Executives with Milwaukee-based developer New Land Enterprises LLP and Department of City Development Commissioner Richard “Rocky” Marcoux will meet today with Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials to appeal the preliminary decision by HUD officials against providing a loan guarantee for New Land’s Bookends North development.

Bookends North is a $60 million, 19-story development that New Land wants to build at the northeast corner of Kilbourn Avenue and Van Buren Street in downtown Milwaukee. The proposed building would have 224 luxury apartments, 300 indoor parking spaces and 3,000 square feet of retail space.

New Land is seeking a loan guarantee through HUD’s 221(d)4 program for $51.7 million. The developer is also asking the city of Milwaukee to provide a guarantee for a $3.5 million loan. New Land would provide $5 million in equity for the project.

New Land is seeking loan guarantees through HUD and the city because the private financial markets are still in a credit crunch that is making it extremely difficult for developers to get financing for major projects from the private sector.

HUD recently provided preliminary approval, through its 221(d)4 program, to guarantee a $41.4 million loan from the AFL-CIO Investment Trust for The Moderne development at the southwest corner of North Old World Third Street and Juneau Avenue in downtown Milwaukee. The Moderne would be a 30-story building with 203 apartments and 14 condominiums.

The developer for The Moderne is in the process of obtaining final approval for the HUD loan guarantee, which will be in place at closing, HUD officials said.

But after reviewing the Bookends North project HUD officials declined to issue preliminary approval by telling New Land that the developer is not being invited to submit an application for the loan guarantee.

HUD officials said they would not provide preliminary support for Bookends North because they are concerned that there is not enough demand in the downtown Milwaukee market for the luxury apartments that New Land wants to build. The slumping economy, the competing Moderne project and the shadow apartment market created by the renting of unsold condominiums are all concerns cited by HUD officials.

New Land is appealing HUD’s decision, which will be the subject of today’s meeting with Marcoux and HUD officials.

“We are addressing (HUD officials’) concerns,” said New Land director of sales and marketing Tim Gokhman. “We are meeting with them. I don’t believe it’s a final answer.”

Despite the lack of support by HUD, the Common Council’s Zoning Neighborhoods and Development (ZND) Committee on Tuesday recommended approval of a $3.5 million loan guarantee for Bookends North, contingent on the HUD loan guarantee and establishment of a financing source for the $3.5 million loan.

Marcoux said the ZND committee’s support was critical to convincing HUD to support the project.

“We need to convince HUD that the market will support this development,” Marcoux said. “HUD has some issues. I think we can put these issues to rest with them. We are going to put some perspective on the table for them. This market segment can support this development.”

However, the city comptroller’s office said it is premature for the city to review financing support for a project until all other funding sources are in place.

“This is a pig in a poke right now,” said deputy comptroller Mike Daun. “This can work, but it is premature to be hearing it now.”

It is a change in city policy to provide financial support for market-rate housing developments, but supporters of the project say the city needs to support the development to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

“This is highly unusual, but these are highly unusual times,” said Ald. Tony Zielinski. “The bottom line is jobs. This is going to provide guaranteed jobs.”

New Land has pledged that all of the construction workers on the project will be union workers. The firm has also pledged that 25 percent of the contractors on the project would be owned by minority-owned Milwaukee firms and 30 percent of the workers will be under employed or unemployed construction workers who live in the city.

Ald. Robert Bauman supported the loan guarantee for Bookends North, but said he was disappointed that approval of The Moderne is hurting the chances of Bookends North receiving approval.

“I firmly believe that (Bookends North) is the stronger project and will add more value to the city and will be less risky to the city,” he said. “There is no doubt in my mind (the city) will end up with 14 condos (from The Moderne) in about 3 years not knowing what to do with them other than discount them at 50 cents on the dollar.”

Pak Technologies will move HQ to larger building

Milwaukee-based Pak Technologies Inc. recently purchased an 89,562-square-foot industrial building at 7025 W. Marcia Road, Milwaukee, in the Granville Woods Business Park, from 3M Touch Systems Inc. for $2.525 million.

Sam Dickman Jr. and Sam Dickman Sr., both of The Dickman Company, represented Pak Technologies in brokering the sale. 3M was represented by CB Richard Ellis.

Pak Technologies will move its headquarters to the Marcia Road building from its current location at 2730 W. Silver Spring Dr., Milwaukee, said chief executive officer Kevin Schuele. The Marcia Road building is located about 6.5 miles northwest of Pak Technologies’ current headquarters, which has about 40,000 square feet of space.

“We just outgrew the current facility,” Schuele said. “We are in a growth mode.”

The company has about 35 employees at its headquarters and plans to add another 20 employees there in the next 4 to 5 months, Schuele said.

“We have three pretty big contracts coming up in the first quarter of 2010,” he said.

Pak Technologies, a contract manufacturer, also has operations on the west side of the former Tower Automotive property in Milwaukee and at North 80th Street and Good Hope Road. Those operations will not be affected by the new headquarters, Schuele said.

The company plans to be in its new headquarters by Feb. 1, he said.

St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M Company shut down operations in the Marcia Road building about 6 months ago and put the property up for sale.

After it makes the move, Pak Technologies will sell its current headquarters building, Schuele said. The property has an assessed value of $694,000, according to city records.

Home prices in the metro Milwaukee area were down 7.36 percent in September, compared to September of 2008, according to Santa Ana, Calif.-based First American CoreLogic Inc. Prices in the area were down 6.89 percent in August.

First American CoreLogic’s home price index predicts that the market will improve and home prices in the Milwaukee area will increase 1.2 percent in September of 2010.

Home values in the Milwaukee area and the state of Wisconsin are still holding up better than in the rest of the country. Nationally, home prices were down 9.83 percent in September. In Wisconsin, home prices were down 5.6 percent in September.

The state’s with the biggest home price declines are: Nevada, 25.49 percent; Arizona, 20.28 percent; Florida, 17.66 percent and Michigan, 15.06 percent.

U.S. house prices rose 3.1 percent in the third quarter, but are still down 8.9 percent compared to a year ago, according to data released Tuesday by S&P/Case-Shiller.

The Westside Healthcare Association, which provides medical and dental services to underserved populations in Milwaukee’s central city, is planning an expansion.

A new 53,900-square-foot building will be constructed on vacant lots next to the association’s existing facility at 3522 W. Lisbon Ave., Milwaukee. The new facility will be about 6 times the size of the existing facility.

Once the new facility is complete, the existing facility will be demolished to create space for parking.

The larger facility will provide space for WHA to expand its services adding behavioral health, diagnostic radiology, mammography and physical/occupational therapy.

WHA plans to serve an additional 10,500 patients and create an additional 50 jobs at the expanded facility.

CMP Entertainment, a start-up business, plans to open a sports and recreation center in a 17,000-square-foot space in a building at 4905 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, which is owned by CenterPoint Properties. The business is seeking a variance from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals, and hopes to open by Jan. 1.

The sports and recreation center will have multiple batting cages, videogame consoles, pool tables, air hockey tables, ticket redemption machines, arcade games, a rock climbing wall and an Astroturf paintball field.

The space was formerly occupied by a Grand Slam USA batting cage center, which closed about a year ago.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s Corp. plans to rebuild its restaurant at 2520 W. National Ave., on Milwaukee’s south side.

In recent years McDonald’s has been rebuilding many of its older restaurants.

The 38-year-old, 3,192-square-foot National Avenue restaurant will be replaced by a new, 5,267-square-foot restaurant. There will be inside seating for 94 patrons in the new restaurant. It will have a two-lane drive-thru window service. The drive-thru service will be open 24 hours a day.

The existing restaurant, which will be demolished, has an assessed value of $551,000, according to city records.

Brookfield-based Briohn Building Corp. was contracted to design and build a 7,161-square-foot medical clinic for Barkwater LLC and Dr. Michelle Bonness at 20320 W. Greenfield Ave., Brookfield. Briohn has also been contracted to design and build an office build out for Noble Medical Inc. at 19525 Janacek Ct., Brookfield. Recently, Briohn completed the design and construction of a 9,375-square-foot interior remodel and exterior renovation for Schunk Graphite Technology LLC at W146 N9300 Held Dr., Menomonee Falls.

Chellee Siewert recently resigned as the executive director of The Metropolitan Builders Association.

Kaukauna-based Keller Inc. recently added Jim Dallas and Dave Manore to its Milwaukee project management team.

Dallas has a background in land development, national multi-site retail, construction management and he has more than 15 years of experience in design/build construction services. He has worked as a senior project manger for Tri-North Builders in Madison, and Exceed International in Antioch, Ill. He has built and managed retail, multi-story residential, commercial and industrial construction projects. He has a bachelor’s degree in architecture from UW-Milwaukee.

Manore has more than 38 years of building experience in general contracting, project management and business development. He previously worked with DBI, Inc. as a design/construction consultant gaining experience in construction project development and management. He has a bachelor’s degree from UW-River Falls.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage recently added Craig Kuper and Pam Kuper as sales associates in its Mequon office.