A new study by the Employment and Training Institute (ETI) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee indicates that more Milwaukee County households are stretching the limits of what they can afford for housing.

For many of those people, high-interest mortgages and other escalating housing costs, such as taxes, utilities and mortgage values, are to blame, according to the study.

The percentage of highly leveraged households with mortgage payments amounting to half of their income or more nearly doubled in the City of Milwaukee, from 10 percent in 2000 to 19 percent in 2006, according to the study.

In one year alone - 2005 to 2006 - high-interest rate mortgages rose 35 percent in the county.

The standard set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for affordable housing is that no more than 30 percent of household income should be spent on housing-related costs. Yet, homeowners in the City of Milwaukee spending less than 30 percent of their income on housing dropped from 73 percent of those with a mortgage in 2000 to 57 percent in 2006, according to the study.

The report, supported by Legal Action of Wisconsin, used recently released American Community Survey census data and Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data to assess the impact of the national housing crisis on low-income homeowners and renters in Milwaukee County.

Increases in housing costs have affected both homeowners with mortgages, as well as renters. Nearly a third (31 percent) of renting households in the city of Milwaukee reported spending at least half of their income on housing in 2006, up from 21 percent in 2000.

Among the Midwest's 10 largest cities, Milwaukee ranked second for the percentage of its renters spending at least half their income on housing. Detroit ranked first.

The report found disparities in race and location. African Americans were much more likely to get high-cost subprime loans than whites, and two times more likely to get refinancing loans. And homeowners in the poorest areas were the mostly likely to have high-cost mortgages. The number and dollar amounts of mortgage borrowing activity in Milwaukee's poorest ZIP code, 53206, were at all-time highs, with 75 percent of the loans either subprime or high-interest rate, up from 65 percent just two years ago.

For the full report and other information go to: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/ETI/2007/Housing.htm.

Muskego-based InPro Corp. plans to move its Decorative Surfaces operations from its Fountain Boulevard location in Menomonee Falls to newly leased facilities in the New Berlin Industrial Park.

All of the surfaces operations employees will retain their jobs in the 70,000-square-foot new plant at the intersection of Calhoun Road and West Rogers Drive.

The company said the move to the new site is intended to generate greater efficiencies.

InPro entered a six-year lease for the site. During the first six months of the new year, the new facility will be outfitted with state-of-the-art surfaces production, finishing and materials-handling equipment.

In the third quarter of 2008, InPro Decorative Surfaces will begin transferring the operations from Menomonee Falls to New Berlin. Completion of the transfer will occur toward the end of the fourth quarter of 2008.

InPro currently manufactures two lines of Decorative Surfaces products: Prism Solid Surface and Lippert Cultured Marble, both of which are used in kitchen and bathroom remodeling. InPro markets the products to both the commercial and residential construction sectors. Both lines were acquired in January 2007 from the former Lippert Corp.

"We are a company that prefers to control its operational destiny," said Glenn Kennedy InPro's executive vice president of plant operations. "Since acquiring Lippert's assets, we've taken this past year to gain insights on how to produce higher-quality surfaces goods. We toyed with outsourcing production both domestically and overseas. We have now gained a solid vision of how to structure for world-class, continuous-flow manufacturing to succeed in this industry. We're in it for the long haul.

"Frankly, the old Lippert plant was well past its prime. The new facility in New Berlin will be outfitted with first-class equipment that will allow us to better control product quality and processes to maximize efficiencies. The new plant will give us the ability to boost production capacity by as much as 400 percent," Kennedy said.

InPro is a global leader in interior and exterior architectural products currently used in the health care, hospitality, education, government, marine and retail sectors.

The massive Pabst Farms commercial and residential development at Interstate 94 and Highway 67 in Oconomowoc announced that it has selected Beechwood, Ohio-based Developers Diversified Realty Corp. to develop the project's regional mall.

The 1 million-square-foot regional mall, to be called Pabst Farms Town Center, will be built northeast of I-94 and Highway 67 and is expected to be open by 2010. Construction is expected to begin in 2008. Originally, Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., one of the nation's largest mall operators, had planned to build the regional mall at Pabst Farms, but the company dropped out of the project, prompting Pabst Farms to look for a new partner. Developers Diversified Realty is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that develops, leases and manages retail and office space. The company owns and manages about 740 retail operating and development properties in 45 states, in addition to Puerto Rico, Brazil, Russia and Canada, totaling more than 160 million square feet.

The change in developers will not affect the project's timeline, Pabst Farms spokesman Thad Nation said. "We still expect to have it open by 2010. That is part of the agreement we signed today," he said. "Obviously, to make a 2010 open date, construction is going to have to begin fairly quickly." The regional mall will be an open-air, lifestyle shopping center as originally planned, Nation said.

Ending approximately a yearlong search, the Bradley Center Sports & Entertainment Corp. announced that it has selected Indianapolis-based Lauth Property Group as its partner to help develop the vacant land around the downtown Milwaukee sports and entertainment facility. CB Richard Ellis helped the Bradley Center find the development partner. The Bradley Center, located at 1001 N. Fourth St., owns about six acres of developable land to the north and has some vacant land adjacent to the building at the corner of North Sixth and State streets. The development plans will focus on the land to the north of the building, but the corner of Sixth and State also holds great potential, according to Bradley Center spokesman Evan Zeppos. The Bradley Center wants to develop the vacant land to enhance the facility as an entertainment destination and to generate more revenue. The building eventually will need a new scoreboard, and the seats will need to be re-upholstered, Zeppos said. In addition, the Bradley Center will continue to look for ways to enhance the building that will generate more revenue for its tenants, the Milwaukee Bucks, Marquette University and the Milwaukee Admirals, he said.

Development around the Bradley Center could help attract more development to the Park East corridor, which is just north of the Bradley Center.

Larry Evinger, first vice president of retail development for Lauth and a former resident of the Milwaukee area, said the development team envisions a mix of retail and restaurant businesses that will make the Bradley Center more of a year-round destination.

"Lauth is looking forward to creating a unique destination that encourages people to arrive early and stay after events at the Bradley Center, or simply stop by to do a little shopping because they enjoy an open and exciting retail environment," Evinger said.

Lauth has developed and constructed facilities worth nearly $2 billion since it began in 1977, focusing on office, industrial, retail, and health care markets development.

"We conducted a thorough interview process with a wide variety of local and national firms and, in the end, Lauth was the clear choice (for a development partner)," said Steve Costello, president of the Bradley Center. "Our board was impressed with Lauth's track record and experience in creating top-quality, pedestrian-friendly retail developments, as well as the company's knowledge of the Milwaukee marketplace."

The Bradley Center and Lauth are in the process of finalizing a development agreement and preparing an initial development proposal, Costello said. No timeline has been set yet for when the development will occur, Zeppos said.

"We will work with Lauth to develop a specific plan that capitalizes on the great development and economic growth potential presented by the Bradley Center and the land around it," Costello said.

Devo Properties recently purchased the 90,000-square-foot shopping center at 7901 W. Layton Ave., Greenfield, from Town & Country Super Markets, Layton, Inc. Also, Sendik's Food Market announced that it will lease 60,000 square feet of space in the shopping center, and plans to open a grocery store there next summer creating about 170 jobs. The space was previously occupied by a Jewel grocery store. The shopping center now has about 7,500 square feet of available space and will be renamed Sendik's Commons. The Sendik's store will be owned by Ted Balistreri, his brothers Nick and Patrick, and his sister Margaret Harris. Earlier this year they opened stores in Elm Grove and Franklin and also recently announced their plans to open a store in Germantown. They also own Sendik's stores in Whitefish Bay, Wauwatosa, Meqoun and Grafton. "It's wonderful that Sendik's is putting its trust and faith in Greenfield," Mayor Mike Neitzke said. "The southwest side of town is a sleeping giant. We're hoping for more opportunities there. I think the new Sendik's will be the cornerstone of a renaissance along Layon Avenue and 76th Street. We're elated."

An investors group, whose registered agent is James Schulhof of Milwaukee-based Schulhof Property Management LLC, recently purchased two apartment buildings on Wisconsin Avenue near the west end of the Marquette University campus. The buildings, Maryland Court Apartments at 2029-41 W. Wisconsin Ave. and The Patrician Apartments, 2101-15 W. Wisconsin Ave., have a total of 79 units and were sold by Maryland Court Apartments LLC to the investors group for $4.25 million. Ogden & Company brokers Mike Seramur, John Mazza and Sue Sardina brokered the deal for the buyers and the seller. The apartments are located across the street from 2040 Lofts (formerly the Bockle Building, which was recently converted into student housing) and near the Ambassador Hotel. "We have seen a surge of activity in the area," said Gordon Steimle, vice president of Ogden & Company Inc.'s commercial/investment division. "With the continued increase in enrollment at Marquette University and the need for student housing, the product and location created an ideal investment opportunity."

Milwaukee-based Colliers Barry recently hired James Cape as a commercial real estate broker. He will focus on industrial, office, land and investment brokerage. Cape's family owned Racine-based James Cape & Sons Co., a construction firm which went out of business in 2005.

Oconomowoc-based MSI General Corp. recently hired Art Carver as a project estimator.

Wauwatosa-based AG Architecture recently hired architect Jessica Cook. She will work on designs of senior living environments.

Patricia Algiers, president of Patricia S. Algiers & Associates, recently received the Crystal Star Award from the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers.