People's Choice Corp., which owns car wash businesses at 7700 W. Rawson Ave. and 6900 S. 27th St., plans to build a five-story, 99-room Hampton Inn & Suites hotel on a vacant site northwest of South 76th Street and Rawson Ave. The property is located just south of Loomis Road, and has access to 76th Street and Rawson Avenue. According to plans submitted to the city, the $11.5 million hotel will have a business center, an exercise area, a swimming pool and 2,500 square feet of meeting space. City officials like the concept for the hotel, but want to see improvements to the architecture, parking and landscaping plans, said Franklin planning manager Joel Dietl.

"We like the idea," Dietl said. "That is a prominent location. (City officials and citizens) have asked for more things like hotels and high-end restaurants. It's a tight site. But if (People's Choice) can make it work, it will be a great use for that area." The project will be reviewed by the Franklin Plan Commission during its meeting on Thursday.

Hampton Inn and Hampton Inn & Suites are both brands of Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Hilton Hotels Corp.

The Franklin site would be only the third Hampton Inn & Suites in southeastern Wisconsin. The others are in downtown Milwaukee and in West Bend. There are three Hampton Inn locations in the area in Brookfield, in Milwaukee near the airport and on the city's far northwest side.

If built, the Hampton Inn & Suites will be only the second national hotel chain to raise its flag in rapidly developing Franklin. The first will be a 114-room Staybridge Suites hotel, which is being built southwest of South 27th Street and Ryan Road and is scheduled to open during the third quarter of 2009. The $10 million, five-story, 78,000-sqaure-foot hotel is a franchised property owned by Ann Arbor Executive Suites LLC and managed by Park Ridge, Ill.-based The Brichton Group Inc. Staybridge Suites is a brand of Windsor, U.K.-based InterContinental Hotels Group Plc. Two other Staybridge Suites hotels are under construction in the area, in downtown Milwaukee and in Oconomowoc.

Milwaukee-based New Land Enterprises LLP recently unveiled its plans to build a 27-story, 35-unit condominium tower behind the Goll Mansion at 1550 N. Prospect Ave., on Milwaukee's east side. The $60 million project would include a $1 million restoration of the 110-year-old mansion, which would be connected to the new condo tower. "(The mansion) becomes the front door for the tower," said Tim Gokhman, director of sales and marketing for New Land. In addition, the second floor of the mansion has a "huge gathering room" and the third floor has a ballroom that will be available for use by the condo tower's residents. Also, guest suites will be created in the mansion, that can be used for guests of the condo tower's residents.

Gokhman said the condo development is necessary to make the restoration project for the mansion feasible. He also said that New Land has been meeting with national, state and local historic preservation officials to make sure that the design of the condo tower is appropriate and will compliment the historic mansion building. The combination of a modern high-rise with a historic mansion has been done before Gokhman said, pointing to the 55-story New York Palace Hotel, which was built attached to the Villard Mansion in Manhattan.

Scott Kindness is the principal architect for the project and H. Russell Zimmerman will be the architect for the restoration of the Goll Mansion. Some residents in the neighborhood have expressed objection to the project saying it would desecrate the historical integrity of the mansion, and would obstruct some lakefront views for current area residents.

The narrow condo tower, which will have 1-2 units per floor, will have the lowest density of any condo tower in Milwaukee, Gokhman said. Since the proposed condo tower building has a small footprint and low density, the zoning for the site would not limit its height, said Department of City Development spokeswoman Andrea Rowe Richards. The project will also have a 75-foot indoor swimming pool and a fitness center.

The building will appeal to residents at the high end of the housing market. Despite problems with much of the housing market, the demand for high-end downtown condos remains strong, Gokhman said. "There is absolutely demand for this type of product," he said. "I think we have, if not the best, then one of the best sites in the city. The views are going to be amazing." New Land hopes to begin construction by next spring or summer, Gokhman said. The firm needs to obtain 15 to 18 reservations to begin the project, he said.

The City of Milwaukee recently issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking developers interested in purchasing and redeveloping a two-story, brick building at 2501-03 W. North Ave.

The 5,144-square-foot, 94-year-old commercial building is located next to an Autozone store and across the street from the North Avenue Commerce Center and a site where a Lena's Food store is planned.

The city's asking price for the building is $8,700.

City officials want the building to be renovated with office or retail use on the first floor. The second floor could be used for residential space.

Responses to the RFP are due on Aug. 22.

Milwaukee-based Mandel Group Inc., which is building the North End development on the former Pfister & Vogel site in downtown Milwaukee, recently moved the 44,000-pound Pfister & Vogel water tower to its new home in the development.

Mandel Group says the tower will become a landmark at its new location, the north corner of East Pleasant Street and North Water Street. In addition to the water tower, other historic artifacts from the original building will be incorporated into the new North End development, including Cream City bricks, heavy fire doors and an 18-foot wooden barrel that were used to tumble hides as part of the tanning process.

"The Pfister & Vogel Tannery will always be a major part of Milwaukee's history," said Richard Lincoln, senior vice president of Mandel Group and project manager for The North End. "Incorporating the water tower and other artifacts into The North End is a great way to infuse Milwaukee tradition into this vibrant new downtown community."

The first phase of the $175 million North End Development will include 83 apartment units and approximately 15,000 square feet of retail space, which are set to be completed by spring 2009. Later phases of the development will include 395 condos and another 15,000 square feet of retail space.

The sixth annual BizTimes Commercial Real Estate & Development Conference will take place on Friday, Nov. 14, from 7:30-9:30 a.m. at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee. The annual conference has become a major networking and information event for members of southeastern Wisconsin's commercial real estate industry. Last year, a sellout crowd of about 600 people attended the conference at the Italian Community Center.

The theme of this year's conference will be "The Fresh Coast Advantage." Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is the planned keynote speaker.

The conference will focus on the strategic competitive advantage the Great Lakes region will have in the 21st century, when "water becomes the new oil." While heavily populated regions such as California, Arizona, Texas and Georgia are draining their supplies of fresh drinking water, the Great Lakes region contains 20 percent of the world's surface freshwater and 95 percent of America's surface freshwater.

The Milwaukee conference will explore how being positioned amid the largest supply of freshwater in the world will be a key driver of economic growth and commercial real estate development. From high-valued lakefront property to suburban communities needing Lake Michigan water to continue their growth, southeastern Wisconsin real estate development will benefit from the region's access to the fresh water resource of the Great Lakes.

At the Milwaukee conference, Daley will discuss how regional collaboration between Chicago and Milwaukee will be beneficial for both cities and how being located in the Great Lakes will be a competitive asset in the 21st century.

Daley will be introduced at the conference by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

In addition to Daley, other featured panelists at this year's BizTimes Commercial Real Estate & Development Conference will be:

• Franz Hoffman, president of Procorp Enterprises LLC in Milwaukee and chair of the Milwaukee 7 Water Council. Procorp specializes in sustainable water and wastewater treatment solutions. Hoffman will speak about the Great Lakes water resource and the need to use sustainable real estate development practices and products.
• James Randel, commercial real estate attorney, broker investor and author. Randel is a leader in "added value" investing, an approach to real estate that attempts to boost the value of a property well beyond normal appreciation or inflation. His strategies have been followed by investors throughout the country. He is the author of "The Real Estate Game And How To Win It" and "Confessions of a Real Estate Entrepreneur." Randel is a distinguished commentator on real estate issues at conferences throughout the nation, including the Harvard Business School. A native of Ohio, Randel will speak about the future strategic advantages of developing real estate in the Great Lakes region.

Small Business Times presents the conference in partnership with Marquette's Bell Real Estate Program and the Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin (CARW).

The opening remarks of the conference will be provided by Richard "Rocky" Marcoux, commissioner of the Milwaukee Department of City Development. Jim Villa, the new president of CARW, will provide some exclusive market data at the conference. The conference will be moderated by Mark Eppli, Ph.D., professor of finance and chair of the Robert B. Bell Real Estate Program at Marquette University.

A special supplement, the BizTimes Commercial Real Estate & Development Book, featuring exclusive editorial content and data, will be published in conjunction with the conference.

Retiring McDonald's franchisee sells stores
McDonald's franchisee Jim Patterson, who is also the president of McDonald's Restaurants of Southeastern Wisconsin, is retiring after 20 years as a McDonald's operator. Patterson, 55, recently sold five of his McDonald's restaurants to franchisee William McEssy.

Those stores are located at: 7501 W. Rawson Ave., Franklin; 5300 S. 76th St., Greendale; 5040 S. 76th St., Greenfield; 815A Fox Lane, Waterford and 5344 N. Port Washington Road, Glendale. McEssy owns 11 other McDonald's restaurants in Wisconsin and 19 in Illinois. Patterson's two other McDonald's restaurants, at 11250 N. Port Washington Road, Mequon, and 8739 N. Port Washington Road, Fox Point, have been transferred to his son, Ed Patterson.