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Wednesday, May 1, 2013
101-acre site along I-94 in Racine County sold
May 1, 2013 09:00 AM
Daniel Oakes, the owner of Racine-based A.W. Oakes & Son Inc., a Racine-based earthwork construction services firm, recently purchased an undeveloped 101-acre site northwest of I-94 and County Highway K in the Racine County Town of Raymond.

The sale price for the property was $1.2 million.

The deal was brokered by Ted Klumb of FirstWeber Commercial and Residential Real Estate who represented the buyer, listed as Top Flight LLC, and the seller, Omega Investments.

Oakes is the registered agent for Top Flight LLC, according to state records. He could not be reached for comment.

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Walmart to break ground for Town of Waukesha store
May 1, 2013 09:45 AM
Walmart will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday to celebrate the start of construction of a 41,000-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market store at W226 S1500 Highway 164 in the Town of Waukesha.

The store will be built at the site of a former Walmart discout store that closed in 2010 and was replaced by a new Walmart Supercenter store at 2000 S. West Ave. in the city of Waukesha.

The Neighborhood Markets are Walmart’s smaller stores that sell grocery and pharmacy items.

The Town of Waukesha Neighorhood Market will have 90 employees. The store is expected to open by the end of the year.
 

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Gateway Business Center in Brookfield sold for $6.1 million
May 1, 2013 10:00 AM
Beloit-based Hendricks Commercial Properties LLC purchased the Gateway Business Center, a 72,510-square-foot technology and flex center at 3235-75 Intertech Dr., Brookfield, from Lake Forest, Ill.-based Westminster Gateway LLC for $6.1 million.

Tom Shepherd of Colliers International | Wisconsin represented the seller.

The two-building, multi-tenant Gateway Business Center was originally built in 1997, and it is anchored by a networking and data solutions provider - TW Telecom.

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Metro Milwaukee home values projected to rise 1.9% this year
May 1, 2013 09:00 AM
Seattle-based Zillow predicts that home values for the metro Milwaukee housing market will rise 1.9 percent this year. That is below Zillow’s 3.2 percent expected growth rate for the national housing market.

The metro Milwaukee housing market hit bottom in the first quarter of 2012 and home values in the market have risen 3 percent during the last year, and 1.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013, to a median home value of $166,600, according to Zillow.

Milwaukee metro home values are now back to May 2003 levels, according to Zillow.

Other notes for the Milwaukee area housing market, according to Zillow: 9.37% of all sales in March were foreclosure re-sales; 5.5 out of every 10,000 homes were foreclosed upon in March; 33.4 % of all homes sold in March sold for a loss.

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Common Council approves TIF plan for NML office tower
May 1, 2013 09:00 AM
Milwaukee aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday to support a $73 million tax incremental financing (TIF) package for the new office tower at the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. corporate headquarters and for street improvements for the Lakefront Gateway project.

Northwestern Mutual plans to build a 1.1 million-square-foot, $350-400 million, 33-story office tower at its downtown Milwaukee corporate headquarters at 800 E. Wisconsin Ave.

The $54 million portion of the TIF for the Northwestern Mutual office tower, and $4 million in nearby street improvements, will be developer financed. That means the company will pay for the cost of the development up front and will be reimbursed the TIF funds as it pays property taxes.

City officials and Northwestern Mutual executives say the $54 million in TIF assistance for the project is necessary to justify the additional costs of building downtown versus building at the company’s suburban campus in Franklin. High-rise buildings cost more to construct and groundwater at the downtown site also makes construction costs there higher. An analysis by construction consultants from The Concord Group, determined that it will cost $50 million more to build the Northwestern Mutual building at the downtown site opposed to a suburban site.

The city will also use $18 million in TIF generated from tax revenues from the development to pay for several street improvements planned to enhance the lakefront area including the extension of Lincoln Memorial Drive south into the Third Ward and the expansion of Clybourn Street into a boulevard and extension of that street east to Discovery World.

The new Northwestern Mutual building will replace a 16-story, 452,000-square-foot building on its headquarters campus. That building, constructed in 1978, needs significant structural repairs, renovations and upgrades so the company plans to tear it down and replace it with the new building.

About 1,100 employees work in the building that will be torn down. Those employees will be moved to the new building and the company plans to add another 1,900 employees there by 2030.

Demolition for the project is expected to begin by the end of this year, construction is expected to begin next year and the building is expected to be complete in 2017.

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Office building planned in West Allis for Cardinal Capital Management
May 1, 2013 10:00 AM
Cardinal Capital Management plans to build a $2.25 million, one-story, 12,480-square-foot office building in the 900 block of South 70th Street in West Allis.

The 0.84-acre site is currently an undeveloped parking lot.

The building will have underground parking, which will be accessible from the west side of the building.

Construction is expected to begin this summer.

Cardinal Capital Management also plans to build a second phase of the builidng, adding a second story of office space sometime in the future.

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FIS to close Schlitz Park facility, lay off 300 employees
May 1, 2013 10:00 AM
Jacksonville, Fla.-based FIS notified the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development today that it will close its facility in the Schlitz Park complex at 1515 N. Rivercenter Drive in downtown Milwaukee, and will lay off about 301 employees.

The company, which was formed when Fidelity National Information Services Inc. acquired Brown Deer-based Metavante Technologies Inc. in 2009, is one of the world’s largest providers of banking and payment technologies. It serves more than 14,000 financial institutions and businesses in more than 100 countries. FIS plans to begin the lay off process on or after July 1, and continue eliminating positions in phases until it closes permanently on November 1.

According to the WARN notice, “The closure has been prompted by the company’s decision to consolidate services with other FIS locations.”

The 285 hourly and 16 salaried employees were notified of the closure yesterday. They are not represented by a union and none of them will have bumping rights to other positions. Most of the jobs being eliminated are call center and customer service positions. Employees will be paid earned wages and agreed upon benefits when terminated. Regular full-time employees will receive severance payments.

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Feds allocate $155 million in tax credits to Wisconsin organizations for development
May 1, 2013 10:00 AM
The U.S. Treasury Department announced $155 million in new markets tax credit allocations for four Wisconsin-based community development entities.

The Wisconsin organizations receiving new markets tax credit allocations are: West Allis-based First-Ring Industrial Redevelopment Enterprise Inc., $20 million; Madison-based Greater Wisconsin Opportunities Fund Inc., $35 million; Milwaukee Economic Development Corp., $40 million; and PNC Community Partners Inc., $45 million. PNC Community Partners is based in Pittsburgh and will distribute its tax credits nationally, but Wisconsin is one the seven predominant states that it serves.

The new markets tax credit program, established by Congress in December 2000, permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a credit against federal income taxes for making equity investments in vehicles known as Community Development Entities. The credit provided to the investor totals 39 percent of the cost of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year period.

“The New Markets Tax Credit addresses one of the most significant obstacles to economic development that low-income communities face: a lack of access to patient, private investment capital,” said Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Cyrus Amir-Mokri.

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Kahler Slater to provide long-range planning services for Ripon College
May 1, 2013 10:00 AM
Ripon College announced that it has retained Milwaukee-based architectural firm Kahler Slater to provide long-range campus and design planning services.

}The firm will provide facility, architectural and design planning services as part of the college’s “Imagine Tomorrow” campaign – a $50 million effort that will support facility enhancements, new scholarships, faculty and student research, off-campus study opportunities and efforts to attract and retain faculty and students. A variety of facility enhancement projects will be studied, including the renovation of the campus’ historic spaces and the potential construction of new facilities.

“Kahler Slater has an impressive portfolio of work in the higher education market and we are excited to partner with them on this important next phase for our campus,” said Zach Messitte, president of Ripon College. “We are confident in their ability to help us remain true to our mission and historic roots while maximizing the appeal and utility of our buildings for all learners, today and well into the future.”

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Kloiber Jewelers to move to U.S. Bank Center
May 1, 2013 10:00 AM
Kloiber Jewelers, in business since 1926, will be relocating to the Galleria level of the U.S. Bank Center, located at 777 E. Wisconsin Ave., in downtown Milwaukee.

The company will open at its new site on June 1.

After 10 years at the 411 E. Wisconsin building in downtown Milwaukee, Kloiber owner Karin Volz has decided to move her business to what she considers a “thriving, bustling” location.

“Every time I’m in the US Bank Center, there are so many people on the Galleria level. We already have clients there, and I’m confident moving Kloibers will be a wonderful opportunity for the store and a chance to expand our clientele,” Volz said.

To prepare for the move, Kloiber Jewelers will host a moving event, May 6-11, with up to 50 percent off in-case jewelry, 75 percent off watches and clocks and a free gift with every purchase.

A grand opening event will take place June 10-14 at the new location, featuring designer jewelry trunk shows, live music and refreshments. Both events are open to the public.

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Commercial property showcase to be held on Burleigh
May 1, 2013 10:00 AM
A commercial property showcase will be held on Burleigh Street in Milwaukee from 3-7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7.

Hosted by Burleigh Street Community Development Corp., the tour is for potential property buyers, tenants and developers to take a walking tour to view properties for sale or lease.

To RSVP, call Renee by Thursday May 2, at (414) 447-7070.

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Andrew Weiland BizTimes Real Estate Weekly is compiled by BizTimes Milwaukee managing editor Andrew Weiland. This bulletin is published every Wednesday morning. Send real estate news tips to Andrew.Weiland@biztimes.com or call him at (414) 277-8181, ext. 120.

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