Syner G Hotel Development, owned by Realtor John Golitz, plans to develop a 119-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel and a 105-room TownePlace Suites hotel on a site south of College Avenue and east of Howell Avenue in Oak Creek. Both Courtyard and Towne Place are brands of Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott International Inc.

Also, CM Residence Group LLC, a hospitality investment company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Newport Beach, Calif.-based Chase Merit LP, plans to build a four-story, 122-room Value Place hotel at 6511 S. 13th St., near Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee.

Value Place is a Wichita, Kan.-based chain of extended stay, economy hotels. There are more than 60 Value Place locations across the nation.

Value Place also has proposed a 121-room hotel at 9315 S. 13th St. in Oak Creek.

The proposed Value Place hotel in Milwaukee may include a restaurant, according to documents filed with the City of Milwaukee.

CM Residence Group has invested in 24 Value Place hotels. Its first two opened last year and six more are expected to open in the first quarter of this year.

Rental at Value Place hotels is by the week only, typically $169 to $229 per week.

Other developers that are planning to build new hotels near the airport include:

Madison-based hospitality real estate developer and manager Raymond Management Co. plans to build two hotels on the site of St. Stephen Catholic Church at 5880 S. Howell Ave. The company has not indicated what the hotel flags will be. However, according to the company's web site, Raymond Management has 18 hotels, and 15 of them are Hampton Inn or Hampton Inn & Suites hotels. The church would be demolished to make way for the hotels. Both hotels will have between 125 and 150 rooms. The first hotel will be built on the north side of the property and the second hotel will be built on the south side of the property and will include a full service restaurant and between 3,000 and 4,000 square feet of meeting/function space.

West Bend-based American Design & Build Inc. plans to build an 88-room Sleep Inn & Suites hotel northeast of South 6th Street and West Layton Avenue.

Wisco Hotel Group plans to build a 99-room Candlewood Suites hotel and a 122-room Fairfield Inn hotel on the east side of South 13th Street, just south of College Avenue, in Oak Creek. Wisco Hotel Group also owns the Comfort Suites hotel just to the north of the site for the Candlewood Suites and Fairfield Inn. The company wants to combine the three hotels to create the Oak Creek Hospitality Park at the Milwaukee Airport. Candlewood Suites is an extended stay brand of Windsor, U.K.-based InterContinental Hotels Group and Fairfield Inn is a Marriott brand.

Jeff Fortin, city planner for Oak Creek, said other hotel developers have inquired about sites near Howell and College avenues.

"There's still people looking for hotel land," he said.

Milwaukee County plans to issue a request for proposals (RFP) this spring for a three-acre, triangle-shaped property at the west end of the Park East corridor.

The property is bounded by North Sixth Street on the east, West Winnebago Street on the south and West McKinley Avenue on the north.

The county first must receive approval from the state to issue the RFP, said Robert Dennik, Milwaukee County director of economic development.

"As soon as I get approval, I'm going to send it out," Dennik said. "We're pretty close."

It will be the fourth county-owned property that has been put on the market in the corridor where the Park East Freeway once stood.

So far construction has yet to begin on any of the sites in the Park East corridor controlled by the county. However, construction is expected to begin soon on the two-acre Park East block, formerly owned by the county, bounded by East Lyon Street, North Jefferson Street, East Ogden Avenue and North Milwaukee Street. That's where Chicago-based RSC & Associates LLC plans to build a 122-room Hyatt Place hotel and a 102-room Hyatt Summerfield Suites hotel. The project will also include 6,900 square feet of retail space and 105 apartments, most of which will be built later.

The county completed the sale of the property to RSC on Dec. 21. A condition of the sale is that RSC must start construction within 90 days. RSC is also in the process of purchasing the block to the west from the county.

A representative for RSC could not be reached for comment. The company has hired Gilbane Inc. as its general contractor.

The county also is in the process of selling two other Park East parcels to developers. One, northwest of West Juneau Avenue and Old World Third Street, is where Ruvin Development and Gatehouse Capital Corp. plan to build a 176-room luxury hotel, 70 condominiums, 55,000 square feet of office space and 17,000 square feet of retail space.

The other county-owned Park East parcel that is in the process of sold is the site north of East Knapp Street and west of North Water Street, where Brookfield-based MLG Development Inc. is working on plans to build an office tower. MLG is negotiating with Town of Brookfield-based RedPraire Corp., trying to convince the firm to be the proposed building's anchor tenant.

The Hilton Garden Inn at 11600 W. Park Place, on Milwaukee's far west side, is planning an expansion. The 128-room hotel, owned by Park Place Hospitality LLC, plans to add the three-story addition with 56 hotel rooms, a one-story meeting and ballroom addition and upgraded kitchen facilities. The expansion would bring the hotel's room count up to 184. The 73,454-square-foot hotel building was constructed in 2000.

The Village of Pleasant Prairie's Community Development Authority (CDA) is drafting development plans for about 30 acres of village-owned land on property south of Highway 165 and west of I-94. The plans call for a 200-room hotel and conference center, restaurants, corporate offices, small retail stores, a gas/convenience center and a mixed-use facility.

Eventually, the village plans to sell the property for development. Village officials estimate the property will sell for $15-$20 million, and they expect about $30.3 million of development to occur on the property.

The plans that the village is working on outline the size, placement and uses of the proposed buildings along side a redesigned I-94 frontage road. Later, officials will work on an architectural style, design standards and traffic flow plans for the site.

Plans are being drafted now to accommodate the spring construction of an I-94 frontage road. Funding for the work on the I-94 frontage road has already been approved as part of the 2008 budget. The expected cost for the roadwork and infrastructure is roughly $3.4 million. On Monday, the village board approved the sale of bonds to secure funding for this and other work to begin.

"Now is the time to prepare the property in a manner that will facilitate ease of use and a safe pattern of traffic when the area reaches its full potential," said Village Administrator Michael Pollocoff. "With Uline ready to begin work on their new Pleasant Prairie campus, we want to have all of the key pieces in place, including a road layout and a plan for retail support."

Waukegan, Ill.-based Uline Inc. recently announced that it plans to move its corporate headquarters to a 200,000-square-foot office building that it will build southwest of the interchange. The company will also build a 1 million-square-foot distribution center on the site, and later plans to build an additional 500,000 to 600,000-square-foot distribution center there, according Pollocoff. Uline will bring about 1,000 jobs to Wisconsin by 2010. Construction on the new headquarters is expected to start this year.

Milwaukee-based Mandel Group Inc. recently began the process of pulverizing the demolished buildings from the former Pfister & Vogel tannery site in downtown Milwaukee, where the company will build the North End development.

Almost 25,000 tons of concrete will be crushed by a 13-foot tall, 72-ton quarry-grade crusher. Up to 1,500 tons of concrete will be crushed each day. The process is expected to be complete in early March.

The concrete will be recycled and reused as base fill for the $175 million development of condominiums, apartments and retail space. The development will have 483 housing units and 25,000 square feet of retail space when it is completed in five to seven years.

Irgens Health Care Facilities Group, a division of Wauwatosa-based Irgens Development Partners LLC, recently launched a new real estate advisory services initiative. "Many clients have sought us out over the years to consult on a number of their complicated real estate projects," said Mark Irgens, manager and president of Irgens Development Partners. "Until now we have only offered these services on a selective basis but with this new, heightened focus we are employing our most senior health care real estate professionals to more aggressively pursue opportunities where we can advise clients on how to maximize their real estate assets and achieve more strategic competitive market positioning." Irgens health care advisory services include: property portfolio assessments, asset monetization and recapitalization consulting, site search and land assembly, tenant/landlord representation, market and feasibility analysis, property acquisition, market rent studies, lease and expense audits, building re-use analysis and disposition strategy and physician alignment consulting and leasing.

Title: President

Company: Steinergroup, Inc.

Education: Bachelor's degree in finance (with a real estate emphasis)

Family: Wife, Susan; three children, (Sierra, 4; Jack, 3; and Austin, 6 months

City of Residence: Mequon

What are you working on? "Build to suit industrial deals in Muskego. Building and land acquisition in Waukesha County."

How does the market look to you? "Stable and improving, once you train yourself to get past the widespread reports of doom and gloom from most media outlets. If the market was that bad, lenders would not be so interested in providing me capital and businesses would not be calling me to assist in expansion."

What was the best deal you've ever been involved in? "During my career as a commercial real estate broker in Chicago, I sold a 50-unit apartment building three times in one year, making a commission each time."

What was the funniest moment of your career? "Returning as a business person to Milwaukee from Chicago and realizing that, for better or worse, everyone knows everyone in this community."

Brian Parrish, a commercial real estate broker for the Dickman Company, Inc. was recently promoted to vice president.

The 30th Street Industrial Corridor Corporation (ICC) is seeking qualification submissions for branding services and a marketing campaign to rebrand the 30th Street Corridor as a business destination. The 30th Street Industrial Corridor is located on the north side of Milwaukee and is roughly bounded by Hampton Avenue on the north, Highland Boulevard on the south, North 35th Street on the west and North 27th Street on the east. A copy of the request for qualifications is available at www.30thstreeticc.org or by calling (414) 444-4706. Proposals are due on Feb. 21.

The Downtown Racine Corporation recently honored The Harbor at State and Main with the 2007 Downtown Achievement Brick & Mortar Award. The Brick & Mortar Award recognizes a building or property that has helped to revitalize the area and bring new residents to downtown Racine. The Harbor at State and Main (located in downtown Racine at the corner of State and Main streets) is an urban infill project that transformed an abandoned industrial site into a mixed-use development that includes 84 apartment units, 19 condominium units and 16,500 square feet of retail space. Harbor at State and Main was developed by Madison-based Gorman & Company and designed by Milwaukee-based Eppstein Uhen Architects.

A "Homeowners Consumer Alert Session" will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 noon Saturday, Feb. 16 at the West Allis Library, 7421 W. National Ave. The purpose of the Homeowner Alert Session is to assist many property owners who are in arrears in their mortgage or property tax payments and who may also be facing other financial difficulties, said Milwaukee County Treasurer Dan Diliberti. "Homeowners with financial problems find themselves in losing position between financial institutions that collect mortgage payments and governments that need to collect property taxes to pay for police, fire and other necessary services," said Diliberti. "The purpose of this session is to help homeowners to steer clear of the pitfalls of unfair lending practices and predatory purchase offers and avoid foreclosure. Some of the topics to be discussed include how to avoid offers by people who try to take advantage of your financial difficulties and how to evaluate legitimate refinancing options offered by reputable banks or credit unions - such as home equity loans, personal loans, or reverse mortgages."

A recently completed survey conducted for the Milwaukee Chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) shows more than half of the respondents achieved an increase in sales in 2007 compared to 2006. Of the 103 Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Council, Inc. members that responded to the survey, 74 percent were contractors, while 10 percent were either wholesalers/suppliers or manufacturers. In 2007, 57 percent of the respondents experienced an increase in sales when compared to 2006, with 44 of the companies having sales increase by at least 10 percent compared to the previous year. Also, 65 percent of the respondents said there was an increase in the average project cost completed for homeowners, while 28 percent said the project cost remained the same.

Children’s Hospital and Health System’s Children’s Corporate Center, located on the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus, recently received the 2007 West Suburban Chamber of Commerce Civic Appreciation Award for Major Building Construction. The award is presented to businesses in the Milwaukee region that have completed new construction, major renovations or additions and/or interior renovations of their facilities. The 280,000-square-foot building was completed in December 2005 and now houses several health system administrative departments and physician offices. Boston-based Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott, Wauwatosa-based Zimmerman Design Group, Appleton-based The Boldt Company were responsible for the design and construction of the building. Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin is currently building a 12-story addition to the hospital that will increase its total bed capacity from 236 to 294 beds. The addition is expected to open in spring 2009.

Brookfield-based Shorewest Realtors was recently named the exclusive marketer for the Misty Ridge Condominiums, located just of Highway 32 between Grafton and Port Washington. The Misty Ridge sales team includes Tory Bruce, Peggy Anderson and Joan Kelnhofer. The homes start at $229,000. The developer for Misty Ridge is Fox Point-based General Capital Group LLC.

The 46th annual Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Show, Thursday, Feb. 7 - Sun., Feb. 10, 2008 at the Wisconsin Exposition Center at State Fair Park in West Allis.

BOMA/AOMA Madness, watch the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, Thursday, March 20, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Rock Bottom Brewery, 740 N. Plankinton, Milwaukee. Cost is $25 for BOMA/AOMA members and $40 for non-Members. For more info call (414) 278-7557.