North Chicago, Ill.-based EMCO Chemical Distributors Inc., which last year announced plans move some of its operations to a building in Pleasant Prairie, may also move its corporate headquarters to the facility.
Currently, the company is focusing on moving manufacturing and distribution operations to the Pleasant Prairie building, said EMCO president Edward Polen. Once that process is complete, the company will examine plans to move its corporate headquarters to the building, he said.
“If everything is right, there is a very good chance we will move (the headquarters) up there,” Polen said.
A top village official also said he had heard that the company may move its headquarters to Pleasant Prairie.
"I believe they are working with the (state Department of) Commerce on moving their headquarters up here," said Pleasant Prairie Village Administrator Michael Pollocoff.  “I know they are looking at it."
Department of Commerce spokesman Tony Hozeny declined to comment for this report.
In December, EMCO announced that it had a contract to purchase a 259,580-square-foot building, with a 25-car rail siding, at 8601 95th St., Pleasant Prairie, from Hexicon Specialty Chemicals, which ceased operations there in 2009.
Last week, the Village Board approved $10 million in tax-exempt industrial development revenue bond financing to assist EMCO in purchasing and customizing the facility for its needs. The village authorizes the tax exempt status but the company will issue the bonds and is responsible for repayment.
EMCO plans to use the Pleasant Prairie facility to blend and distribute specialty chemicals.
It will take at least another year for the company to move its manufacturing and distribution operations into the Pleasant Prairie facility, Polen said. About 100 employees will work at the facility for those operations.
The company’s packaging operations will remain in North Chicago, even if the headquarters are moved to Pleasant Prairie, Polen said.
EMCO purchased the Pleasant Prairie facility because it needed more space for its operations, Polen said.
The company has also run out of office space to expand in North Chicago. The Pleasant Prairie building has more office space than the North Chicago facility, which is why the headquarters may be moved, Polen said. He said he was not sure of the exact amount of office space at each building.
“Our office space is very congested in North Chicago,” Polen said. “When we add people here, somebody is going to have to sit in somebody else’s lap.”
Polen declined to say how many additional employees would be moved to Pleasant Prairie if the company moves its corporate headquarters there.
EMCO, which had sales of $219 million in 2009 according to its website, also has a waste transfer and storage facility at 9114 58th Place, Suite 900, Kenosha.
EMCO is just one of several businesses in the Chicago area that have moved some of their operations to Kenosha County in recent years including:

• Waukegan, Ill.-based Uline Inc., which is building a new corporate headquarters at I-94 and Highway 165 in Pleasant Prairie, and will bring about 1,000 employees to the office complex and distribution center there. Construction of the corporate headquarters is expected to be complete later this year.

• Brightree LLC recently moved the offices of one of its medical billing operations, with about 80 employees, from Antioch, Ill. 7.5 miles north to Paddock Lake, a village in western Kenosha County.

• Chicago-based First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. built a 600,000-square-foot distribution center northeast of 52nd Street and 88th Avenue in Kenosha, for Vernon Hills, Ill.-based Rust-Oleum Corp.

• Waukegan, Ill.-based Coleman Cable Inc. leased a 502,000-square-foot industrial building at 11290 80th Ave., Pleasant Prairie, which was built by Oak Brook, Ill.-based CenterPoint Properties.

Yet despite those gains, Kenosha County’s unemployment rate is at 11.6 percent (non seasonally adjusted), according to the state Department of Workforce Development, which exceeds the state’s 9.8 percent non seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, and the U.S. non seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 10.2 percent.

Charter Automotive will close its 100,000-square-foot facility at 9201 W. Heather Ave. on Milwaukee’s northwest side in late July. At that time, 18 of the company’s employees will lose their jobs, another 11 workers will complete final inventory shipments and prepare the building for sale.
Charter Automotive’s Heather Avenue facility has been for sale since 2008 and the company is still seeking a buyer for the building, a company spokesperson said.
Charter Automotive’s headquarters and main manufacturing facility at 7850 N. 81st St., Milwaukee, will remain open, a company spokesperson said. Most of the company’s approximate 100 employees work at its headquarters – the rest are employed at its small facilities in the United Kingdom and China.
“In the fall of 2008, our Heather Avenue plant employees were made aware that our company would be exiting the indicator and tube manufacturing business performed at that location,” said Peter Murray, vice president and general manager of Charter Automotive. “The move came as part of our parent company’s organization-wide workforce reduction in response to global economic conditions and declining market trends.”

Golfsmith International Holdings Inc. has opened an interactive superstore for golfers in Brookfield at 16130 West Bluemound Road in the Fountain Square Shopping Center.
The 25,000-square foot store features a six-bay indoor driving range with launch monitors and certified PGA pro golf instruction from GolfTEC.
The new store also features an indoor putting green and two "virtual reality" custom-fitting studios that match golfers to the clubs that fit their swing.
"Milwaukee is a phenomenal golf market where folks pack a lot of golf into their season. Because this is our first store in Wisconsin, we wanted to make it a real destination for golfers from across state," said Martin Hanaka, president and chief executive officer of Austin, Texas-based Golfsmith. "Golfsmith in Milwaukee is another milestone in our commitment to activity-based retail, and to expanding our retail footprint nationwide. Our superstore format is about giving people hands-on experience, expertise and, of course, great selection at guaranteed low prices."
The company has more than 75 stores in the U.S.

VK Development sells Kenosha property along I-94 for $3.3 million
Next Partners I LLC, a Madison-based private equity real estate development firm, recently purchased a 123-acre site along I-94 in Kenosha from an affiliate of Brookfield-based VK Development Corp. for $3.3 million.The property is vacant and is located southeast of I-94 and Highway 142.
The sale was brokered by Ken Braden and James T. Barry III of Cassidy Turley Barry, who represented Next Partners, and Rob Pitts of Pitts Brothers & Associates LLC, who represented VK Development.
A representative for VK Development did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Several road improvements are being made around the site purchased by Next Partners. As part of the state’s reconstruction and expansion of I-94 between Milwaukee and Illinois, a new diamond interchange will be built at I-94 and Highway 142 and a new frontage road will be built along I-94 and the property’s west side. The city of Kenosha is rebuilding 38th Street, which is the southern boundary of the site, to accommodate truck traffic, some of which is associated with Gordon Food Service’s new 650,000-square-foot regional distribution center, located a quarter-mile east of the site.
The property’s proximity and easy access to I-94 is its top asset, said Phil Jennings, president of Next Partners.
It’s location between Milwaukee and Chicago is also attractive, especially for distribution operations, he said. Kenosha County has attracted several businesses in recent years that have moved north from the Chicago area, including Waukegan, Ill.-based Uline Inc., which is building a new corporate headquarters at I-94 and Highway 165 in Pleasant Prairie.
In addition the property is ready for development because sewer and water infrastructure has been extended to the site, Jennings said.
Next Partners plans to build a large commercial development on the site, primarily with office or industrial use. A small amount of retail development may be included. There will be no residential development on the site, Jennings said.
“It will probably be a campus or a collection of office and industrial buildings,” he said. “This is not destined to be a retail site.”
Next Partners paid cash for the property, which could help its development efforts.
“We have a patient, long-term orientation and, unlike many other development firms in the region, we have no operational or mortgage debt,” Jennings said.
“One of the things we’ve seen is leveraged land is causing some commotion in the markets,” Barry said. “I think (the cash purchase) indicates they have some staying power and can be fairly nimble in marketing the property to potential users.”
Barry said his firm will begin marketing the property “immediately.”

Dickman Company Inc.

• Milwaukee Woodwork Inc. leased 6,000 square feet of industrial and office space at N56 W13400 Silver Spring Road, Menomonee Falls, from Jonas Family Limited Partnership.

Gerald Nell Inc.

• Excel-A-Tec Inc. leased 7,600 square feet of industrial space at 3695 N. 126th St., Unit N, Brookfield, from Sunset Investment Co.

Investment Real Estate Specialists

• Johnny’s Franks LLC leased 2,500 square feet of space at 3902 N. 76th St., Milwaukee, from Investment Real Estate Specialists.

Cassidy Turley Barry

• Central Bark purchased an 11,631-square-foot industrial building at 3888 N. 1st St., Milwaukee, from Cardo USA Inc. for $305,000.

New Berlin branch get new, green location
M&I Bank recently moved its New Berlin branch from 15350 W. Howard Ave. to a new building at 15450 W. National Ave., New Berlin, near the intersection of National Avenue and Moorland Road. The new building has received LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It is the first M&I Bank branch building to received LEED certification.

Homes near airport to get sound insulation
The state Department of Transportation announced that Gov. Jim Doyle approved a $7 million project to implement noise mitigation at Milwaukee County’s General Mitchell International Airport. Doyle’s action releases $700,000 in state funds to install sound insulation to 93 residences and acquire aerial navigation easements near the airport. Milwaukee County also is contributing $700,000 and the Federal Aviation Administration is providing $5.6 million in noise discretionary funding.

May 27-NAIOP Webinar: 12 Strategies to Prosper in the Months Ahead sponsored by Wipfli LLP, 11:30-1:30, Wipfli LLP, 10000 Innovation Drive, Milwaukee.  Register online at www.naiop-wi.org or contact Chris Korjenek at (262)522-6375.

Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate Women (WCREW) annual leadership luncheon, Tuesday, June 1, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee. For more information, call (414) 755-3354.

June 17-NAIOP Developing Leader Event-Tailgate Olympics, Hart Park, Wauwatosa. Go to www.naiop-wi.org or contact Chris Korjenek at 262.522.6375 for more information.

CARW Lunch and Learn, Salesmanship and Networking, June 21, 12-2 p.m., CARW office, 12300 W. Center St., Milwaukee.

CARW Lunch and Learn, Sustainable Building, July 26, 12-2 p.m., CARW office, 12300 W. Center St., Milwaukee.

Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate Women (WCREW) golf outing, Tuesday, Aug. 3, Broadlands Golf Club, North Prairie. For more information call (414) 545-8500.

SIOR Golf Outing, Friday, Aug. 6, 11 a.m., Blackwolf Run, Kohler. For more information, call (414) 333-2974.

CARW Lunch and Learn, Title and Deed, Aug. 23, 12-2 p.m., CARW office, 12300 W. Center St., Milwaukee.

CARW Lunch and Learn, State Issues for Fall Election, Sept. 27, 12-2 p.m., CARW office, 12300 W. Center St., Milwaukee.

CARW Lunch and Learn, Multi-Family and Investment Properties, Oct. 25, 12-2 p.m., CARW office, 12300 W. Center St., Milwaukee.

CARW Lunch and Learn, Industrial: Leasing, Sales and Negotiating, Nov. 15, 12-2 p.m., CARW office, 12300 W. Center St., Milwaukee.

CARW Lunch and Learn, Construction Cost, Dec. 13, 12-2 p.m., CARW office, 12300 W. Center St., Milwaukee.

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