The new, 160-room Aloft hotel in downtown Milwaukee, developed by Milwaukee River Hotel LLC, will open on Dec. 17, general manager Lisa Aldrich said.

Aloft is a select service hotel brand of White Plains, N.Y.-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. The downtown Milwaukee hotel is the first Aloft location in southeastern Wisconsin.

Several people have already made reservations at the hotel.

“I get about 10 to 15 calls a day from people who want to know when we are opening,” Aldrich said. “They are excited.”

The hotel is located at 1230 N. Old World Third St., along the Milwaukee River in the Park East corridor. The hotel is only one block northeast of the Bradley Center and one block south of the Manpower Inc. corporate headquarters.

Bars, restaurants and shops along Old World Third Street will be appealing to hotel guests, Aldrich said. In addition, the hotel’s location along McKinley Avenue makes it easy for visitors to find off the freeway, she said.

“I think we are in a great location,” Aldrich said.

The five-story hotel will have 5,000 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center, an indoor pool on the first floor overlooking a new riverwalk segment and the Wxyz Bar in the lobby/lounge area. Previous plans for retail space in the building were eliminated, replacing it with the meeting space, Aldrich said.

About 35 to 40 employees will work at the hotel once it is fully staffed next year, Aldrich said.

The Aloft hotel will be the first new hotel to open in downtown Milwaukee in several years. The Iron Horse Hotel opened last year and a Days Inn Hotel of the Arts opened earlier this year. Both of those hotels are located near the downtown area, but are not located within the downtown.

Aldrich was the general manager for the Staybridge Suites hotel that was under construction at North Water Street and Juneau Avenue. The project has been stalled by financial problems and it is now in receivership. When that happened, Aldrich shifted to the Aloft project.

“I count my blessings every day,” she said.

Aldo Madrigrano and Ronald Fowler, the owners of Wauwatosa-based Beer Capitol Distributing Co. Inc. announced that they are acquiring Sussex-based W.O.W. Distributing Co. Inc.

Terms of the deal, which closed Tuesday, were not disclosed.

All operations and employees of W.O.W. Distributing will continue under new management in Sussex, and will now be known as Beer Capitol Distributing – Lake Country LLC. Madrigrano, the majority owner, will serve as chairman and CEO. Mike Merriman will serve as president.

The Sussex facility, located at W222 N5700 Miller Way, will be expanded, with an addition of 120,000 square feet of warehouse and office space. That project, already underway, will be completed in the summer.

Then the operations for Beer Capitol Distributing Co. Inc. will be relocated from Wauwatosa to the expanded Sussex facility.

“I couldn’t be happier to announce this acquisition, as it represents a new milestone for our businesses and an opportunity to enhance our reputation for exemplary customer service and sales support by achieving shared operating efficiencies,” Madrigrano said.

Beer Capitol Distributing Co. Inc. will continue to serve customers in Milwaukee County. Beer Capitol Distributing – Lake Country LLC will serve retail customers in Washington, Ozaukee and Waukesha counties. Brands associated with the distribution companies include MillerCoors, Pabst, Crown Imports, Heineken, Boston Beer Co., Lakefront Brewery, Capital Brewery, Stevens Point Brewery and Tyranena Brewing Co.

The pending home sales index (PHSI) rose a seasonally adjusted 3.7 percent in October from September, the National Association of Realtors reported this week. The index is up 31.8 percent compared with last October.

The index rose 6 percent in September.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home sales are experiencing a pendulum swing.

“Keep in mind that housing had been underperforming over most of the past year. Based on the demographics of our growing population, existing-home sales should be in the range of 5.5 million to 6.0 million annually, but we were well below the 5-million mark before the home buyer tax credit stimulus,” he said. “This means the tax credit is helping unleash a pent-up demand from a large pool of financially qualified renters, much more than borrowing sales from the future.”

The PHSI in the Midwest the index rose 11.6 percent to 109.6 and is 36.6 percent higher than October 2008.

Yun cautioned that home sales could dip in the months ahead.

“The expanded tax credit has only been available for the past three weeks, but the time between when buyers start looking at homes until they close on a sale can take anywhere from three to five months. Given the lag time, we could see a temporary decline in closed existing-home sales from December until early spring when we get another surge, but the weak job market remains a major concern and could slow the recovery process,” Yun said. “Still, as inventories continue to decline and balance is gradually restored between buyers and sellers, we should reach self-sustaining housing conditions and firming home prices in most areas around the middle of 2010. That would mean broad wealth stabilization for the vast number of middle-class families.”

More than 375 people attended the seventh annual BizTimes Commercial Real Estate & Development Conference, southeastern Wisconsin’s premier networking and information event for the industry, which was held on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 at Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee. The theme for this year’s conference was, “What Now? Strategies for Revival.”

The event featured a panel of national commercial real estate and economics experts. They included: Ross Moore, executive vice president and director of market and economic research at Colliers International Property Consultants Inc.; Maria Sicola, executive managing director and head of research for the Americas at Cushman & Wakefield Inc.; Rhyne Brown, executive vice president of client development at NAI Global; Jack Durburg, executive managing director of the Chicago region for CB Richard Ellis; and Robert Bach, senior vice president and chief economist of Grubb & Ellis Co.

For those who could not attend the event, BizTimes Real Estate Weekly will feature a video segment from the event for 10 weeks.

In this week’s video segment, the panel talks about the greatest risk to sustained GDP growth for the U.S. economy.

View this week’s video by clicking here.

Exacto Inc. has more than doubled its space by moving to a 50,000-square-foot plant in Sharon, in Walworth County, from its original location 20 miles southeast in Richmond, Ill.

The building is the former Automated Building Components (ABC) truss manufacturing plant at 200 Old Factory Road. Exacto purchased the building earlier this year from Lyman Lumber Company for $1.55 million. Dave Hazenfield of The Dickman Company represented Lyman Lumber and Mark Stricker represented Exacto in brokering the property sale.

Exacto said the move will help it significantly increase its capacity to develop, manufacture and distribute adjuvant products that enhance chemicals used for crop protection, pest control and vegetation management.

The custom-designed space will help the company accommodate lean manufacturing and quality control.

Exacto’s adjuvants and surfactants are sold by other companies under private labels.

“Exacto continues to be blessed by the confidence and support of our many customers, suppliers and employees, and I am pleased to announce this progressive step for our company,” said Diana Braun, Exacto’s president.

Exacto has seen steady growth since it was founded in 1981 when it initially focused on formulas that enhance drift reduction properties of crop protection products.

“We have added product lines, packaging capabilities, storage and blending capacities,” Braun said. “As we have expanded, we have run into efficiency issues at Richmond. We have outgrown that facility, which we built and operated from for the last 17 years.”

The building gives Exacto twice the docking capacity of its former site. In addition, the Sharon facility has railroad service, which opens the door to improved efficiency for the purchase and sale of commodity materials, Braun said. Additional benefits include an onsite truck scale and significantly greater electrical service.

Along with the efficiency gains from the interior layout, the company expects to benefit from more than 30 acres of land around the building. Plans call for adding a greenhouse and for planting crops on some of the acreage. Those enhancements would give the company greater research capabilities, said Frank Sexton, technical services manager for Exacto.

The State of Wisconsin took ownership this week of the Wisconsin Exposition Center at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis.

The purchase from State Fair Park Exposition Center inc., approved earlier in the year by the State Building Commission, will allow the State of Wisconsin to obtain a $38 million asset at a cost of $13.9 million.

The Fair Park Board will operate the exposition business and make annual rental payments that will fund the state’s debt service cost.

Employees of the exposition center will be contracted by the Fair Park during the transition. Once state positions are approved, all employees of the Wisconsin Exposition Center will have the ability to interview for positions that will be publicly posted.

“The purchase of the Wisconsin Exposition Center is a tremendous opportunity for State Fair Park,” said Susan Crane, chairman of the State Fair Park Board. “The discounted purchase price will bring capital costs in line with revenues ensuring a viable ongoing exposition business benefiting the community while also promoting financial stability at the Fair Park.”

Built in 2002, the Wisconsin Exposition Center is the largest exposition center in Wisconsin with more than 200,000 gross square feet of contiguous exposition space.

The Rotary Club of Milwaukee announced Tuesday that it has exceeded its goal of raising $400,000 to create the Milwaukee Rotary Centennial Arboretum, a 40-acre “living classroom” that will extend along the Milwaukee River from North Avenue to the Locust Street, stretching upward through Riverside Park.

The arboretum, which Rotarians believe will become Milwaukee’s “Central Park,” will be bounded on the west by the Milwaukee River and the east by the Oak Leaf Trail. Wheelchair accessible trails - 3.5 miles in all - will run through the area, connecting the river trails to the community.

James T. Barry III, president and CEO of Milwaukee-based Colliers Barry and past president of the Rotary Club of Milwaukee, announced that the club has raised more than $430,000 for the project.

“I am very pleased that Rotary will celebrate its centennial anniversary with a contribution that will dramatically enhance the riverfront and the community - a contribution that is in keeping with our strong history of community giving,” Barry said. “In partnership with the Urban Ecology Center, the River Revitalization Foundation and Milwaukee County Parks we seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to convert old industrial land along the revitalized Milwaukee River into a natural jewel for the city - a living forest classroom that our grandchildren will be able to enjoy and share with their grandchildren for many generations to come.”

The Rotary Club of Milwaukee followed a participative process during 2008 to identify projects of expanding worth in Milwaukee that could be suitable for the largest financial commitment members will have been asked to consider. The club’s board selected the Milwaukee Rotary Centennial Arboretum project presented as a collaborative effort with the Urban Ecology Center, the River Revitalization Foundation and Milwaukee County.

The arboretum will feature multiple entry points with prominent entrance archways recognizing the civic investments by members of the Rotary Club of Milwaukee over the past 100 years. The arboretum will be dedicated to recreation, research and teaching, as it serves as the first and only arboretum in the Milwaukee metropolitan area.

More than 100,000 visitors are expected annually, and most or all of the area’s 12 colleges and universities are assumed to be part of ongoing research efforts. Hundreds of trees will be planted, replacing gravel and brush that now consume the property. Long-term maintenance requirements will be the responsibility of the Urban Ecology Center as part of its 99-year lease with Milwaukee County as the property owner.

AmeriSign & Graphics, a full-service sign, design, digital imaging, and offset printing company, is opening a location in Pewaukee on Mon., Dec. 14.

The Pewaukee shop at 115 W. Wisconsin Ave. is in the former Aurora Pharmacy building.

The company also has a location at 6657 N. Sidney Place, Glendale.

The Pewaukee shop will have several amenities to offer customers including free Wi-Fi access, flat screen television, custom-roasted coffee from a local roaster, and bistro-style seating.

“While many of our customers drop off or upload their orders, we can accommodate those who choose to wait or use our self service options, which include state-of-the-art digital copiers,” said Chris Sherman, president of AmeriSign. “We wanted to offer a pleasant atmosphere that allows them some options. Instead of downtime, they can work on their laptops via our free Wi-Fi or just take a break and watch television on our flat screen while their order is processed. Our customer base continues to grow. We have a very good business model, and our sales have been steadily increasing. Besides the many options we offer, from paper to inks to coatings, we attribute our growth to the high level of service our team provides. Our customers know when they come to us for printing, design, or copying services, we do it professionally, promptly, and courteously.”

Giuffre buys former Don Jacobs Subaru property

Frank Giuffre recently purchased the former Don Jacobs Subaru dealership at W226 S1700 Highway 164, Waukesha from Don and Jeanne Jacobs for $2.3 million.

The auto dealership closed earlier this year. The 6.5-acre site, located at the southeast corner of Highway 164 and Arcadian Avenue, has two buildings with a total of 45,000 square feet of space.

Giuffre plans to lease the buildings to several auto related businesses.

Dave Hartig and Tom Treder of Commercial Property Associates Inc. represented the buyer and sellers in brokering the sale.