Construction began recently for Jackson Square. The project, which is being developed by Robert Joseph, is an 81-unit apartment building with 9,000 square feet of retail space, which is being built at the northwest corner of East Menomonee and North Jackson streets. The five-story building is expected to be completed in about one year, Joseph said.

Some site work for the project began in September, but shortly after that work was halted because of an engineering problem that needed to be worked out. Joseph described it as a "technical snafu" and a "structural foundation issue." Once the problem was solved by a redesign, Joseph decided to delay the project to avoid having the early stages of the project during the winter, which adds significant costs.

The timing is right to begin a new apartment development in the Third Ward, Joseph said.

"It's a terrific time," he said. "The market for apartments is very strong and construction costs are reasonable. The Third Ward is as desirable as it has ever been."

Apartments are particularly attractive because the real estate and financial industry problems have resulted in more demand for rental units, while the downtown condominium market has dried up.

"It will be the right product for this time," Joseph said.

Jackson Square is the second Third Ward apartment building development that is under construction.

Milwaukee-based Mandel Group Inc. began construction in March for its Corcoran Lofts apartment development. The building will be located on the north side of East Corcoran Avenue and adjacent to Mandel's Gaslight Lofts development. The six-story Corcoran Lofts building will have 76 apartments and 3,400 square feet of retail space. The retail space will be located at the corners of East Corcoran Avenue and Jefferson and Milwaukee streets. The building will have parking on the first two floors and apartments on the upper four floors. It will be connected to Gaslight Lofts so Mandel will be able to use Gaslight's operating staff to serve the building and Corcoran Lofts residents will be able to use amenities in Gaslight, such as the fitness center.

In recent years, many banks have sold commercial properties that enter foreclosure for less-than-market value prices. Many of these sales have turned into net losses for banks, where they are able to recover only a portion of their commercial real estate development loans.

Wauwatosa-based The Equitable Bank is taking a different approach with Mission Lakes, a luxury senior condominium community built on Florence Lake in Okauchee. The bank took control of the development on April 20. 

“The easy way out would have been to slash prices and get rid of it as soon as we could but we knew that wouldn’t be a good situation for anybody,” said John Matter, president and CEO of the bank. “We owe it to both our stakeholders and the current residents of Mission Lakes to do everything possible to recover our investment and maintain the property values.”

Mission Lakes’ first phase, a 21-unit luxury condo development with units ranging from 1,150 to 1,750 square feet, was completed in 2003. The second phase, under construction now, will have 36 new units.

The Equitable Bank is the lead lender an approximate $8 million commercial loan to build the second phase of Mission Lakes. The bank is putting an additional $115,000 into the project to help fund its completion, said Tom Sattler, vice president of sales and marketing.

“We’re putting a significant marketing effort into it, too,” he said. “We’ll be doing some advertising and direct mail soon.”

The Equitable Bank has partnered with Lemel Homes, a Glendale-based home construction firm, to complete the construction at Mission Lakes. While the bank owns the unsold portion of the condo facility now, it will no longer be involved once all of the units are sold.

“The bank will be marketing them, with the help of Lemel Homes,” Sattler said. “They’ll run the sales.”

Mission Lakes will hold a grand opening for its second phase in late May. For more information, visit www.mission-lakes.com.

Waynz World sold
The former Waynz World of Recreation sports center, which closed on March 31, was sold recently by Madison-based Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin Inc. to the International Union of Painters Allied Trades #7 for $2.45 million. Jeff Hoffman of Pewaukee-based Judson & Associates represented Anchor Bank and David Hazenfield of Milwaukee-based The Dickman Company represented the union in brokering the deal. The union plans to convert the 56,460-square-foot building into a training facility.

The building was developed by Wayne and Donna Slawson, who opened the business in early 2006. However the facility did not generate enough revenue to cover the overhead for the facility, which cost about $5 million to build.

"With the economy going downhill that really put the nail in the coffin," Hoffman said.

Anchor Bank took ownership of the facility through a foreclosure action in November, Hoffman said, and was eager to sell it.

"(The sale price) is substantially below replacement cost," Hoffman said. "The bank wanted to get this thing moved."

Granville Professional Building sold
K&K Holdings Granville WI LLC purchased the 33,443-square-foot Granville Professional Builidng at 9001 N. 76th St., Milwaukee, from Granville Professional Building LLP for $1.75 million. John Dulmes of Siegel-Gallagher represented the sellers in brokering the sale. "Being cognizant of today's new financial environment played an important role in the buying decision," Dulmes said. "We were confident about the soundness of K&K Holdings' investment plan and with Granville's optimal location and price, the transaction was plainly the right move."

West Bend-based American Design and Build Inc. recently completed the 2,375-square-foot build-out for the Commerce State Bank Cedarburg branch office in the new Bloch Plaza on Washington Avenue. American Design and Build also recently completed the 2,219-square-foot build-out for the Ticor Title Insurance office in the 2021 Building, located next to the Hampton Inn & Suites hotel on 18th Avenue in West Bend. Other tenants in the 2021 Building include R&R Insurance, Care Wisconsin and Stifel Nicolaus.

U.S. housing market shows signs of life

Pending home sales in the United States rose 3.2 percent to a level of 83.7 in March from February, according to the National Association of Realtors. The year-over-year gain was 1.1 percent in March. Meanwhile, the federal government said that construction spending rose 0.3 percent in March, after a 0.9 percent decrease in February.

Menomonee Falls-based Continental Properties Company Inc. has chosen Brookfield-based NAI MLG Commercial to provide exclusive leasing representation for the 225,000-square-foot Burleigh Square retail development at the northeast corner of Burleigh Street and North 124th Street in Wauwatosa. NAI MLG Commercial has also been selected as the exclusive leasing representative for Pewaukee Plaza, the 102,000-square-foot shopping center at 1230 Capitol Dr., Pewaukee.

The Milwaukee chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), announced that 12 companies have been accepted for membership: Budget Blinds of Greenfield, Greenfield; Cedarburg Overhead Door, LLC, Cedarburg; Concrete Interiors, Inc., A Division of Coello & Associates, Waukesha; Dews Concrete & Landscape, LLC, West Allis; The Janssen Companies, Wauwatosa; Kitchen Distributors of America/Crawford Company, New Berlin; LaForce, Inc., Menomonee Falls; Lakeshore Flooring & Design, Brookfield; Lowes, Wauwatosa; Power Contractors LLC, Milwaukee; Stano Landscaping, Inc., Milwaukee; We Carpet, Inc., Butler.

Milwaukee-based Eppstein Uhen Architects was recently named Architect of the Year by the American Subcontractors Association of Wisconsin. It was the 10th time the firm has won the award.