In perhaps a sign that the area's residential real estate market may be improving, Milwaukee was the only major metropolitan area in the country that had a year-over-year increase in the value of its residential real estate, according to a report by New York-based Radar Logic Inc. In its monthly Residential Property Index (RPX) report, Radar Logic says that residential real estate in the Milwaukee area was priced at $123.76 per square foot in May, a 1.1-percent increase compared from May of 2007.

Of the largest metro areas in the United States, the Milwaukee area was the only one to post a year-over-year appreciation. The next best metro area was Columbus, Ohio ($99.17 per square foot), which saw the price of its residential real estate fall 0.1 percent from May 2007 to May 2008.

The metro areas with the largest declines in the value of residential real estate are dominated by the California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona bubble markets. The biggest declines, according to Radar Logic, over the last year were in Sacramento (31.0 percent drop to $154.49 per square foot), Las Vegas (29.5 percent drop to $123.94), San Diego (27.2 percent to $237.78), St. Louis (26.9 percent drop to $90.45), Phoenix (25.8 percent drop to $119.67), Los Angeles 923.8 percent drop to $302.05), San Francisco (23.0 percent drop to $356.00), Miami (22.5 percent drop to $155.18), Tampa (17.6 percent drop to $113.30) and San Jose (16.0 percent drop to $405.25).

Milwaukee was one of only nine metro areas that had a residential real estate price increase from April to May. Milwaukee's 5.6 percent price increase in May was the second-highest to Boston's 6.2 percent increase.

Only two metro areas, Sacramento and San Diego, had an increase in residential real estate transactions during the last year. Milwaukee had a 33.3 percent decline in residential real estate transactions during the last year.

However, 22 of the largest 25 metro areas had an increase in residential real estate transactions in May compared with April. The Milwaukee area had a 23.5 percent increase in the number of transactions during the month, tied with Columbus for the largest increase.

Although residential real estate foreclosures in Wisconsin during 2008 continue to outpace the number of foreclosures in the state in 2007, Milwaukee County and Racine County actually had a decrease in the number of foreclosures in July, compared with July of 2007, according to the latest report from ForeclosuresWI.com. This could be another sign that the Milwaukee area's housing market downturn finally has bottomed out.

In July of 2008, Milwaukee County had 394 foreclosures, compared with 452 in July of 2007, according to the report. Racine County had 50 foreclosures in July, compared with 69 in July of 2007.

For the first seven months of the year, Milwaukee County had 3,565 foreclosures, up 28 percent compared with the first seven months of 2007. For the first seven months of the year Racine County had 555 foreclosures, up 35 percent compared to the first seven months of 2007. Therefore, a July decline in foreclosures for those two counties represents a significant improvement compared to the rest of the year.

Kenosha County had 74 forecloses in July, the same number it had in July of 2007.

Other area counties had a small increase in the number of foreclosures in July. Ozaukee County had 17, compared with 14 in July of 2007. Sheboygan County had 34, compared with 25 in July of 2007. Walworth County had 51, compared with 39 in July of 2007. Washington County had 27, compared with 25 in July of 2007. Waukesha County had 76, compared with 67 in July of 2007.

In another sign that the area's foreclosure crisis may have bottomed out, several area counties had fewer foreclosures in July than they had in June. Milwaukee County had 462 foreclosures in June, compared to 394 in July; Waukesha County had 83 foreclosures in June, compared to 76 in July; Racine County had 79 in June, compared to 50 in July; Sheboygan County had 42 foreclosures in June, compared to 34 in July; Washington County had 34 foreclosures in June, compared to 27 in July; Ozaukee County had 19 foreclosures in June, compared to 17 in July. Kenosha County and Walworth County had the same number of foreclosures in June and July.

The entire state had 1,762 foreclosures in July, up from 1,662 in July of 2007, but down from 1,885 in June of 2008. For the first seven months of the year, the state had 14,291 foreclosures, up 31 percent compared to 10,891 for the first seven months of 2007.

"We expect foreclosures to remain at escalated levels through 2008, with some experts not predicting a housing market recovery until at least 2010," said Robert Jansen, president of ForeclosuresWI.com. "It will take time for these properties to get through the system. Consistent with the record number of mortgage defaults nationwide, a mix of adjustable rate mortgage resets, a soft housing market, and the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, have forced many more homeowners into foreclosure. Furthermore, traditional causes of foreclosure, such as rising unemployment, are also feeding the fire."

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Real Estate Foundation this week unveiled a list of eight locations that have been proposed by developers for a new 500- to 700-student residence building.

The developers and the sites that they have proposed are:

• Boulder Venture, Prospect Mall and parking lot at Prospect Avenue between Ivanhoe Place and Kenilworth Place.
• HD Development Co., northwest corner of East Locust Street and North Humboldt Boulevard.
• City of Milwaukee Housing Authority, undeveloped portion of Holton Terrace at 2825 N. Holton Street.
• HSI Development Partners LLC, just west of the intersection of North Water Street and Humboldt Avenue.
• Inland Newport II LLC, 2628-60 N. Humboldt Boulevard (east side of Humboldt, south of Center Street).
• Mandel Group Inc., Property that abuts the Milwaukee River corridor to the west, East North Avenue to the south, North Cambridge Avenue to the east and Wisconsin Paperboard to the north.
• Phelan Development LLC and Towne Investments, northeast corner of North Farwell Avenue and East Royal Place, 1774 N. Farwell Ave.
• Vetter Denk and Gilbane Development Co., 1300 E. Locust St.

The proposals are being presented to the UWM Real Estate Foundation this week. Then the foundation will decide which proposals merit further consideration. UWM hopes to have the new dorm completed in 2010.

UWM has 29,000 students, but only enough university housing for 3,000 students. The university is trying to add more housing for students. In January, UWM opened the RiverView Residence Hall, located on North Avenue along the Milwaukee River, which provides housing for about 475 students.

The industrial space vacancy rate in the Milwaukee area rose to 7.5 percent as of the end of June, up compared with the area's 7.3 percent industrial space vacancy rate at the same time in 2007, according to a new report by Boston-based Colliers International. The company's local affiliate is Milwaukee-based Colliers Barry. The national industrial space vacancy rate also rose a bit during the last year, climbing to 8.5 percent, compared to 8.2 percent in 2007, according to the report.

"There's clearly a considerable amount of negative sentiment swirling around the warehouse leasing market at this time," said Ross Moore, executive vice president and director of market and economic research for Colliers International. "A wait-and-see attitude prevails as companies seek a better sense of where the economy is going before making any new lease commitments. This is hampering any significant forward movement for the industrial sector. That said, the export sector remains a bright spot, showing it's not all doom and gloom for industrial."

The markets with the highest industrial space vacancy rates are Raleigh, N.C. (18.1 percent) and Baltimore (17.8 percent), according to the Colliers report. Chicago has an industrial space vacancy rate of 9.4 percent, up from 8.9 percent in 2007.

Mequon-based Devo Properties announced that the new 52,000-square-foot Sendik's store that it is developing in Germantown will open in September, just after Labor Day. The store will be located at N112 W15800 Mequon Road, in a 102,000-square-foot shopping center that has been re-named the Sendik's Village Centre.

"We've made a lot of improvements to beautify the site, including erecting a new monument sign, placing a new facade on the building, parking lot modifications and expanding the access driveway," said Greg Devorkin, principal of Devo Properties. "The cooperation we've received has allowed us to bring this high quality development for the enjoyment of all the citizens of Germantown and residents of the surrounding area."

The Sendik's store is owned by siblings Ted Balistreri, Nick Balistreri, Patrick Balistreri and Margaret Harris. They have been in a major expansion mode. Last year they opened Sendik's stores in Greenfield, Franklin and Elm Grove. They also own Sendik's stores in Whitefish Bay, Mequon, Grafton and Wauwatosa,

About 135 full- and part-time jobs will be created by the new store. Devo Properties is also the developer of the Sendik's store at the Fountains of Franklin in Franklin and the Sendik's Commons shopping center in Greenfield. 

The Bank Mutual branch that will be part of the Fountains of Franklin development at South 51st Street and Rawson Avenue will open on Tuesday, Aug. 12. The bank is located adjacent to the Sendik's Food Market store at the Fountains of Franklin. This will be the first Bank Mutual branch in Franklin and the 79th location for Brown Deer-based Bank Mutual Corp. All of the branches are in Wisconsin, except for one which is in Minnesota. Bank Mutual has $3.6 billion in assets.

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. To register to attend the conference, click here.

Galanis, Pollack, Jacobs & Johnson S.C. recently leased 6,373 square feet of office space in the Cathedral Square Center at 839 N. Jefferson St., in downtown Milwaukee.

The law firm is moving its headquarters to the building from the Two Plaza East building, located at 330 E. Kilbourn Ave. in downtown Milwaukee, where it was located for almost 20 years.

The firm, which specializes in business transactions, negotiation and litigation, is increasing its space by almost 25 percent in the new location. The Dickman Company Inc. represented the law firm in brokering a lease at Cathedral Square Center.

Mayfair Woods gets LEED certification
The Mayfair Woods Business & Technology Center, a five-story, 163,350-square-foot office building developed and owned by Wauwatosa-based Irgens Development Partners LLC, was awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification for the core and shell of the Building from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

The 10.8-acre Mayfair Woods site is located at the northeast corner of Research Drive and Mayfair Road within the Milwaukee County Research Park in Wauwatosa. "As leaders in the development industry, Irgens wanted to be proactive in implementing the green initiative," said Jaclynn Walsh, a principal with Irgens Development Partners LLC. "Not only do we try to be good stewards in our developments, but we want try to do our part in supporting our community to maintain the natural beauty of the City of Wauwatosa."