Schaumburg, Ill.-based Wight Realty Group purchased the Hillmoor Golf Club in Lake Geneva earlier this year and is now planning a $110 million development to rebuild the golf course and add 278 homes and a 100-room hotel.
Wight bought the golf course from Hillmoor Golf Club Inc. Wight also purchased a large amount of undeveloped land adjacent to the golf course. The firm purchased 75 acres from Joe Pecora and 30 acres from Harmony Homes. Wight now owns about 230 acres at the site, and the golf course covers less than half of that.
Hillmoor Golf Club was built in 1923. Since then, several other golf courses have opened in the Lake Geneva area, which is a popular tourist destination, especially for Chicago area residents.
"(Hillmoor) has never been really upgraded," said Mike Assad, a partner with Wight Realty Group. "There are 21 golf courses within a 15-minute car ride. It’s really hard to compete."
Wight plans to totally rebuild Hillmoor with a new layout, making use of the additional land purchased next to the golf course. The new course is expected to open in the spring of 2007 with a new name, Wight Canyon Golf Club.
"There will not be a hole that’s the same," Assad said.
The property’s natural features provide an opportunity to build a beautiful golf course, Assad said. It features 80- to 90-foot changes in topography, a large wetland and a wooded area. The White River runs through the property and into Geneva Lake. Many of the best natural elements are not on the golf course, but they are on the land Wight bought next to the course, he said.
The company also plans to add seven to eight ponds and two to three waterfalls, including a 40-foot waterfall near the clubhouse.
"We will make it as beautiful as possible," Assad said. "We’re going to try to make as many beautiful holes as we can so when you leave the golf course you will be talking about this hole or that hole."
The greens fees for Wight Canyon will cost $50 to $70, including cart, Assad said, compared with the $25 to $40 greens fees, including cart, for Hillmoor.
During construction next year, Wight plans to keep nine holes open with a temporary clubhouse. The current clubhouse will be demolished.
A new 10,000-square-foot clubhouse with a bar and grill will be built near a 300-seat banquet hall and the 100-room hotel. Those facilities will open within six months of when the rebuilt course opens in the spring of 2007, Assad said.
The hotel could become a "destination resort," Assad said. Wight has not yet selected a chain to operate the hotel, he said.
"It will be a recognizable flag," Assad said. "We want to have the benefit of their reservation system."
Assad is a former vice president with the Marriott Hotel Group. Wight is looking for a hotel company of that
caliber to operate the Lake Geneva property, he said.
Wight also plans to build 143 single-family homes, 44 duplex units and 91 townhomes, for a total of 278 homes, on the property. The prices for the residences will range from $325,000 to $600,000, Assad said. About two-thirds of the buyers are expected to be people buying second homes. The other third will be people buying the homes as their primary residence.
The project also includes a 20,000-square-foot multi-tenant retail building along Highway 50. Wight plans to make some improvements to the highway, adding turn lanes.
The company plans to build 15,000 feet of walking paths through the property that will be open to the public.
"We bought a whole bunch of beautiful land," Assad said. "Ninety-nine percent of the city (residents) have never had a chance to see it. I envision this being one of the prettiest developments in the state of Wisconsin."
The project still must be approved by the City of Lake Geneva. More information is available at: www.wightcanyon.com.
Menomonee Falls
Glenroy Inc. is purchasing a 77,000-square-foot industrial building at N92 W1455 Anthony Ave. from RDK Properties LLP. The building has been vacant for about two years. The last tenant in the building was Wacker Corp. Glenroy is headquartered in a 131,000-square-foot building at W158 N9332 Nor-X-Way Ave., Menomonee Falls. The company is a flexible packaging converter. Glenroy manufactures packaging film enhanced with flexographic printing for personal care, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, health care, food and industrial markets.
First Industrial Realty Trust, a Chicago-based REIT (real estate investment trust), has a contract to purchase 5.5 acres of vacant land at the northeast corner of Campbell and Woodale drives. First Industrial plans to build a 70,000-square-foot, multi-tenant, speculative industrial building on the site. The facility would be designed primarily for warehouse and distribution.
Addison, Ill.-based U.S. Upfitters recently opened its first Wisconsin location at N49 W13423 Campbell Drive. The company is leasing 7,500 square feet in a multi-tenant building. U.S. Upfitters has a third location in Maryland. The company sells and installs commercial accessories for trucks and cargo vans. "We felt there was a need for this type of equipment in the area," said Jim Hathaway, general manager of U.S. Upfitters of Wisconsin Inc.
Menomonee Falls resident Keith Rehberg plans to create a paintball recreation facility on a 14-acre site at N84 W20260 Menomonee Ave. The property was once a Nike Ajax missile site, which was created during the 1950s at the height of the Cold War. Surface-to-air missiles were stored underground in concrete bunkers at the site and could have been raised and fired from a launch pad. The property has been unused since it was decommissioned by the military and the missiles were removed. Rehberg plans to create four regulation (100-foot by 200-foot) paintball tournament fields on the property. He also plans to create three or four nature paintball fields with trees and brush. He also plans to create three man-made valleys for paintball competition. The valleys will include the abandoned missile storage units. Six buildings that remain from the missile site will be used for the paintball facility, Rehberg said. The facility, called Competition Paintball, could open next spring. The project still must be approved by village officials.
Sheboygan
A joint venture of Milwaukee-based Dixon Development LLC and Milwaukee-based Vetter-Denk Architects Inc. are planning to convert the former C. Reiss Coal Co. office building into 18 condominiums. In addition, they plan to build a 36-unit condominium building next door. Dixon and Vetter-Denk responded to an RFP from the City of Sheboygan seeking someone to redevelop the four-story, Reiss office building. It was built in 1913 and an addition was added in 1961. The property is at the entry point to the South Pier District, which is the former C. Reiss Coal Co. peninsula, where Reiss used to store piles of coal years ago, which is being redeveloped. The Blue Harbor Resort opened there last year. The condos will have one to two bedrooms, with 900 to 1,600 square feet of space, and will be priced between $160,000 and $295,000. Construction is expected to begin in about two to three months and the first residents could move in next summer, said Dixon Development owner Tim Dixon.
New Berlin
First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. recently purchased a 100,520-square-foot industrial building at 17005 W. Ryerson Road for just under $5 million, from Cohen Financial. Welsh Bindery occupies the entire building and has four years remaining on its lease. "It’s a good asset and a good tenant in a really good industrial market," said Peter Ginn, regional manager of First Industrial, which owns more than 1.2 million square feet of industrial real estate in the Milwaukee area.
Minneapolis-based Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar plans to open a 7,350-square-foot restaurant in Moorland Commons at Moorland and Beloit Roads. Buffalo Wild Wings is building another restaurant in Kenosha and has locations on Water Street in downtown Milwaukee and in Wauwatosa and West Allis.
Oak Creek
Eugene Eder plans to develop a 30,000-square-foot speculative industrial building on a vacant 2.5-acre site at 6758 S. 13th St.
Acropolis restaurant plans to add a 6,000-square-foot addition to its building at 8950 S. 27th St. The addition will provide space for retail tenants.
Pyramid Developers plan to build an 11,000-square-foot multi-tenant retail building on a vacant site at 9000 S. 27th St.
RW Howell LLC plans to build a 10,000-square-foot multi-tenant retail building and a 19,0000-square-foot office building at 8375 S. Howell Ave.
KVG Building Corp. recently began construction on a 10,200-square-foot multi-tenant retail building at 2345 W. Ryan Road. The retail building will be called Oak Creek Commons. The site is just west of I-94.
Taco Bell is building a restaurant at 8201 S. Howell Ave.
Hales Corners
McHenry, Ill.-based Prime Commercial Corp. recently opened an office at 5811 S. 121st St., Hales Corners, and an office in Wausau. Prime’s services include commercial, institutional and industrial project/construction management, business park development and corporate real estate services for projects in McHenry and Lake Counties in Illinois and Walworth, Marathon, Wausau and Milwaukee Counties in Wisconsin.
Racine
Dan Dashner plans to open a four-room bed and breakfast inn in a 4,700-square-foot home built in 1896 at 1500 S. Main St.
Mequon
Oscar Castro plans to open a Casa Grande Mexican restaurant in 5,000 square feet of space at 10944 N. Port Washington Road, in the Mequon Pavilions Shopping Center. The restaurant will fill the space formerly occupied by Asian Delights, a Thai and Indian fusion restaurant.
Milwaukee
A groundbreaking ceremony was held recently for the $1.4 million, two-story, 10,385-square-foot Riverworks Commerce Center at Keefe Avenue and Holton Street. The building will house the administrative and training program offices for the Riverworks Development Corporation. The corporation is a nonprofit community development corporation whose mission is to attract and retain neighborhood commercial, retail and manufacturing industries.
Delafield
Integrated Financial Solutions LLC recently moved its office from Oconomowoc to a 2,300-square-foot space at 709 Milwaukee St. in downtown Delafield.
Kenosha
Construction began recently on developer Robert Watring’s Lakeview Virginia Towers project, a nine-story, 34-unit condominium building that will be built at the southwest corner of Fourth Avenue and 57th St. in downtown Kenosha. It will be one of the tallest buildings in Kenosha.
Andrew Weiland is the 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.
