Volume 2 - Issue 8 - Circulation 3,500 Week of 2.19.09 to 2.26.09

MADISON - 2/24/2009 - The Madison Plan Commission has endorsed creating a cutting-edge "sustainable" neighborhood on the city's far northeast side with the goal of reducing car trips and energy use there by 25 percent. The panel Monday night approved goals for some 2,500 undeveloped acres northeast of Interstate 94 and Interstate 39-90-94. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz proposed the idea as part of his vision for a sustainable Madison....

Ken Notes: I have always liked this idea and while not for everyone, I think we may be surprised by the success of a project like this. Also 2,500 acres will be a HUGE project.

Madison Area - 2/25/2009 - Park Bank of Madison has been approved for the sale of about $20 million in preferred stock to the U.S. Treasury Department through the Capital Purchase Program and the bank will use the money to support three local development projects. "We're excited about this opportunity to take this money," said bank president and chief executive Jim Hegenbarth. "In my personal opinion, I think the money is finally getting to the right places...

Ken Notes: These are good projects and will help the area a great deal. It is nice to see a bank placing funds back into new projects. Lets hope this is a trend.

Fitchburg - February 26, 2009 - There will be a library in Fitchburg. On a 5-2 vote Tuesday night, the Commoun Council confirmed its commitment to building and operating a library, the culmination of a process that began almost six years ago. The action allows planning to continue, which is likely to take nine to 12 months, said Debra Johnson, interim library director. Voters approved $10 million for construction last November, but turned down a referendum authorizing almost $1 million in annual operating costs....

Madison - February 20, 2009 - Tim Cooley gave up sunny southern California to return to Madison, a place he says he never got out of his blood. A UW-Madison grad -- in journalism to boot -- Cooley took over this week as the city's new economic development director. His job is to advocate for business interests in City Hall, presenting their arguments as decisions are made on everything from development to the permitting process...

Ken Notes: Tim gets it. Our success will come from others seeing what we are doing in Wisconsin and wanting to be a part of it. New ventures from WARF and the Research Park and local established business with sound business plans will look very attractive in the near future.

Wisconsin - 2/25/2009 - Is AnchorBank going under? Probably not. But it's a question on the minds of customers, employees, shareholders and national observers as Madison's largest financial institution continues to struggle. The bank's share price (stock symbol: ABCW) had fallen to 81 cents Tuesday and is down some 95 percent over the past 52 weeks...

Madison Area - 2/26/2009 - Capitol Bank reported its assets grew 19 percent last year to $213.4 million at the end of 2008. Net income was up 12.9 percent from 2007 to $1.71 million while earnings per share of $5.68 were up 11.4 percent from the previous year. The bank's net charge-offs at the end of 2008 were $4,836...

Ken Notes: Another Bank focused on local projects, just for the record.

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 - 2/25/2009 - A proposal to provide housing for a dozen homeless men in a three-flat in the Greenbush neighborhood is stirring fears among some residents over safety, property values and the future of the area. Others say it is an opportunity for their community to step up and provide housing for people many don't want as neighbors. Porchlight Inc., a well-known local provider of housing...

Madison - February 23, 2009 - The prospect of $3.5 million in federal money has jump-started plans for a business incubator on Madison's southeast side, but the requirement for the city to partially match those funds has officials worried about committing taxpayer money too quickly. At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Madison officials will instead likely seek to approve the city's application for federal funding, but not dedicate any city funds yet, for a 21,000-square-foot bio-agriculture incubator. The incubator, called the Midwest BioLink Commercial and Business Center, would sit in the city's BioAg Gateway off the Beltline between Stoughton Road and Interstate 39-90...

Madison Area - February 20, 2009 - January contracts for future construction in the Madison metropolitan area took a nose dive from January of a year ago, down 57 percent overall, 84 percent in non-residential building projects and 14 percent in residential projects. The future construction report was released Friday by McGraw-Hill Construction. January building contracts totaled $23.4 million in the three-county metro area of Dane, Columbia and Iowa counties, compared to $55.1 million in January 2008....

Madison - February 24, 2009 - Majestic Theatre owners Matt Gerding and Scott Leslie showed up to the Madison Municipal Court Monday morning in dress shirts, ready to dispute the city over an ordinance violation. The courts didn't receive the required paperwork from the City Attorney's Office, however, and after 20 minutes of confusion and a couple of phone calls, a city official determined that the city attorney handling the case was out sick. They'd have to reschedule. For Gerding and Leslie, it was just one more knot in the bureaucracy of city government....

Ken Notes: This one needs to go away. And why, may I ask, is the city willing to pay 50 thousand dollars to fill in a basement??? Oh and guys the new sign is very nice.

Madison - 2/26/2009 - A $36 million write-down on the value of four Great Wolf Resorts accounted for much of the Madison-based company's losses during the fourth quarter and for all of 2008. The largest operator of waterpark resorts in the nation on Wednesday reported a net loss of $36.47 million, or $1.18 per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with a net loss of $7.7 million, or 25...

National - February 26, 2009 - President Barack Obama is sending Congress a budget Thursday that projects the government's deficit for this year will soar to $1.75 trillion, reflecting efforts to pull the nation out of a deep recession and a severe financial crisis...

Ken Notes: Video available from website...

Recent commercial property listings from PropertyDrive.

Waterloo - February 24, 2009 - What was the reason you were brought here? What did Trek need you to accomplish? Brent Leland: I've been here about a year-and-a-half. Trek has grown very fast and is a very lean organization. In a lot of ways, the growth of the business and the success of the company have really outpaced the IT function. I was brought in to put in the right infrastructure to position us for future growth...

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

February 19, 2009 -

Madison - FEB 25, 2009 - The University of Wisconsin-Madison raised more gift money last year than any other public university except UCLA, according to a survey released Wednesday. But donations are slowing as the recession deepens, university officials said, which could mean less scholarship money for students....

Ken Notes: I am impressed with the things the UW is doing with the money. New buildings, new research, new programs.

2/25/09 Badger Career Network Alerts, an online service designed to connect mid‐career UW Madison alumni with companies that are hiring...

Prairie du Sac - February 20, 2009 - A recession hasn't tempered the taste for Butter Burgers and custard. Culver's Restaurants announced Thursday that sales at its 395 restaurants in 2008 grew 10 percent to more than $650 million and that for the first time it will launch a national television advertising campaign. The Prairie du Sac company, celebrating its 25th year in business, said it expects similar growth this year and plans to open 20 more franchised restaurants....

Ken Notes: We should watch this example of growing a national company. This is a great franchise and a great company - from our own back yard.

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...

2/25/2009 - After watching friends and colleagues lose their jobs, their retirement savings and increasingly their hope, I've got only one thing to say to any state worker worried about paying more for their health insurance: Cry me a river. Here in Dane County, where a quarter of the workforce draws paychecks from the government, one can sense the growing rift between the public and private sector as the economy worsens. And we're doing better than just about everywhere else in Wisconsin....

Ken Notes: A bit of an editorial flavor here but Mikes point is well taken. I have suggested that instead of laying off 20% of workers everyone should take a 20% pay cut. We seem more comfortable with winners a looser than with all pulling together. And in the end we will end up paying anyway - go figure?

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!...

Madison - February 24, 2009 - "Hey, Madison! I'm Kenneth Burns. Grab some cheese and watch me on 'Jeopardy!'" That's the "hometown howdy" from Madison's own Kenneth Burns, known to most here as Isthmus' arts and entertainment editor. On Monday's episode of "Jeopardy!", he finished triumphant and $21,600 richer....

Ken Notes: Mr. Burns would you like to buy a little online news blog...

Wisconsin - February 25, 2009 - As the federal stimulus bill steamed down the track in Washington, a separate and (much) smaller state bill leapfrogged from formal introduction to passage by the Legislature to being signed by the governor - all inside a week. In the state Capitol, where virtually every process is designed to slow down legislation, a week is equivalent to the speed of light. But when the governor's office and both...

Madison Region - February 21, 2009 - A final environmental impact statement has been issued and public hearings are scheduled next month in Madison on the proposed high-voltage electricity transmission line between Rockdale and Middleton in Dane County. The 345-kilovolt line proposed by American Transmission Co. would run between 32 and 47 miles and could cost between $214 million and $244 million, depending on the route. The cost would be higher if portions of the line are built underground....

Madison - February 20, 2009 - In a sign of the times, Madison may further shift public investments from luxury condos and speculative office buildings to efforts to create jobs and revitalize neighborhoods. But the development community has concerns about the city tightening rules already seen as rigid. The City Council on Tuesday will consider a new policy that would use the city's most potent development tool - tax increment financing - to promote "living wage" jobs by attracting, keeping and expanding business, and targeting improvements in high-need areas...

Ken Notes: This is better than a mandate for wages and could serve as guideline - but what can we do to help the current employers already paying a good wage?

Madison Region - February 22, 2009 - In the past few weeks, we've reported how the inventory of single-family homes in Dane County varies by price range and between communities. The inventory also varies across neighborhoods within the city of Madison On Jan. 31, the W13 Multiple Listing Service (MLS) location on Madison's Near West Side (Hill Farms, Westmorland and Sunset Village) had an inventory of only 2.6 months, the lowest in Dane County. Months of inventory is calculated by dividing the number of active listings by the average number of homes sold per month. Most homes in these neighborhoods are priced under $300,000...

Lake Mills - February 22, 2009 - Shortly after Rex and Cynthia Weston converted the former Lake Mills United Methodist Church into their residence, a homeless family passing through town rapped on their front door seeking alms. The incident foreshadowed the interesting and sometimes awkward moments ahead for the Westons, who bought the imposing building in 1992 because they didn't want to live in a typical house. After many good years and an outlay of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Westons, who divorced in 2007, have put the property on the market....

Oregon - February 26, 2009 - A draft report reviewing the Legend at Bergamont's stormwater management is raising concerns that the 523-acre development may not be in compliance with the management plan approved by Dane County. But Oregon village officials are stressing that the report is only a draft, and that opinions regarding compliance should be put on hold until more facts are known...

MADISON - February 25, 2009 - Governor Jim Doyle today announced that Stratatech Corporation in Madison will receive a $500,000 loan from the Department of Commerce. "It’s important we continue to invest in developing technology that will help Wisconsin compete at the high end of the global economy," Governor Doyle said. "I am pleased we could help further the opportunities of leading companies like Stratatech Corporation...

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...

Madison Region - February 20, 2009 - Wisconsin communities will be getting almost $25 million in federal stimulus money to help local housing and service programs for the homeless. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the grants Thursday. Madison and Dane County will get more than $3 million in HUD funding for the homeless in 20 programs and services....

Ken Notes: At some point will there be a report on how the money was spent?

Wisconsin - FEB 19, 2009 - Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposed higher income tax rate on Wisconsin’s wealthiest residents would leave the state with one of the highest top tax rates in the country — tied for 11th. But that rate would only kick in for married couples making more than $300,000 a year – making that single bracket one of the most progressive in the country...

Ken Notes: Also includes a good summary of new business taxes.

MILWAUKEE - Feb. 19, 2009 - The Department of City Development is seeking development proposals for a vacant lot at 821-833 E. Locust St., in the Riverwest neighborhood. The l0,800-square-foot lot at Locust and Bremen streets is used as a park and seasonal farmers market. The department wants proposals that blend the community space with housing, or other developments...

MILWAUKEE - Feb. 25, 2009 - The City of Milwaukee will get $22.6 million from the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help with jobs, housing and public works projects, Mayor Tom Barrett announced Wednesday. The money comes from President Barack Obama's unprecedented stimulus package to help restart the ailing economy. Obama signed the legislation into law last week....

Milwaukee - Feb. 23, 2009 - Milwaukee County received just one response to its request for development proposals on a 2-acre site in downtown's Park East area. The request for proposals was issued for the county-owned lot, bordered by N. Broadway, N. Water St., N. Milwaukee St., E. Lyon St. and E. Ogden Ave., after an earlier plan from Chicago-based RSC & Associates was dropped....

Milwaukee - 2/25/2009 - A proposed city of Milwaukee ordinance would require developers seeking $1 million or more in financial assistance from the city to provide community benefits including "prevailing wages" for construction workers. Prevailing wages are defined from surveys done by the state Department of Workforce Development. The ordinance, called the MORE ordinance (Milwaukee Opportunities for Restoring Employment)...

Milwaukee - 2/25/2009 - The Milwaukee area's office space vacancy rate is at 17.11 percent, according to Brookfield-based NAI MLG Commercial's first quarter 2009 office market forecast. The region's office space vacancy rate improved from 17.4 percent in the third quarter of 2008, despite negative absorption of 74,144 square feet of space during the fourth quarter, the NAI MLG report says....

Milwaukee - 2/25/2009 - The Milwaukee area's industrial real estate vacancy rate is at 9.0 percent, but vacancy rates are lower in Waukesha County, according to Brookfield-based NAI MLG Commercial's first quarter 2009 industrial market forecast. The four submarkets with the lowest vacancy rates are all in Waukesha County, according to the report, with the southwestern portion of the county posting a 3.3 percent vacancy rate, the northwestern portion posting a 5.0 percent vacancy rate, the northeast corner is at 5.3 percent and the southeast corner is at 5.9 percent....

Ken Notes: Could someone from NAI MLG send be a link to the report. Thanks.

Milwaukee - Feb. 20, 2009 - Over a decade after it opened, Brewer's Point Apartments will be getting a public riverwalk. The city Redevelopment Authority has approved a $250,000 construction contract for the public walkway along the Milwaukee River behind Brewer's Point, 1858 N. Commerce St. Work is to begin in early spring, and should be completed by mid-summer....

Wausau - February 26, 2009 - The Wausau City Council has approved $755,000 in aid to bring Rasmussen College to town. Developer Chuck Ghidorzi plans to break ground in April for a $3 million facility for the St. Paul, Minn., based private college that offers two- and four-year degrees and plans to accept students starting in 2010. The money the city approved Tuesday — called tax increment financing — will help with infrastructure improvements, such as roads, utilities and site preparations. ...

Oconomowoc - February 19, 2009 - Where Waters Meet, Where Oconomowoc Meets Daily and Where Visitors Meet Oconomowoc are a few of the brand promises presented by Hitchcock Design Group during its open house Tuesday night at City Hall.. Where Waters Meet, Where Oconomowoc Meets Daily...

Wisconsin - Feb. 26, 2009 - Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) reported Thursday that its Dodgeville-based Lands' End division had record profits in 2008 for the third consecutive year, up over last year in its direct business and up even more including the Lands' End shops at Sears. The company did not disclose specific sales numbers for Lands' End. In his letter to shareholders, Sears Chairman Edward Lampert said a substantial majority of Lands' End's ...

Ken Notes: Think of how well it would have done on it's own.

Milwaukee - Feb. 26, 2009 - WUWM-FM, a public radio station operated by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is negotiating to lease 20,000 square feet at Chase Tower, 111 E. Wisconsin Ave., but doesn't yet have a signed agreement, General Manager Dave Edwards tells me. WUWM now leases 10,000 square feet in the basement of the Plankinton Arcade at the Shops of Grand Avenue. The station produces a lot more loca...

Milwaukee - Feb. 25, 2009 - An investors group led by Dan Katz has purchased Prospect Heights Apartments, 1646 N. Prospect Ave., for $5.25 million, according to documents filed with the Milwaukee County Register of Deeds. The aging 105-unit building, which was sold by a Madison-based investors group, has long been viewed as a redevelopment opportunity. In 2007, Residential Homes of America Inc., based in Lake Forest, Ill., floated a plan to raze the building and develop a 30-story tower with 179 condos...

Milwaukee - Feb. 24, 2009 - The Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee was supposed to consider approval today of the proposed plan for the northeast side, including the area around University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. However, that item was held over at the request of Ald. Bob Bauman. The committee's next meeting is set for March 20....

La Crosse - February 24, 2009 - City officials have proposed up to $240,000 in incentives for a company that wants to expand its site on La Crosse's near North Side. The assistance will require the Common Council redraw boundaries of an existing Tax Increment Finance district to include Fowler & Hammer General Contractor’s headquarters west of Copeland Avenue. The business is eligible for up to $200,000...

Jefferson - Feb. 21, 2009 - Meadow Springs Country Club in Jefferson, among the oldest courses in southeastern Wisconsin and the home course of the UW-Whitewater women's golf team, will close effective Sunday, according to a story in the Watertown Daily Times. Jefferson Golf Management LLC, a subsidiary of Madison Golf and Development Group LLC, owns Meadow Springs CC. The Madison group also owns Windwood of Watertown and The Meadows of Sixmile Creek in Waunaukee....

Ken Notes: And now it gets personal...

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
P.O. Box 930234
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