Rivianna, a proposed Fifth Ward condo and hotel development planned by developer Bob Schultz, could include a unique amenity in Milwaukee: helicopter air taxi service to Chicago. Rivianna would have a 100-room hotel and 192 condominiums at 236 S. Water St., along the south side of the Milwaukee River. The building would have three 11-story towers built on top of a four-story base building.

The hotel would be in the middle tower, and the helipad would be on top of that tower. The building would include a lounge for people waiting to take the helicopter. Schultz said he is in discussions with Midwest Helicopter Inc. to provide the air taxi service. Midwest Helicopter would pay a fee to use the Rivianna helipad. "We are definitely moving in that direction," Schultz said. "Our discussions are past serious."


Rendering of Rivianna

Another proposed development, a 42-story mixed-use building planned by JBK Properties Inc. just southeast of the U.S. Bank Center at 777 E. Wisconsin Ave., had included a helipad in the plans, but was later removed. That project is still in the planning stage and is seeking an anchor office tenant.  Schultz said he is not sure if the air taxi service would be made available to the general public. However, corporations could purchase a share of a helicopter which would be kept at Midwest Helicopter's Kenosha facility. The corporate owners then could share usage of the helicopter and use Rivianna's helipad.

"That is by far the most economical way of owning any type of aircraft," Schultz said. Business people could use the air taxi service as a way to quickly travel to and from Chicago, while avoiding Chicago area traffic. Schultz said he previously worked for a real estate developer in Eau Claire, where he used a helicopter frequently to travel to and from development sites. "There are people that think this helipad is a hair-brained scheme," Schultz said. "(But) I found the helicopter to be a very useful tool."

Schultz partnered with St. Paul, Minn.-based CommonBond Communities Inc. to redevelop the former Teweles Seed Co. building at 222 S. Third St. He also is a partner in the River Renaissance development under construction at the corner of North Water and East Erie streets in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward. Details of the Rivianna project are still being developed, and the project still must be approved by city officials. The hotel would probably be operated by Rick Eckert, the owner of Olympia Resort & Conference Center in Oconomowoc. The condos would have a wide price range of $150,000 to $3 million.

The building will also have its own yacht club, in which residents will be able to share yachts. Schultz is not seeking a city subsidy for the project, but still says he is committed to providing community benefits with the development. The construction workers who build Rivianna will be union members, and 25 percent of the construction workers will be women or minorities, he said. The building will be an environmentally-friendly "green building," and Schultz is hoping to obtain a silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. Schultz is also seeking minority- and women-owned businesses to provide services for the project.

"I am committed to socially responsible real estate development," Schultz said. Schultz said he expects to obtain city approval for the project in May. He plans to break ground next spring and complete the project in 2010. More information about Rivianna is available at: www.rivianna.com.

Santiago Calatrava, the Spanish architect who designed the bird-like addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum, this week unveiled his latest design for a proposed 150-story condominium building in Chicago. To see the rendering go to: http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/gallery.pl/RealEstate?date=2007-03-27&galleryImage=. The 1,200-unit condominium building would be built by Irish developer Garrett Kelleher. It would be the tallest building in the nation and would be located west of Lake Shore Drive along East North Water Street, near Navy Pier. Kelleher is hoping to obtain city approval and begin construction in May.

Company: Eppstein Uhen Architects
Title: Design principal and studio director for the corporate and industrial markets
Education: University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana, bachelors and masters degrees in architecture
Family: IP lawyer and tri-athlete wife Kristin; daughter Sienna ,10; and son Samuel, 8.
City of residence: Racine
Hobbies & Interests: "Golfing, spending time in my birthplace- London, cooking, coaching soccer for the Racine Soccer Club, reading (Kurt) Vonnegut."
What are you working on? "A variety of projects including a new Johnson Bank, an addition to Irgens Development Partners at 10000 Innovation Drive, a testing lab for S.C. Johnson and a new assembly line project for Harley-Davidson."
How does the market look to you? "On the office side, we benefit from having a number of our corporate clients continuing to grow organically. For instance, the second phase of Northwestern Mutual’s Franklin campus is under construction. We are also seeing a number of potential speculative office developments. In the industrial market, we have seen a significant rise in activity. Our belief is the corridors between Chicago and Milwaukee as well as Madison and Milwaukee will continue to be target areas for development. We are especially optimistic about development near the border."
What was the best deal you've ever been involved in? "I was once dealt three aces and two jacks. I took the whole pot."
What was the funniest moment of your career? "Other than the fact I am not a gambler, once airport security stopped me on the way back from a client visit from the East Coast just before the Christmas holidays. They wanted to be sure I knew that I had live lobsters in my carry-on luggage."
 

Office Depot plans to open a store in the central city of Milwaukee. Office Depot Inc. recently leased 20,930 square feet of retail space in the Midtown Center at the southwest corner of Fond du Lac Avenue and Ely Place in Milwaukee from Inland Western Milwaukee Midtown LLC. Peter Glaser of CB Richard Ellis represented Inland Western Milwaukee Midtown LLC and Stan Bobowski of Bobowski & Assoc. represented Office Depot. The space for Office Depot is under construction and should be completed in May, Glaser said. In about two weeks construction will begin on an additional 55,000 square feet of space at Midtown Center, which was built on the former site of Capitol Court shopping center at Fond du Lac Avenue and North 60th Street. Midtown will have about 420,000 square feet of retail space when the 55,000-square-foot addition is complete. The shopping center's anchor stores include Wal-Mart and Pick 'n Save.

Re/Max 100 recently hired three new realtors: Shawn Wenzel and Patty Sykes in the Brookfield office and Mary Edwards in the Menomonee Falls office.

Providence, R.I.-based Gilbane Building Company recently hired Aaron Coombs as an assistant project manager.

HomeSale Realty recently hired three agents, Brad Meyer, Kim Wagner and Vance Nieman, at its Menomonee Falls office.

Milwaukee-based La Macchia Group LLC was selected by Shoreline Credit Union to design and build their new 24,000-square-foot main office in Manitowoc. Construction began recently and will be completed later this year.

Brookfield-based Shorewest Realtors recently opened a new Waukesha office in a 6,000-square-foot space at 921 Meadowbrook Road. Shorewest moved its office at 101 W. Sunset Drive to the Meadowbrook Road location. The company has a second Waukesha office at 2212 E. Moreland Blvd.

IREM ABC’s of Collection and Eviction, Thursday, April 12, 8-10:30 a.m., Wisconsin Club, 900 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee. Overview of the evictions process and evictions law. To register call (414) 476-4736.

WCREW(Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate Women) Discovery World tour, Friday, April 27, 7-9 a.m., Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin, 2500 South Lincoln Memorial Drive, Milwaukee. To register call:  (262) 236-4177.

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