The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s ambitious plans for expansion may depend upon the level of cooperation and collaboration the school receives from other parties, including Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital and the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.
UWM chancellor Carlos Santiago wants to expand the landlocked university by creating more boarding space for its students, a new School of Public Health and an engineering campus at the Milwaukee County Research Grounds in Wauwatosa.
As the school is working on ambitious plans to increase its role as a research university, the state and UWM have begun the process of creating a campus master plan for the university’s real estate needs.
The state has allocated $56 million for UWM to purchase and renovate the Columbia Hospital building, said Tom Luljak, vice chancellor of university relations for UWM.
However, Columbia St. Mary’s is asking much more for the property and has thus far refused to come down on its asking price, UWM chancellor Carlos Santiago told SBT at a recent Milwaukee Press Club Newsmaker Luncheon.
Columbia St. Mary’s is keeping its options for the property open, said Paul Westrick, vice president of Columbia St. Mary’s.
In 2010, Columbia St. Mary’s plans to close Columbia Hospital, located at 2025 E. Newport Ave., when it completes its massive project on Lake Drive to consolidate the Columbia and St. Mary’s hospitals.
Columbia St. Mary’s has hired CB Richard Ellis to help it find a buyer for the Columbia Hospital property.
The hospital sits on 11 acres and has about 825,000 square feet of building space.
CB Richard Ellis has issued a request for qualifications seeking developers that are interested in and capable of purchasing and redeveloping the Columbia Hospital property.
“What we’re at this point looking to do is get a short list of qualified developers that have the expertise and credibility to convert the hospital to another use,” Westrick said.
UWM has talked to Columbia St. Mary’s about purchasing the hospital property but has not made a formal offer, Westrick said.
UWM will likely be a major tenant in the Columbia Hospital building after it is redeveloped, Westrick said. Therefore, Columbia St. Mary’s and the developer that it decides to sell the hospital to will work with UWM on plans for the building, he said.
“We want somebody with a track record that is able to work with the university,” Westrick said.
Selling the building directly to UWM remains a possibility, he said.
“That is an option,” Westrick said. “We just don’t want to make it our only option.”
Meanwhile, UWM wants to expand its engineering school by building a new engineering campus and a research park/business incubator on 80 acres of land northeast of U.S. Highway 45 and Watertown Plank Road at the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa.
The property is owned by Milwaukee County and is the only portion of the County Grounds that is available for development.
University and county officials are in negotiations about the proposal.
Milwaukee County Supervisor Michael Mayo, the chairman of the county’s Economic and Community Development Committee, expressed support for the UWM engineering campus plan, but also expressed reservations about UWM using some of the property for private development for the research park/business incubator portion of the project. The county needs to make the best use of the property, which is a key taxpayer-owned asset, and Mayo said he would prefer selling any land that UWM does not need for the engineering campus to developers by issuing a request for proposals (RFP).
“We will work with (UWM),” Mayo said. “We are trying to figure out how much land they need. UWM is an institution of higher learning, not a developer.”
The property is a key site located near the Zoo Interchange, Mayfair Mall, the Milwaukee County Research Park and the Milwaukee County Medical Center. Private development of the Milwaukee County Grounds property should be similar to the development at the Milwaukee County Research Park, Mayo said.
“That is prime land,” he said. “We have to make sure we are good stewards of Milwaukee County.”
Creating a new school of engineering would also free up the Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building on the main UWM campus for another use by the school.
The master plan
The UWM campus master plan likely will not be complete for another 18 to 24 months, said Christy Brown, the school’s interim vice chancellor for finance and administrative affairs. The state will select a team of consultants to create the master plan. The consulting teams that are being considered are:
• Omaha, Neb.-based HDR Architecture in association with Chicago-based Loebl, Schlossman & Hackl.
• Minneapolis-based Hammel, Green and Abrahamson Inc. in association with Watertown, Mass.-based Sasaki Associates Inc.
• Ann Arbor, Mich.-based JJR LLC in association with Boston-based Goody Clancy.
• Milwaukee-based Engberg Anderson Design Partnership Inc. in association with Chicago-based Soloman Cordwell Buenz.
The master plan will analyze the real estate needs for UWM for the next 10 to 20 years and will identify opportunities and options to address its needs, Brown said.
UWM has about 29,000 students, including about 23,000 undergraduate students. The school has a few satellite facilities: its Great Lakes Water Institute research facility on the south side; its continuing education center and public radio station (WUWM) are in the downtown Plankinton Building at 161 W. Wisconsin Ave.; and a field station research center in Saukville.
However, its 93 acres on the east side has little, if any, room for expansion.
“We’re very compressed in terms of space on the current footprint,” Brown said.
In addition, UWM only has enough student housing for 3,200 students, which means it doesn’t even have enough beds for its 4,500 student freshman class. That’s even after the recent addition of the RiverView student housing building 2340 N. Commerce St.
Since the school does not have enough beds for its students, other students live in private housing, which creates a strain on the neighborhood around the school. Also, although the school is not as much of a commuter campus as it used to be, many of the students still drive to class, and the campus lacks adequate parking.
The parking situation is “one of the most important things,” for the campus master plan and will be reviewed first, Brown said.
The master plan will also consider the possibility of building high-rises on the east side campus to add more building space by using a minimal amount of land. However, there are few adequate sites for new buildings on the campus, and the school wants to maintain its limited amount of green space to preserve its campus feel, Brown said.
One possibility would be demolishing some older, less-efficient buildings and constructing new, larger buildings in their place, Brown said.
“We have some buildings on campus that are not good uses of space,” she said.
commercial real estate Transactions
LEASES
Boerke Company
U.S. Social Security Administration leased 13,100 square feet of office space in the Reuss Federal Plaza building at 310 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, from RAIT Reuss Federal Plaza.
Dickman Company
Mobile Mini Inc. leased 6,466 square feet of space and 4.43 acres at 5223 S. 9th St., Milwaukee, from Gregory G. Schall.
S.R. Sales leased 30,000 square feet of industrial space at 4320 N. 124th St., Wauwatosa, from 4320 North 124th Street LLC.
Gerald Nell Inc.
Zoom Technologies – Eyesthere of Milwaukee leased 1,740 square feet of office space at 2505 N. Mayfair Road, Suite 217, Wauwatosa, from Sunset Investment Co.
Rhea Steinpreis Ph.D. leased 590 square feet of office space at 2505 N. Mayfair Road, Suite 219, Wauwatosa, from Sunset Investment Co.
Inland Companies
Terracon Consulting Engineers leased 4,800 square feet of space at 9848 S. 57th St., Franklin, from CL Swanson.
Clinical Skin Therapy leased 203 square feet of space at 8003 N. Port Washington Road, Fox Point, from CDG Holdings.
Judson & Associates
Packsmart Inc. leased 1,450 square feet of space at 11727B W. Dearbourn Ave., Wauwatosa, from Dearbourn LLC.
Future Retirement Inc. leased 2,700 square feet of space at 11707A Dearbourn Ave., Wauwatosa, from Dearbourn LLC.
NAI MLG Commercial
Shepherd Chiropractic Clinic S.C. leased 2,198 square feet of retail space at 2301-59 W. Silvernail Road, Waukesha, KPK Eagle Investments.
Central Aquatics, a Central Garden & Pet Co., leased 25,000 square feet of industrial space in the Oakwood Business Center in Franklin from MLG Commercial LLC.
Perfecto Restaurant Group Inc. leased 8,276 square feet of industrial space at 9725 S. 54th St., Franklin, from Megal Development Corp.
Batteries Plus leased 1,600 square feet of retail space at 6150 N. Port Washington Road, Glendale, from JBK North Bay Holdings LLC.
Spirit Dreams Liquor LLC leased 2,422 square feet of retail space at N56 W14108 Silver Spring Road, Menomonee Falls, from High Point Commons LLC.
Ogden & Company Inc.
MMX LLC d.b.a. Mega Media Xchange leased 5,500 square feet of space in the Farwell Point Building from ROSS LLC.
Kabo Partners LLC d.b.a. Juan’s Mexicali leased 2,828 square feet of space on Main Street in West Bend from Hillman Properties LLC.
Siegel-Gallagher
Santa Fe Communications Inc. leased 1,448 square feet of office space at West Allis Center, 1126 S. 70th St., West Allis, from BGK Properties Inc.
Geneva Capital Management Ltd. leased 1,831 square feet of space in 250 Plaza at 250 E. Wisconsin Ave., from East Milwaukee Operating Associates LP.
SALES
Dickman Company
The Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints purchased a 55,000-square-foot church at 1170 W. Wind Lake Ave., Milwaukee, from Faith Baptist Church.
Badger Lighting & Signs purchased a 65,000-square-foot industrial and office building at 19355 Janacek Ct., Brookfield, from Bavaria Industries Inc.
JAS Realty LLC purchased 17,081 square feet of industrial space at 4010-18 W. Douglas Ave., Milwaukee, from Nancy Glassner and Betty Burns.
SBBM Property LLC purchased 12,095 square feet of industrial space at 9850 S. 54th St., Franklin, from Macrifin Real Estate Corp.
Z3 Properties Inc. purchased 15,000 square feet of industrial space at 1201 S. Prairie Ave., Waukesha, from 1201 Prairie Partnership.
Mikkelsen Graphic Engineering Inc. purchased 14,080 square feet of industrial space at 940 Maxwell St., Lake Geneva, from Albert Trostel Packings Ltd.
Judson & Associates
Hickory Woods of Delafield LLC purchased 9,960 square feet of space at N8 W22455 Johnson Dr., Pewaukee, from KHS USA Inc.
NAI MLG Commercial
Generation II LLC purchased 2.37 acres at South Oakwood Drive in Franklin from Schuster Properties LLC.
Kentucky Data Link purchased 3.68 acres in the Sussex Corporate Center in Sussex from MLI/TRAPP LTD PTR.
Austin Real Estate LLC purchased 6,900 square feet of industrial real estate at 530 Norton Dr., Hartland, from Paul Glapinski.
White Cap Real Estate LLC purchased 20,000 square feet of space at 5250 S. 108th St., Hales Corners, from 2Y’s & 1K #2 LLC, Mike’s No. 7 LLC and Steve’s #2 LLC.
Leden and Theresa Tucker purchased 1.57 acres at 7415-19 Mill Road, Milwaukee, from Beverly and John Martin.
New construction
MSI General Corp., Oconomowoc, was selected by Sendik’s Food Market to design and remodel the former Jewel Osco store at 7901 W. Layton Ave., Greenfield, into a new 60,000-square-foot Sendik’s store. The project is expected to be complete in May. MSI General recently completed a remodeling and 8,474-square-foot addition to the Slinger Fire Department, renovations for the building at 225 W. Capitol Dr., Milwaukee, which will now serve as a satellite school with community programs for Lad Lake School Milwaukee Inc. and a 1,150-square-foot masonry addition for U.S. Carwash at 1626 N. 12th St., Milwaukee.
Briohn Building Corp., Brookfield, was contracted to build a multi-floor 40,000-square-foot tenant improvement and expansion for M&I Wealth Management at the Milwaukee Center, 111 E. Kilbourn Ave., Milwaukee. Briohn was also contracted to design and build a 16,900-square-foot multi-tenant retail building for Rundle Spence on South Moorland Road in New Berlin. Briohn was also selected to build a 10,800-square-foot ambulatory care facility for Columbia St. Mary’s in One Mayfair Place at 2717 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa. Briohn also recently completed the design and construction of a 12,000-square-foot tenant improvement for Hetzel Sanfilippo Inc. at N29 W23810 Woodgate Court West, Suite 300, Pewaukee.
VJS Construction Services, Pewaukee, was hired to do building renovations and remodeling for the Brown Deer School District. The project is under construction and is expected to be completed in August. VJS was also hired to build the Oconomowoc Parkway Intermediate School. Construction of the 125,000-square-foot school for students in grades 5-8 is expected to be complete in August.
Campbell Construction, Waukesha, was hired by BC Pabst Holdings LLC to renovate building #14 in the former Pabst brewery complex in downtown Milwaukee. The project is being designed by Zimmerman Design Group, Wauwatosa. The three-story building will be converted to an office building. The project is expected to start on March 15. Campbell Construction was also awarded the public space renovations project in the Riverfront Plaza building at 1110 N. Old World Third St. in downtown Milwaukee.
