Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will hold a groundbreaking ceremony today at 11 a.m. to celebrate the start of construction of a new Wal-Mart supercenter store in Muskego.

The 156,400-square-foot store, which will include a grocery department, will be built southeast of Moorland Road and College Avenue. The site is in Muskego, just south of the New Berlin city limits.

Extensive site work has been done for the Wal-Mart project, but the groundbreaking ceremony will mark the start of the building construction. The construction project is expected to be complete in the fall of 2010.

About 320 people will work at the store.

Oak Park, Ill.-based RSC & Associates is seeking up to $30 million in bond financing through the city of Milwaukee for its long delayed development in the Park East corridor.

The tax-exempt redevelopment revenue bonds would be issued through the city’s Redevelopment Authority, providing a low interest financing source for RSC. The Redevelopment Authority will consider the request at its Nov. 19 meeting.

RSC chief executive officer Rich Curto could not be reached for comment.

According to documents filed with the city, RSC plans to build a 250,000-square-foot development with 121 apartments, five townhouses, a parking structure and 7,800 square feet of retail space on a two-acre vacant site bounded by East Lyons Street, East Ogden Street, North Jefferson Street and North Milwaukee Street. Later, RSC plans to add two hotels, a 128-room Hyatt Place boutique hotel and a 102-room Hyatt Summerfield Suites extended stay hotel, to the project.

RSC owns the property and the project was approved by the city, but it has been delayed since 2008 because it could not obtain financing after the financial industry meltdown.

For the apartments, 20 percent of the units would be required to be leased to individuals with families whose income is 60 percent less than the area’s median gross income. There would be 10, 560-square-foot studio apartments with rents of $975 to $1,095; 59, 750 to 765-square-foot 1-bedroom apartments with rents of $725 to $1,600; 45, 1,160 to 1,270-square-foot 2-bedroom apartments with rents of $900 to $2,300; and 7, 1,510 to 1,605-square-foot 3-bedroom apartments with rents of $2,300 to $2,570.

According to information filed with the city, RSC hopes to break ground for the project in the spring and complete construction of the first phase in the summer of 2011. Once completed, about 55 people would work at the development including management, maintenance, sales staff, restaurant staff, cleaning and janitorial staff.

RSC purchased the site from Milwaukee County. If the project proceeds, it would be the first Milwaukee County-owned property that has attracted development in the Park East corridor.

Santa Ana, Calif.-based Corinthian Colleges Inc. plans to open its first Wisconsin campus in the Park East corridor in downtown Milwaukee.

The college will lease 45,000 square feet of space in the Haymarket Square development, located northwest of North 6th Street and McKinley Avenue. The developer for Haymarket Square is McKinley Avenue LLC, which is seeking up to $11 million in low interest redevelopment revenue bonds through the city of Milwaukee’s Redevelopment Authority, which will consider the proposal on Nov. 19.

The registered agent for McKinely Avenue LLC is Dan Druml, the Milwaukee franchisee for Paul Davis Restoration. Druml could not be reached for comment.

Corinthian Colleges is one of the largest for-profit, post-secondary education companies in North America and focuses on career-oriented students. It has about 93,000 students enrolled in about 90 schools in the U.S. and about 20 schools in Ontario. Corinthian Colleges' institutions operate under the Everest College and the WyoTech (for automotive training) brand names. The majority of Corinthian's students are enrolled in associate's degree or diploma programs, but the schools also offer bachelor's and master's degrees. Corinthian Colleges also offers 20 online degrees through Everest College.

Corinthian Colleges is a publicly held company and its shares are traded on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol COCO.

Corinthian Colleges plans to occupy the building in May in time for the beginning of the school year in the fall.

The company has 11,100 employees and would have 35 employees in Milwaukee in the first year and plans to add another 58 employees during the next four years. Salaries range from $25,000 to $53,000 for instructors, administrators and other positions.

Corinthian Colleges will occupy space in the building at 1311 N. 6th Street. Buildings at 623 W. Vliet St. and 1354 N. 7th St. will be renovated. The project will also include the acquisition and renovation of three properties. The building at 724 W. McKinley Ave. will be renovated and steel additions to the structure will be demolished to create space for surface parking. The vacant lot at 1325 N. 7th St. will be used for surface parking. The 10,000-square-foot building at 1322 N. 8th St. will be purchased and leased back to its current owner.

Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha will close at the end of this year.

The dog track opened in 1990. It is the last dog track operating in Wisconsin. The dog tracks in the state struggled to compete with casinos operated by American Indian tribes. Dairyland has lost millions of dollars in recent years.

"It's a sad day for the Dairyland family and Kenosha community," said Dairyland executive vice president Roy Berger. "We looked at every opportunity to apply for racing dates in 2010, but there was no longer a way to remain a viable entity ... The gaming landscape in the state has been slanted against pari-mutuel racing from the inception of Native American casinos. It has been virtually impossible for us to compete fairly. Every time we asked the legislature or state gaming officials for consideration with games to help make us competitive, we have been rebuked. Finally, we have reached the point after seven years of steading escalating losses where we just can't see any viability with a single out of favor product and have been forced to make this decision."

The closure of the track will eliminate 180 jobs.

The Menominee Indian tribe has been trying for years to establish a casino and entertainment complex at Dairyland, but the project has not received approval from federal officials. The Menominee tribe has filed a lawsuit in federal court that seeks to overturn the U.S. Department of the Interior's decision to block the tribe from building a casino at Dairyland. The Menominee tribe still has an option to purchase the property and is waiting to see what the result is of its legal challenge, said spokesman Evan Zeppos.

Atlanta-based Hooters of America Inc. will open a new restaurant today in Brookfield in the former Pedro’s restaurant at 17105 W. Bluemound Road.

"We have been interested in building a store in Brookfield for over 6 years, so I am very excited for the grand opening," stated Doug Long, regional manager for Hooters of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. "It is in a great location, just 2 miles of the Brookfield Square shopping mall and has everything you would hope to see in a Hooters and more."

This is the 7th Hooters location in the state. The only other Hooters location in the Milwaukee area is in Greenfield.

Hooters is perhaps best known for its scantily clad waitresses, and several Brookfield residents objected to the plans to open the restaurant in their community.

Hooters of America Inc. is the franchisor and operator of over 450 Hooters restaurants in 42 states and 26 foreign countries.

Ian’s Pizza by the Slice, which has two locations in Madison and one in Chicago, plans to open a location in Milwaukee on Jan. 1, 2010.

The restaurant will occupy an 1,800-square-foot space at 2035 E. North Ave., near the corner of North and Prospect avenues. Brian Gingrass and Jon Thoresen of Commercial Property Associates represented Ian’s in brokering the lease. The other tenants in the building are a Subway restaurant and a Bruegger's bagel shop.

“We have been getting requests from Milwaukee residents to come and set up an Ian’s there since our first store opened in 200l,” says Ryan Donovan, general manager. “We just needed to find the right neighborhood and have an experienced crew that was willing to move so we are ready to go when we open the doors.”

The restaurant will have seating for 40-50. It will be open for lunch at 11 a.m. and stay open until bar time.

“People know us as great bar food, but really, we are great food all the time,” said Lexy Frautschy, managing partner. “We work with a lot of local farmers and producers to get the freshest items we can, prep our toppings in-house daily, and buy most of our salad station ingredients from the farmer’s market in the summer. However, it just so happens that our mac n’ cheese tastes especially great at 2 a.m.”

The delivery zone for the restaurant will encompass the upper and lower east side of Milwaukee. The zone will include the UW-Milwaukee and MSOE campuses.

Ian’s Pizza has been featured on Bizarre World with Andrew Zimmern for the Travel Channel and in Sports Illustrated On-Campus Magazine.

Dan Druml, the Milwaukee franchisee for Paul Davis Restoration, plans to build a 40,000-square-foot, multi-tenant office and industrial facility at 1966 S. 4th St., Milwaukee.

Druml is seeking up to $3 million in low interest redevelopment bonds through the city for the project. The Redevelopment Authority will review the proposal on Nov. 19.

The building will have up to 5 tenants, which could include an expansion of the workforce at Paul Davis Restoration & Remodeling Inc., which is located adjacent to the site. The company plans to add 19 jobs in the next year and an additional 23 jobs during the following three years. Salaries are $60,000 for managers, $80,000 for sales positions, $37,000 for administrative positions and $60,000 for production jobs.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held last week to celebrate the opening of Lake Country Health and Rehabilitation and Lake Country Landing, an upscale skilled nursing and assisted living community located at 2195 N. Summit Village Way in the Town of Summit.

The skilled nursing facility has 56 private and 22 semi-private suites. The assisted living center offers 60 units including one-bedroom and two-bedroom residences, complete with living, dining and kitchenette areas. 

Lake Country Landing and Lake Country Health and Rehabilitation’s parent company is Milwaukee-based Extendicare Health Services, Inc.

“Our top priority is to help people live better by providing truly exceptional, high quality, resident-centered care in a safe and nurturing environment, where our residents can enjoy a rewarding quality of life,” said Tim Lukenda, President and CEO of Extendicare Health Services, Inc. “Lake Country Campus is an exceptional addition to our family, and we look forward to serving the many individuals and families seeking exemplary care in this community.”

Waukesha-based Inlanta Mortgage announced it is now offering 203(k) loans and that it has hired an expert to assist borrowers with the specialized program.

Cassy Humberger has joined the company as Branch Manager and is working out of Inlanta Mortgage’s Carmel, Ind. office.

An FHA 203(k) loan is a program that has been specifically designed to help with the financing of properties that need to be updated, rehabilitated or expanded. With this program, a borrower is able to fix up his or her existing home or purchase a new home that is in need of repair.

“With the number of foreclosures on the market, especially those homes that need a little fixing up, an FHA 203(k) loan is an excellent program,” said Jean Badciong, chief operating officer at Inlanta Mortgage. “Since this is such a specialized loan, we felt it was essential to find someone with experience in this program to assure everyone involved in the process, especially our borrowers, are properly educated on how this program works. In addition, Cassy is training our existing loan officers that would like to offer this program, but are not familiar with all of the details.”

Broomfield, Colo.-based Noodles & Company will open a restaurant on Nov. 25 at 1210 W. Sunset Dr., Waukesha, in the Shoppes at Fox River development. It will be the 29th Wisconsin location for Noodles & Company.

The Shoppes at Fox River is being developed by Opus North Corp. It is anchored by Target and Pick ‘n Save stores. Other tenants in the development include Buffalo Wild Wings, Gamestop and CVS Pharmacy. In addition, a Chili’s Grill & Bar restaurant is under construction in the development. That will be the seventh Chili’s location in the Milwaukee area.

Oconomowoc-based Rocky Rococo announced that it plans to open 3 restaurants in Wisconsin, including two in the Milwaukee area.

The Milwaukee area restaurants will be in Southridge Mall in Greendale and at 8300 W. Brown Deer Road, Milwaukee. The third restaurant will be at a mall in Green Bay.

The Brown Deer Road restaurant, which will include a drive-thru window, will open in December and the Southridge Mall restaurant will open in February.

Rocky Rococo will create a total of 50 to 55 jobs by opening the two Milwaukee area restaurants.

The company currently has 35 locations in Wisconsin.

“We are looking to grow in Wisconsin, but at a pace that makes sense,” said Thomas (Trey) R. Hester, III, vice president at Rocky Rococo.  “We are doing a lot right now to modify our look in stores and online, but we won’t mess with our recipe for success. We offer convenient, hot, fresh food at a fair price.”

The U.S. economy is in the midst of a “U-shaped” recovery that will continue to be sluggish in 2010 but pick up steam by 2011 and beyond.

That was the consensus outlook of a national panel of experts speaking at the BizTimes Commercial Real Estate & Development Conference last week at Potawatomi Bingo Casino. More than 400 people attended the conference.

For the short term, the panelists expect a “jobless recovery.”

They are encouraged that the nation’s gross domestic product improved in the third quarter. Employment will be the next lagging indicator, followed by occupancy rates at properties.

The panelists are most bullish on the industrial space market, and they said that should bode well for the Milwaukee region, rather than the coasts.

“I think Milwaukee and the Midwest in general is the best-positioned region in the United States. I would be rather upbeat. It will be slow, but it will be steady,” said Rhyne Brown, executive vice president of client development at NAI Global.

Jack Durburg, executive managing director of the Chicago region for CB Richard Ellis, and Ross Moore, executive vice president and director of market and economic research at Colliers International, agreed that the industrial property market is better-positioned for recovery than office or retail.

As jobs are created, consumer spending will rise, followed by the need for additional manufacturing and distribution, which will benefit the Midwest, according to panelist Maria Sicola, executive managing director and head of research for the Americas at Cushman & Wakefield Inc. in San Francisco.

Robert Bach, senior vice president and chief economist of Grubb & Ellis Co., said the industrial market is challenged by a shortage of demand, rather than an “over-supply” problem.

The panelists said they are “doves” about worrying about the threat of inflation, and they said the credit markets are slowly loosening.

Banks are engaged in a practice of “extend and pretend” in addressing distressed real estate liabilities on their balance sheets.

Brown predicted a “managed tsunami” of bad commercial real estate debt coming due, and he said up to 200 more banks may need to be closed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC).

Sales in the four-county metropolitan Milwaukee saw a significant boost in October as expiration of the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit was on the horizon, prior to approval of an extension, according to housing statistics released by Metro MLS Inc.

Overall sales in the region climbed 33.9 percent in October compared with the same month a year ago.

In October, it was clear that the price decreases of the last year combined with low interest rates, abundant choices, and the tax credit, motivated buyers to take advantage of the market, the Metro MLS said.

Milwaukee County led the region with a seventh consecutive month of positive sales, up 42.7 percent over the sales in October of 2008.

Waukesha County saw its first double-digit increase in a long time with a 22.3-percent jump from the year earlier. Washington County also jumped 37.9 percent over 2008, its second double-digit increase in a row.

Ozaukee County, populated with many homes at the higher-end of the price spectrum, saw an increase in sales of 3.9 percent for October.

Recent buyers were motivated to act as the federal First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit was set to end on Nov. 30. At that time, buyers did not know if Congress would extend the credit, so they acted to get their offers in and deals closed before the deadline.

On the listing side, new homes put up for sale are down in the four-county area by 3.6 percent, but Ozaukee and Washington Counties saw increased listings of 20.2 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.

Other counties in southeastern Wisconsin also reported positive gains in October sales:

Racine County saw a gain of 25.3 percent in October, after a weak -6.8-percent showing in September.

Kenosha County registered its second double-digit increase in a row, with a 13.3-percent gain over 2008, on top of September's 12.1-percent gain.

Walworth County saw its second double-digit month of increased sales, going up 20 percent over 2008, after an 18.1-percent increase in September.

Waukesha-based Total Team Construction LLC recently completed construction management services for the Aurora Health Care Center Suite 203 and 205 build-outs at the Aurora Pewaukee facility. The project consisted of 9,500 square feet of interior remodeling for doctors offices, procedure rooms, nurse stations, exam rooms and support areas. The owner’s Representative is Hammes Company. The architect for the project is Excel Engineering.

First Realty GMAC Joins Shorewest Realtors
Brookfield-based Shorewest Realtors announced recently that 16 licensed sales associates from First Realty GMAC have joined them. They are: Tom Morse, in the Lake Geneva office; Kaitlin Corraro, Chuck Napierala and Ron Steffes in the Southridge office; Yoon Kim in the south suburban office in Oak Creek; Jackie Brown, Ambrosia Barber-Wang, Sherry Larson, Stephanie Larson, Dick Kollmansberger, Mike Kollmansberger, Debbie Master, Kristy Vang, Nicole Walsh, Kathy Wheaton and Kris Young in the Waukesha office. “We’re pleased to welcome these sales associates to our offices,’ said Joseph A. Horning, Shorewest Realtors president. “Their comprehensive knowledge of area communities and unsurpassed customer service combined with our marketing and technology will benefit their clients." First Realty GMAC was founded by Kollmansberger in 1982 and had offices throughout the Milwaukee area. “I’m pleased to be a part of Shorewest Realtors,” said Kollmansburger. “This family-owned company offers more technology and services that will help our agents be more successful while also helping our customers.”

Mid-America adds research/marketing coordinator
Mid-America Real Estate-Wisconsin announced it has added Megan Rodriguez as research/marketing coordinator. She will handle the marketing, research, and administrative coordination for the Mid-America Tenant Representation team, as well as coordinate all research and manage proprietary data for the company. Prior to joining Mid-America, Rodriguez worked for Paine/Wetzel ONCOR International in Chicago as a research associate, and for CB Richard Ellis in Oak Brook, Ill., as a marketing assistant. She currently resides in Kenosha.

Zilber turns 92
Joseph Zilber, the founder of Milwaukee-based Zilber Ltd., celebrated his 92nd birthday on Friday.