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Home > BizTimes Daily > Archives > January 11, 2008
City may force land sale with eminent domain
Published January 11, 2008 - BizTimes Daily
The Milwaukee Common Council will consider using the city's powers of eminent domain to force Bee Bus Line Inc., to sell three properties on the city's northwest side.
The properties are located at 3478 W. Hopkins St., 4250 N. 35th St. and 4260-4300 N. 35th St.
On Tuesday, the council will hear a proposal to declare the properties blighted and approve their acquisition by Integrated Mail Industries Ltd., a nearby business that wants to expand onto the sites. Under the proposal, Integrated will pay for the acquisition of the property and demolition there, according to city documents.
The city's redevelopment authority approved the plan in December, and its Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development committee approved it earlier this week.
Bee Bus acquired the property several years ago, said Bruce Arbit, chairman of the board of Integrated Mail, and has never used it. Integrated Mail is based at 3410 W. Hopkins St., adjacent to the Bee Bus property.
Integrated Mail has tried to negotiate with Bee Bus, Arbit said, but has not been successful.
Integrated Mail has about 120 employees in its 167,000-square-foot facility, Arbit said. The company has an immediate need for expansion, Arbit said, and routinely turns work away.
"We're ready to hire 50 people immediately," he said. "We cannot do any more work in the building we have now. That is work that our clients are demanding that we can't produce."
If it gains control of the Bee Bus property, Integrated Mail will expand by 50,000 to 150,000 square feet, he said.
"We haven't finalized our plans yet," Arbit said. "The issue is do we (expand) in phases or do it all at one time."
Integrated Mail needs to have all of its operations under one roof, Arbit said. If the company isn't able to acquire the Bee Bus property, it will have to look for another site, which would probably be outside the city, he said.
"We're landlocked here," Arbit said. "The problem is that we can't increase sales. We're turning work away, and we're at risk of losing clients."
Integrated Mail, Bee Bus Line and the properties in question are within the city's 30th Street Industrial corridor, an area that the city wants to redevelop (see the cover story in this week's Small Business Times).
