Dawn Zak

Ozaukee County is best known for its large homes and quaint communities. Cedarburg and Port Washington come to mind.
However, the county near the northern edge of the Milwaukee metro area is increasingly opening its doors to the development of new office space.
Mequon-based HCap Strategies, which recently changed its name from FlexBen Corp., plans to move into a two-story, 36,000-square-foot office building to be built by Mequon developer Mike Mehta at the southeast corner of Donges Bay Road and Baehr Road.
HCap Strategies, an employee benefits administrator and consulting firm with about 135 employees, will vacate most of the space it leases at an office building across the street, also owned by Mehta.
"We're completely out of space," said Robin Brugman, executive vice president of finance for HCap. The company will still lease about 12,000 square feet of space in its current location after the new building is completed, she said.
The new building will be the first to be built in the Donges Bay Corporate Park, which Mehta is developing. Only about 30 acres of the 70-acre park is suitable for development, because much of the property on wetlands, Mehta said.
Construction of the new building on the 7.5-acre lot is expected to begin in November and should be completed in the summer, Brugman said.
The Donges Bay Corporate Park is about a half-mile west of the Mequon Business Park, developed by the city and expanded by 80 acres to about 210 acres about a year ago.
A new office building also is planned in downtown Grafton. Cary Management plans to build a two-story, 5,000-square-foot building on an 11,000-square-foot site at the northwest corner of Washington Street and 12th Avenue. Cary will move its offices from another downtown building into the new building.
"It's a small project, but an important project because of its location," said Grafton Village Manager Darrel Hofland. "It's another step in a positive direction for downtown."
The Cary building is the fourth significant project in downtown Grafton since 2002. An Ozaukee Bank branch and a 66-unit elderly housing complex were built in 2002. A 44-unit condo development is currently under construction.
Grafton officials are in final negotiations with three developers for three different downtown sites. The developers are planning mixed-use projects with retail and residential uses, Hofland said.
"The village has turned the corner and is sending a message to existing property owners and developers that redevelopment is well on its way in downtown Grafton," he said.
More Qdoba
Milwaukee-based Roaring Fork Restaurant Group, owner of Qdoba Mexican Grill and Twisted Fork restaurants, has agreements to open four more restaurants within the year. The new locations will include: at Interstate 94 and Highway 83 in Delafield; Silvernail Road and County Trunk Highway T in Waukesha; Highway 11 and Highway 31 in Racine; and one in Madison. The firm recently opened a new Qdoba Mexican Grill at 5075 S. 76th St., Greenfield. The company owns and operates 13 Qdoba restaurants in Wisconsin along with Twisted Fork, located at 2238 N. Farwell Ave., Milwaukee.
More Starbucks
Seattle-based high-priced coffee behemoth Starbucks is planning to bring three more stores to the Milwaukee area.
One is planned at a retail building developed by Ogden Development Group at 1130 W. Miller Park Way in West Milwaukee. Starbucks also is planning a 1,500-square-foot store in Grafton at the southwest corner of Washington Street (Highway 60) and Port Washington Road. Another Starbucks store is under construction in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood at the intersection of Oklahoma Kinnickinnic avenues.
Kenosha
The City of Kenosha plans to build a 50,000-square-foot Civil War Museum in the downtown area. Engberg Anderson Design Partnership of Milwaukee has been selected to design the museum. The firm also designed the downtown Kenosha Public Museum, which the city opened in 2001. Developer Mark Riley plans to build a 12,000 square-foot office building at 5017 Green Bay Road.
Milwaukee
Racine-based Knight-Barry Title Group recently opened an office in downtown Milwaukee at 250 E. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 725. The company also recently opened a new office in Madison, making it the firm's seventh new office in the past 10 years.
Oconomowoc
First Bank Financial Centre plans to open a bank branch in the Summit Centre Market Place at 1300 E. Summit Ave.
Franklin
Grasch Real Estate & Investment LLC is planning a two-building office complex at 6776-7520 S. 76th St. Each building would have 6,500 square feet. Johnson Bank plans to build a 6,700 square-foot branch at 3001 W. Rawson Ave. The developer for the project is The Redmond Company.
Andrew Weiland is managing editor of Small Business Times. Send news about commercial real estate to Andrew.weiland@biztimes.com or by calling him at (414) 277-8181, ext. 120. News can also be sent to Andrew Weiland, Small Business Times, 1123 N. Water St., Milwaukee, WI 53202.
Commercial real estate transactions
SALES
Apex Commercial, Inc.
Voss Jorgensen Schueler Co. purchased 43,734 square feet of industrial space at W223 N2842 Roundy Circle West, Pewaukee, for $2 million from Daniels Development LLC.
NAI MLG Commercial
Lloyd Williams and Todd Krempasky purchased 42 acres at the southeast corner of Highway 67 and County Trunk Highway DR, just south of I-94, in the Town of Summit, from Nimrod Horse Farms. The Pabst Farms development surrounds the parcel.
Stan and Kinga Odachowski purchased the 4,320 square-foot Elmbrook Humane Society building at 21210 Enterprise Ave., Brookfield.
Reardon Holdings, LLC purchased a 37,776 square-foot manufacturing building at 4460 N. 124th St., Wauwatosa, from Price Erecting.
LEASES
Apex Commercial, Inc.
AWC Group LLC is leasing 606 square-feet of office space at 2433 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, from 2400 Mayfair Road Limited Partnership.
Lull & Ramsey, LLC is leasing 2,744 square feet of office space at 2421 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, from 2400 Mayfair Road Limited Partnership.
Boerke Company
United Parcel Service has leased 10,271 square feet of office space at 150 N. Patrick Boulevard, Brookfield, in the Brookfield Lakes Corporate Center VII, from Transwestern Great Lakes, L.P.
NAI MLG Commercial
dB Express has leased 9,000 square feet of space at S84 W18764-68 Enterprise Drive, Muskego from Enterprise Plaza Partners, LLC.
The Towne Group
Springfield College's School of Human Services Milwaukee Campus has leased 20,500 square-feet of space in the Commerce Center, 744 N. Fourth St., Milwaukee.
New construction
Suburban Construction, Inc. has been selected by Green Bay Self Storage to be the design-builder for phase one of a 40,000 square-foot mini-warehouse project at 4565 N. Green Bay Ave. Construction started in July and is expected to be completed this month. Suburban Construction, Inc. has also been selected by the Washington County Highway Department to be the construction manager for a new 60,000 square-foot maintenance facility at the highway department's yard in Slinger. The project began in June and is expected to be completed in November. Suburban Construction, Inc. was also selected by Pioneer Plaza, Ltd. to be the construction manager for their new restaurant and remodeled retail store at Highway 41 and Highway 145 in Richfield.
Bukacek Construction is building the $12.6 million, 69,700 square-foot addition to the Prairie School field house in Racine.
September 17, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI