The bad news: Actual property taxes paid for class A office space in downtown Milwaukee are higher than those paid in most other downtown markets in the country, according to research by Boston-based Colliers International.

The good news: For the fourth quarter of 2006, downtown Milwaukee class A office space real estate taxes were $3.50 per square foot, which was unchanged from a year ago, and the Milwaukee taxes are still below the national downtown average of $3.67 per square foot according to the Colliers report.

Milwaukee has the 12th-highest downtown office space property taxes out of 40 downtown areas analyzed by Colliers.

The most expensive downtown class A office space property taxes are in Manhattan, where property taxes cost $11.50 per square foot according to Colliers. Other cities with high downtown class A office space property taxes include: Chicago, $9.50 per square foot; Boston, $8.25; Washington, D.C., $8.00; Hartford, Conn., $5.00; Los Angeles, $4.65; and Dallas, $4.10.

The lowest downtown class A office space property taxes, according to Colliers, are in Little Rock, Ark., with $1.05 per square foot.

Other cities with lower downtown class A office space property taxes than Milwaukee include: Cleveland, $3.17 per square foot; Cincinnati, $3.00; San Francisco, $2.80; Philadelphia, $2.70; Baltimore, $2.69; St. Louis, $2.38; Indianapolis, $2.37; Atlanta, $2.30; Kansas City, $2.25; Denver, $2.25 and Houston, $1.68.
Actual property taxes paid are different than tax rates. Actual property taxes that owners must pay are based on the value of the property and the tax rate set by government entities. The property value factor in that equation is a major reason why cities with high property values, including Manhattan and Chicago, have office buildings paying high amounts of property taxes, and cities with lower property values, such as Little Rock., pay lower property taxes, said Ross Moore, senior vice president of marketing and economic research for Colliers International.

For the year, property tax costs for class A downtown office space rose the most in Manhattan (27.8 percent), Los Angeles (33.3 percent) and St. Louis (19 percent), according to the Colliers Report. Milwaukee was one of several cities that saw no increase in downtown class A office space property tax costs for the year.

CVS/Pharmacy plans to open two new stores in the City of Milwaukee.

CVS plans to build a new 12,900-square-foot store at 7550 W. Perkins Place on the city's northwest side. A Sentry store on the property, which is located north of Capitol Drive between North 76th Street and Appleton Avenue, closed last year.

CVS also plans to build a 12,900-square-foot store at 3860 S. 27th St. on the city's south side. The property was the home of the Braeger Ford dealership, which moved recently to 4201 S. 27th St., and the Braeger Chrysler dealership, which moved in December to 6133 S. 27th St.

CVS plans to hire 20 to 30 full- and part-time employees to work at each of the stores. An additional 15 to 20 employees may be hired to each store, if they are successful.

Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS Corp. has 6,200 pharmacies in United States, including six in the City of Milwaukee.

Company: NVG Residential Inc.
Title: Executive sales manager for Landmark on the Lake Condominiums
Education: attended Northern Illinois University
Family: Husband, Gordon (a construction project manager); children Marc, Brian and Matthew; and stepchildren Paul and Nicole
City of Residence: Elkhorn
Hobbies: "Swimming, water sports, horseback riding and breeding Andalusian horses, a rare breed in the United States originally from Spain and Portugal."
What are you working on? "I am pleased to be involved with Landmark on the Lake Condominiums, a luxury residential high rise in Milwaukee developed by NVG Residential Inc. This full-amenity property has 275 condominium homes situated on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, McKinely Marina and the Milwaukee Yacht Club."
How does the market look to you? "Today, homebuyers are looking at more homes than ever before. In particular, I’ve found that there is strong pent-up demand from buyers for lakefront condos in downtown Milwaukee, which means we can expect a very active market for condominium homes this spring."
What was the best deal you've ever been involved in? "Landmark on the Lake Condominiums is a very unique property that offers more amenities and services than any other property I’ve ever been involved with. There is an indoor pool, putting green, paddle tennis, concierge service and more. The list goes on and on."
What was the funniest moment of your career? "Recently, I went on a scavenger hunt in downtown Milwaukee for a company outing. My co-workers and I teamed up to search for items on a list, including a martini shaker. There probably aren’t many jobs that require you to purchase a martini shaker!"

Dennis Klumb purchased the 93,000-square-foot industrial building at 21800 Doral Road, Brookfield, from The Marek Group. Klumb was represented by Robert Hoag of Brentwood Realty in brokering the sale. The Marek Group was represented by Kurt Van Dyke of Colliers Barry. The asking price for the property, located in the Bluemound Industrial Park, was $3.75 million, and the sale price was more than $3 million, Van Dyke said. Klumb plans to move a business that he owns into the building. The Marek Group, which is a printing company, plans to move to an adjacent building.

Milwaukee-based Kahler Slater recently hired John Burke as an architectural designer for the firm's higher education team, Joseph Briggs as a graphic designer and Barbara Jahncke as a senior client services coordinator.

The Brookfield office of Minneapolis-based M. A. Mortenson, recently hired James Holveck, Matt Scharenbroch, Dan Zess and John Schuessler as field engineers and Terry Klingele as a safety engineer.

The Milwaukee office of Providence-based Gilbane recently promoted Andy Wiegman and Adam Jelen to senior project managers and hired Malissa Westcot as a business development coordinator.

Lake Geneva-based Crispell-Snyder recently promoted Ron Dalton to executive vice president.


Brookfield-based R.A. Smith & Associates recently hired Tom Dougherty as a civil engineer in the transportation division. National Survey & Engineering, a division of R.A. Smith & Associates, recently hired Dean Robitaille.

  Port Washington-based Konicek Environmental Consulting, recently hired Zoy Begos as senior project manager.

Aventura, Fla.-based Apartment and Land Management LLC is holding a grand opening from 5-7 p.m. today for The Grand Wisconsin at 720 N. Old World Third St. The company spent $23 million to renovate the 12-story, 93-year-old building, formerly the Hotel Wisconsin, into a 108-unit luxury apartment building. The building will have 6,500 square feet of retail space, which will include a deli. The project included the restoration of the building's historic lobby and conference rooms. The general contractor for the project was Pewaukee-based VJS Construction Services. The building is being managed by Ogden & Co. More information about the building is available at www.thegrandwisconsin.com.

Cindy Knutson-Lycholat, the owner of East Troy-based Knutson Bros. II LLC, recently received the 2006 Remodeler of the Year award from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Milwaukee-based Plunkett Raysich Architects, recently received an honor award for its work on Waukesha Fire Station No. 1 and was featured in the December issue of FireRescue magazine. The Fire Industry Equipment Research Organization, in conjunction with FireRescue magazine and the International Association of Fire Chiefs hosted the award competition. The 27,000-square-foot station will open in March and also serves as the fire department’s headquarters. Plunkett Raysich Architects was also recently recognized by Interior Design magazine as one of 40 "Health Care Giants" in the country. The recognition was based on the firm’s work in 2006 on hospitals, outpatient facilities and medical offices.

Collaborative Downtown Marketing Group, Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 3 p.m., in the InterContinental Hotel, 139 E. Kilbourn Ave., Milwaukee. Will include a panel discussion with Dick Lincoln of Mandel Group, who will talk about the North End project; Lisa Aldrich of DOC Hospitality, who will talk about the Staybridge Suites project; and Rob Ruvin of Ruvin Development, who will talk about the Sydney Hih block redevelopment. More information is available by calling (414) 220-4700.

Lakeshore State Park open house, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 5-7 p.m., Milwaukee Public Market, 400 N. Water St., Milwaukee. More information is available by calling (414) 273-1173.

IREM annual spring seminar, Tuesday, March 20, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Italian Community Center 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee. To register call (414) 476-4736 or (414) 271-9456.

Manpower Inc. headquarters tour hosted by BOMA Wisconsin/AOMA of Greater Milwaukee, Tuesday, March 13, 3:30-6:30 p.m. Meet at Libiamo restaurant, 221 W. Galena St., Milwaukee. Hard hat tour of the new Manpower headquarters, under construction at RiverBend Place. To register, call (414) 278-7557.

BOMA Madness. Watch the NCAA basketball tournament with BOMA Wisconsin/AOMA of Greater Milwaukee on Thursday, March 15 from 4-7 p.m. at Rock Bottom Brewery, 740 N. Plankinton Ave., Milwaukee. To register call (414) 278-7557.

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