Marquette University will host a groundbreaking ceremony on May 22 to celebrate the start of construction for a new Law School building. It is targeted for completion by fall 2010.

The 200,000-square-foot, four-story building will be constructed on a vacant site northwest of North 11th Street and Clybourn Avenue. The building will include two courtrooms, classrooms, faculty office suites, library space with a two-story reading room, a conference center and a café. Two levels of underground parking, with 170 spaces, will be located beneath the building.

"We recognize the importance the Law School has always had in educating lawyers of the highest skill and ethical caliber," said Rev. Robert A. Wild, S.J., president of Marquette University. "This new building will allow our first-rate faculty to deliver the very best in legal education to a new generation." 

The building will be named Eckstein Hall, in honor of a $51 million donations from Raymond A. and Katherine A. Eckstein, Marquette alumni who live in Cassville.

Inside the building will be the Zilber Forum, named for Zilber Ltd. founder Joseph Zilber, a Marquette alumnus who donated $30 million last year to the university, including $5 million toward the construction of Eckstein Hall. The Eckstein Hall project, estimated to cost $85 million in total, has also received a $1 million gift from the Bradley Foundation and several "seven-figure gifts" from anonymous donors. There is $19 million left to be raised for the project.

The building was designed by Boston-based Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson & Abbott Architects and Minnetonka, Minn.-based Opus Architects & Engineers. Minnetonka, Minn.-based Opus North Corp. will be the general contractor for the construction project. 

The groundbreaking ceremony on May 22 will begin at 1:15 p.m. Speakers at the ceremony will include Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson; Judge Frank H. Easterbrook, chief judge of the U.S. Appeals Court for the Seventh Circuit; and Natalie A. Black, senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary for the Kohler Co. and a member of the Marquette Board of Trustees.

Milwaukee-based Ruvin Development has eliminated the condominiums that were going to be part of the Aloft hotel development northeast of Juneau Avenue and Old World Third Street in downtown Milwaukee. The project was to have nine condominiums, called The Residences Above, priced between $540,000 and $1.28 million. Seven of the nine condos were priced above $1 million. However, the condos have been eliminated from the project, said Nancy Meeks, who was the listing agent for The Residences Above condos. "They have dropped the condos and they are just building a bigger hotel," Meeks said. "I think it was just an unusual combination of commercial to retail. Usually the residential component is larger." Rob Ruvin, the owner of Ruvin Development, could not be reached for comment.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held this morning to celebrate the start of construction of a 692,000-square-foot distribution center at 8410 60th St., Kenosha, for Norfolk, Neb.-based Affiliated Foods Midwest. The development is just the latest example of how sprawl from the Chicago area is spurring growth in Kenosha County. Chicago-based First Industrial Realty Trust is building the warehouse on a 100-acre site southeast of 52nd Street and 88th Avenue. The site is just north of where First Industrial is building a 600,000-square-foot distribution center for Vernon Hills, Ill.-based Rust-Oleum Corp. Affiliated Foods Midwest is a cooperative owned entirely by independent grocers located in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Wyoming, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and Oklahoma. About 250 full- and part-time employees will work in the building. In the future, the building may be expanded to 1.5 million square feet of total space with 500 employees.

Home sales in the four county Milwaukee area were down 22.1 percent in April and listings were down 8.9 percent during the month, compared to April of 2007, according to Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data released by the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors. The sales decline in April nearly matches the 25.5 percent drop in sales during the first quarter of the year.

April sales: in Milwaukee County were down 21.1 percent (646 units compared to 819 in April of 2007), in Waukesha County were down 20.4 percent (339 units compared to 426), in Ozaukee County were down 20.7 percent (65 units compared to 82), in Washington County were down 31.9 percent (113 compared to 166), in Racine County were down 23.5 percent (166 compared to 217), in Kenosha County were down (144 compared to 172) and in Walworth County were down 34.2 percent (75 compared to 114).

In April, listings were down for the ninth straight month. "Brokers and agents are reporting that buyers and sellers are far apart in their initial offers," said Mike Ruzicka, president of the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors. "Buyers appear to think that excess inventory means sellers are willing to cut their prices by 20 percent or more, which often causes sellers not to even bother with a counter offer. Many sellers are willing to bide their time and wait until a reasonable offer is made for their property." The fourth quarter of 2007 appears to have been the high water mark for inventory, Ruzicka said in his report.

Milwaukee-based Mandel Group Inc. announced that it has been appointed developer in charge of completing the First Place on the River condominium development. First Place is the 152-unit development at 106 W. Seeboth St. situated at the confluence of the Milwaukee and Menomonee rivers, immediately south of the Historic Third Ward in Milwaukee. The project is in receivership and the original developer, KeyBridge Development Group, is no longer involved. Construction of the building is nearly complete and occupancies began in November of 2007.

Mandel Group has been retained by Michael Polsky, the court-appointed receiver, to guide completion of construction, marketing and sales of the remaining condominiums, and management of the resident association. "We've spent considerable time examining the building, the floorplans, and the overall potential for the successful completion of this development," said Robert Monnat, chief operating officer for Mandel Group. "Our approach in guiding all future work will specifically focus on creating value for the buyers of units at First Place."

Mandel Group said key participants in the development team that has been assembled to complete First Place are Milwaukee-based Smocke & Associates Inc., which was previously retained by Polsky to monitor construction work in the building will continue to oversee completion of construction. Chicago-based Garrison Partners will direct marketing and sales activities for the units.

All parties have been retained by Polsky to complete the project. "With proper direction going forward, this can be an outstanding property for downtown condominium buyers," Monnat said. "The views from units in the building range from great to stunning." The development team is working closely with Polsky to implement an integrated plan for completion and sale of the condominium units.

"All parties are committed to proper completion of the development and creation of value for the future owners living at the property," Polsky said. "The appointment of Mandel Group to oversee completion the project gives everyone comfort in knowing that an experienced developer will be directing all activities going forward."

"We are working closely with Stefaniak Realty and Coldwell Banker to make sure that all current buyers experience smooth closings," Monnat said. "We appreciate the amount of effort each of these professionals has invested in the development."

Milwaukee real estate developer and philanthropist Joseph Zilber announced this week that he will donate $50 million to "revitalize Milwaukee's neighborhoods and reconnect all of her citizens to social and economic opportunity." Zilber is the 90-year-old founder and chairman of Zilber Ltd. and Towne Realty Inc.
"We all recognize that Milwaukee is at an important crossroads. We have suffered the loss of too many good jobs over the past four decades. Our rates of crime, of poverty, of drug addiction, of neighborhoods in bad shape, of individuals and families of despair, of hunger and homelessness are much too high. Such conditions make some people skeptical about the prospects for Milwaukee," Zilber said in his announcement at Milwaukee City Hall. "But I believe the current reality presents a far more interesting and hopeful story. In fact, Milwaukee may have the best chance in decades to engineer a new future for itself and its citizens. We have, in Milwaukee, civic and community leaders who are working hard each and every day to improve the conditions in our neighborhoods and the lives of Milwaukeeans. We can, and must, do more to support them as together we create the future we want … for ourselves, our children and our children's children."

Zilber said he wants to leverage his $50 million donation to generate a pool of $200 million in resources to benefit Milwaukee by calling on other philanthropists, corporations and foundations to join the cause. Zilber said the money will be used to support "programs that work and replace those that don't." Zilber has hired Dr. Susan Lloyd, formerly of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in Chicago, to oversee his Milwaukee venture. The announcement of a $50 million donation comes in addition to Zilber's announcement last August that he would donate $30 million to the Marquette University Law School and $10 million to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to create a School of Public Health, as well as other donations.

Wauwatosa-based Irgens Development Partners LLC recently promoted Dave Domres to senior vice president – property management. Domres supervises one of the largest property management teams in the Milwaukee area, a group of professionals that manages over 70 properties totaling just over four million square feet of space throughout the United States. He is the 2008 president for NAIOP-Wisconsin and past president of the Institute of Real Estate Management and the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin. "We are pleased to promote Dave to our senior management group," said Mark F. Irgens, manager/president of Irgens Development Partners. "Dave has been instrumental in strengthening and growing our asset and property management group as well as offering strategic advice for our annual portfolio and customers' portfolios."

Brookfield-based NAI MLG Commercial announced that twelve NAI MLG commercial brokers were named to the CoStar Power Brokers list. They include Jack Jacobson, Stephanie Krolikowski, Tim Brunow, Adam Matson, Barry Chavin, Curt Pitzen, John Henderson, Stephen Provancher, Vytau Barcas, Adam Connor and Brian Vanevenhoven. The awards are based on completed lease transactions from 2007.

Brookfield-based Shorewest Realtors recently added Angelo Navarro and Regina Stewart as sales agents in the Racine office.