monday.
Rivianna Group has agreed to buy the site, at 236 S. Water St., for an undisclosed price.
The half-acre site, which overlooks the Milwaukee River, is now owned by Craig Jorgensen, president of VJS Construction Services Inc., and ...
Cudahy - 7/10/2009 - A new developer has taken control of the foreclosed Library Square condominium project, in Cudahy, and has sale agreements pending for 16 of the project's 29 unsold units. CLSC LLC bought project lender Marshall & Ilsley Corp.'s interest in the development, and recently took ownership of Library Square. CLSC is led by Michael Dilworth, president of Greenfield-based development firm Ener-Con Cos....
Milwaukee - July 11, 2009- Rodney Lass figured his days as a homeowner were over when he was hit with a foreclosure judgment more than a year ago. He stopped rehabbing his two-story Bay View home and moved on. But what Lass didn't realize until recently is that the house remains in his name today. He's still responsible for the taxes, upkeep of the property and the mortgage, leaving Lass perplexed....
Wisconsin - 7/15/2009 - Rebecca Klaper uses tiny creatures to study the safety of some of the world's tiniest particles.
Translucent crustaceans called Daphnia - about four of them would fit on the top of a pencil - are helping Klaper develop a tool to assess the safety of nanomaterials being put into many products, from sunscreen to computer screens to baseball bats.
Her efforts received a boost from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Catalyst grant program, which, for the second consecutive year, is awarding $500,000...
Milwaukee - 7/15/2009 - Construction has started on Latitude, a 90-unit apartment buildilng being developed on Milwaukee's east side by Dermond Property Investments.
The development, which will include 7,500 square feet of first-floor retail space, is at the southwest corner of N. Farwell Avenue and E. Kenilworth Place. The apartments should be completed by July 2010....
Milwaukee July 14, 2009 - It will cost $34.5 million to buy and redevelop 84 acres of the former Tower Automotive Inc. site, and make other improvements in its north side neighborhood, according to new details disclosed Tuesday about the city plan.
The City of Milwaukee will spend $25.6 million on the project. Of that amount, $15.6 million would be repaid through property taxes generated by new development at the site, and improvements in the surrounding neighborhood, and by selling parcels within a business park to be developed at the Tower site, according to the Department of City Development....
Fond du Lac - 7/16/2009 - Mercury Marine's future in Fond du Lac is expected to be clear in a matter of weeks, not months, company officials say.
During employee meetings Wednesday morning in Fond du Lac, Mercury Marine President Mark Schwabero said the process of charting the company's course was just beginning....
Wisconsin - July 14, 2009- While providing a welcome boost to high-tech entrepreneurship, Wisconsin's new budget on the whole solidifies the perception of the state as a tax-happy, business-unfriendly place, company owners and leaders of business groups say. They credit the Legislature and Gov. Doyle for increasing incentives that already are luring promising young firms to Wisconsin. But those positives, they say, are far outweighed by such things as a bump in the personal tax rate on the highest earners and what amounts to a hefty increase in capital gains taxes....
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.
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Ken
Kenneth Harwood
WisconsinDevelopment.com LLC
P.O. Box 930234
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ken@wisconsindevelopment.com