Blair Williams, who left his job as vice president of development for Milwaukee-based Mandel Group Inc. about 1-½ years ago to start his own real estate development company, has added some partners to his firm, plus multi-family development consulting and construction services to his repertoire.

The additional services have resulted in the creation of WiRED Properties, which includes: Winder Real Estate Development Inc., his boutique urban real estate development firm; WiRED Construction; and WiRED Ventures LLC.

WiRED Properties' office is at 1818 N. Hubbard, Suite 100, Milwaukee, above Roots restaurant.

"We are at this point more of a group of companies banded together," Williams said.

Williams is a co-owner of WiRED Construction along with James Wohead, the former vice president of construction for Mandel Group, and Greg Norman, a former vice president of condominiums at Mandel Group. Williams and Elan Peltz are co-owners of WiRED Ventures, which they formed to develop high-quality residential and retail concepts.

While he was still with Mandel Group, Williams worked with Columbus, Ohio-based Steiner + Associates on residential development with the Bayshore Town Center project in Glendale. After leaving Mandel Group, Williams continued to consult for the project.

Williams developed a relationship with Steiner, and now Williams' firm is providing consulting and construction services for the multi-family residential development portion of Steiner's Peninsula Town Center project in Hampton, Va.

In addition, Williams and his partners are providing consulting services for Steiner's multi-family business plan and they are providing consulting for the multi-family residential development portion of Steiner's Glorypark development in Arlington, Texas, near the Texas Rangers' baseball stadium.

Through their work with Steiner, Williams said he and his partners discovered that mixed-use developers such as Steiner that are experts in retail development lack expertise in multi-family residential development.

"What I identified in the market is that multi-family is a different kind of business," Williams said. "What we do as multi-family developers is different from what other developers do. What we do as a multi-family construction company is different from what other construction companies do."

WiRED Properties is also handling the multi-family residential portion of the Pabst Farms development in Oconomowoc. That project consists of 144 condominium units in 72 duplex buildings. Half of the duplexes will be in a suburban-style layout facing a stormwater detention pond, the other half will be built in an urban-style layout with front doors facing the street and the garage doors in the back. They will cost $269,000 to $389,000 and have 1,300 to 2,000 square feet of space.

"(Pabst Farms) didn't have anyone in house that did multi-family development," Williams said. "We're teaming with Pabst Farms to general contract and build the condos at Pabst Farms, which will allow Pabst Farms and us to ensure quality."

Williams and his company are still also doing some of their own developments.

In the Village of Shorewood, WiRED Properties plans to build a four-story building in the 4500 block of Oakland Avenue with 6,000 square feet of retail space, 23 condominiums and 40 underground parking spaces. The condos will be priced between $200,000 and $400,000 and will have between 850 and 1,700 square feet of space.

"This is exactly the kind of project I've been trying to pursue," said Williams. "Our goal is to do a very high-quality building. This is going to be a benchmark for us in how we approach urban infill midsize developments. We believe that communities can be changed effectively with small increments of quality."

The property is owned by the village, and village officials still must approve Williams' plans. Williams hopes to start construction later this year or early next year.

Williams also has acquired a vacant lot and a duplex at 1530 N. Jackson St. on Milwaukee's east side. He plans to tear down the duplex and use that property and the vacant lot to build a six-unit condo building. The condos will be priced between $200,000 and $400,000.

Milwaukee made the top 10 in the second annual green roof survey by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the North American green roof industry association.

Chicago, which has policies in place to support green roof installation, implemented the most square feet of green roofs in 2006 of any city, according to the survey. The second-place city was Washington, D.C.

"My goal is to make Chicago the greenest, most environmentally friendly city in the nation and we are leading by example in our green roof development," said Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in a news release. "With over 1 million square feet of green roofs completed in Chicago and another 2 million in development, our city has truly embraced this practice as a way to help conserve Chicago for future generations."

The other cities in the top 10 are Wildwood Crest, N.J.; Dulles, Va.; Kansas City, Mo.; Phoenix, New York City, Portland, Ore.; and Columbus, Ohio.

Green roof infrastructure involves the use of plants, drainage systems and waterproofing on the top of the roof.

The benefits of green roofs include a reduction in storm water run-off, because the plants absorb the water; lower energy usage because the green roof keeps the building cooler and reduction of the urban heat island.

The survey indicates that there was a green roof growth rate of more than 25 percent over 2005 in the U.S., representing more than 3 million square feet installed in 2006.

"The green roof industry is growing rapidly in response to the pressing need for cleaner air, better storm water management, improved energy efficiency and more usable green space in our communities," said Steven Peck, founder and president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. "Green roofs have really captured many people's attention as a beautiful way to help fight climate change and save money. Green roofs deliver more public and private benefits than any other green building technology, so we anticipate that strong growth will continue into the future."

Marquette University College of Business has launched a fundraising drive to create the Marquette Center for Real Estate, a research initiative that will compile data on the commercial real estate market in the Milwaukee area.

The center will be created in conjunction with the Robert B. Bell Sr. Chair in Real Estate.

The fund drive is being steered by William Schiel, senior vice president of facilities development for Walgreens, and James Devine, principal and real estate attorney at Newcastle Properties. Both are Marquette alumni.

In a letter to Bell Chair advisors, Schiel and Devine cited the success of the Bell program. About 90 minority students have graduated from the Bell Associates in Commercial Real Estate (ACRE) program. Several of them have launched careers in commercial real estate, according to professor Mark Eppli, chair of the Bell program.

Also, more than 100 Marquette students have elected real estate as their majors, making real estate the fifth-largest major in the College of Business.

"The Marquette Center for Real Estate will ensure that this extraordinary program continues to grow by increasing the number of internships and job placements for our students, strengthening minority research programs, establishing a graduate program and offering regional seminars. To make this a reality, we need a full-time director of real estate outreach to coordinate and guide these activities as well as to spearhead applied research and develop collaborative partnerships both within the university and the regional community," Schiel and Devine said in their letter.

"The local (commercial real estate) community wants more and better research done," Eppli said.

The original funding for the ACRE program was provided by the Helen Bader Foundation. The funding for the next three years of the program will be provided by Mandel Group Inc. in Milwaukee.

Company: Earthbound Development LLC

Title: Managing partner

Education: Cardinal Stritch College

Family: Wife and business partner, Nancy J. Neumann; daughters, Leah, Katherine and Dana; and son, Eric.

City of Residence: Mequon

Hobbies and Interests: "Family vacations to interesting places (ski resorts, the Mexican Riviera, Central America and Europe); planting trees at our Michigan vacation home; traveling to visit our kids; ushering at church, making the world better through Rotary; reading; preparing for my second-degree black-belt in Tae Kwon Do; and, when time permits, detailing our cars."

What are you working on? "We have recently gotten a railroad right-of-way under contract. It is a fascinating parcel that is 2.8 miles in length and 100-foot wide. It was in place before the buildings adjacent to it were constructed and thus has stopped any potential development or expansion for 100-plus years along its path. We only needed the portion that is adjacent to our four parcels, but the seller was only willing to sell the portion that they could abandon, so we will have a few extra (20) acres to dispose of. This 100 feet of land will open the door of opportunity not only for us, but also for many of our new neighbors. The cities of Milwaukee and Glendale will also be able to finally get all of these acres on the tax rolls too."

How does the market look to you? "The portion of the real estate market that we have heavily invested in is very exciting and extremely interesting. The upside potential is tremendous. We have the social and economic opportunity to maximize the development potential of over 50 acres of vacant land that is currently zoned light industrial. We had the location, I-43 passing through the middle of our parcels with the traffic count of 124,000 vehicles per day, Port Washington Road on the east and Green Bay Avenue on the west, but some of our parcels had challenging access points and now the railroad right of way will change that. This will be a prime area for office and warehouse that is minutes from downtown and less than 1.5 miles from the Bayshore Town Center. We have a clean slate to create something that will be part of an economic catalyst for the area. I’m so proud to be a part of this, how could I be anything but optimistic?"

What was the best deal you’ve ever been involved in? "Aside from my marriage to Nancy 25 years ago, I can easily say it was the purchase of the former Becker Foods facility in Glendale. We had identified the property in fall of 2003 for a potential tenant, who at that time I was working for and had planned complete demolition of all 175,000 square feet and then constructing multiple build-to-suits. Due to the high levels of contamination and negotiations with the seller (Northwestern Mutual Life), it took us until fall of 2005 to close. Becker Foods still had a lease until 2009 so development would have to wait. A friend at MSI General introduced us to Endeavour Development who had a better tenant, the State of Wisconsin. Steve Becker was willing to terminate the lease in the fall of 2006. MSI was able to help us answer the state’s RFP by envisioning the adaptive reuse of three warehouses and the first floor of an office building to create 43,000 square feet of office space on one floor. Keeping 6 of the 17 buildings in place reduced demolition costs and provided an environmental cap at the same time. Glendale embraced this use and the governor signed a 10-year lease in February of 2007. Endeavour’s track record of success allowed a 100 percent financing package. Nancy and I sold the parcel to our new partnership, Beerline Crossing, and now we are expanding our development careers with some of the best."

What was the funniest moment of your career? "Having officially starting my career in the summer of 2004, the only moment that comes to mind is finding out from Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. that the 2.8 miles of right of way that we are purchasing is called the Nutline. What came to mind was a scene from "One Flew Over The Coocoo’s Nest," and I hoped that the name was not a reflection of myself tackling this complex development."

Lori Gensch recently purchased an 18,250-square-foot building at 221 S. Second St., Milwaukee from the estate of Clarence Gemerhausen. The four-story building is 152 years old. The sale price was $600,000, well above the building's assessed value of $218,000, according to city records. The Gemerhausen estate was represented by Rand Wolf of CB Richard Ellis. Gesch plans to redevelop the building with retail space on the first floor and residential space on the upper three floors.

Milwaukee-based Plunkett Raysich Architects recently hired Cheryl Brah as human resources manager, Sara Ervin as an interior designer and Cherie LaFrance re-joined the company as a senior interior designer.



Pewaukee-based VJS Construction Services recently hired Julie Wood as a project manager.


The Brookfield office of Minneapolis-based M. A. Mortenson, Minneapolis, recently promoted Mike Hebbring, Chris Kyte, Ryan Risch and Bret Woodland to project manager positions.


Pewaukee-based DBI Inc. recently hired David Ugrich as a design and construction consultant.


Jason Williams was recently hired by the City of Brookfield Department of Community Development as a neighborhood planner and designer in the planning office.


Thomas Hagner, president of Racine-based Better Building by Weather-Seal will serve as president of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI).