ABG Development, a Georgia developer, plans to develop more than 125 acres on the south end of Franklin. According to preliminary plans submitted by ABG, the company plans to develop 75 acres north of Ryan Road, on the west and east sides of South 76th Street, with commercial and residential development. That development would be called Franklin Park. Northwest of South 76th Street and Ryan Road, ABG plans to develop a 20,000-square-foot grocery store, a 32,000-square-foot anchor retail store, 52,000 square feet of additional retail space, a 7,500-square-foot restaurant and about 108 residential condos.
Northeast of South 76th Street and Ryan Road the company plans to develop 50,000 square feet of office space, 25,000 square feet of retail space, 39,000 square feet of commercial space, a 9,750-square-foot restaurant and about 144 residential condos.
The company also plans to develop 52 acres northwest of Oakwood Road and South 76th Street with 57 single family homes. That project, would be called Estates at Oakwood Road.
ABG wants the city to either approve or reject both projects together.
"This is a package deal," said Franklin planner Ryan Mentkowski.
The property that ABG wants to build on is all undeveloped farmland without city services. Currently, the city’s sewer service ends at South 60th Street and Ryan Road. But ABG Development has offered to pay for the cost of extending the sewers to its sites, Mentkowski said.
More Franklin News
West Bend-based American Design & Build Inc. plans to build a 16,580-square-foot commercial condominium building on a vacant, two-acre site at 4700 W. Ryan Road. Kraft Music, a retailer and mail-order supplier of high end electronic music equipment, will occupy about 8,000 square feet in the building.
Nancy Meinerz plans to redevelop four vacant buildings at 10930 W. Loomis Road for a veterinarian clinic, a doggie day care and dog kennels. The clinic and a dog grooming business will occupy a 6,000-square-foot house on the property. The doggie day care will be in a 5,280-square-foot building and the kennels will be in a 1,200-square-foot building and a 2,430-square-foot building. The property was formerly used by a boat storage business.
D’Amato Likes Downer Hotel Idea
Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, east side Alderman Michael D’Amato says he likes the proposal by Ogden & Co. to build a boutique hotel on a city-owned parking lot at 2574 N. Downer Ave. "I think the hotel is a great idea," D’Amato said. "A hotel of that quality on that street would do wonders for revitalizing the businesses and that area in general."
However, city officials are balking at Ogden’s request for tax incremental financing (TIF) for the project. "If the Ogden proposal didn’t require any public assistance it would be a slam dunk," D’Amato said. No formal request has been made, but D’Amato said Ogden is seeking about $1.5 million in TIF financing.
The city issued a request for proposals (RFP), seeking development proposals for the property. Eight were submitted, but Department of City Development (DCD) staff decided not to recommend any of them. The projects were analyzed on their potential impact and financial feasibility, said DCD spokeswoman Andrea Rowe Richards.
Several Downer Avenue residents and business owners have expressed support for the hotel project, D’Amato said.
Ogden wants to build a 43-room hotel with 10,000 square feet of retail space on the 16,500-square-foot lot. It would be a four-story building with the fourth floor set back from the street. Rooms would cost $140 to $150 a night, said Tom Neubauer of Ogden Development Group. It would be a limited service hotel, Neubauer said, and would not have a restaurant or bar competing with existing business in the area. Guests would be encouraged to patronize businesses on Downer Street, he said.
The other projects proposed for the property include a proposal by New Land Enterprises to build a three-story building with nine luxury apartments and 7,500 square feet of retail space. Neubauer said he does not know if the hotel project absolutely must have TIF funding to succeed. "If there is support for the concept, then we want to find a way financially to get it done," he said. Ogden hopes to marshal support for the concept from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital, which would benefit from having a hotel in the area, Neubauer said. The hotel could have a shuttle service to take people to UWM, he said. There are no hotels on the east side of Milwaukee, but several developers are eying the area, D’Amato said.
"In the last six months I’ve had no fewer than five people come talk to me about (developing) hotels somewhere on the east side," he said. "I think there’s a market on the east side for hotel rooms." City officials will have to crunch the numbers, examine the proposal and negotiate more with Ogden to determine if the project should considered by the Common Council, D’Amato said. "If it is a good deal for the city, I will do what I can to push it forward," he said.
More Stores for the Third Ward
Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward continues to be a retail hot spot. San Francisco-based Design Within Reach plans to open its first Wisconsin store in the Wirth & Hammel Stable Shops at 173 N. Broadway St., in the Third Ward, and women’s fashion boutique Three Graces will move from 1330 E. Brady St. to the Marshall Building at 207 E. Buffalo St. in the Third Ward.
Design Within Reach has leased 5,812 square feet from 173 Broadway LLC. Mid-America Real Estate represented Design Within Reach and Siegel-Gallagher represented 173 Broadway LLC. Design Within Reach sells upscale, European-style furnishings and accessories for the home or office. Its products have been featured on the popular TV shows "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and "Trading Spaces." The company, Design Within Reach Inc., has 56 stores in the U.S., and had more than $120 million in sales in 2004.
As more stores open in the Historic Third Ward more shoppers are flocking to the area encouraging even more stores to open there. Stores that have opened during the last two years in the Third Ward include: Dinesen’s Leather Only, Harlequin Bakery, Freckle Face, J. Bird Boutique, Hers, Cranston, Blush, Moda3, Groom and New World Wine Co. In addition, Metropawlis, a boutique pet store previously located at 1327 E. Brady St., will move in to a larger location in the Third Ward at 317 N. Broadway.
PR Firm Moving Downtown
Mequon-based Vollrath Associates Inc. plans to move its offices to downtown Milwaukee. The company’s lease at 1355 West Towne Square Road in Mequon is expiring. On May 1, Vollrath will move to on office building on Cathedral Square in downtown Milwaukee at 839 N. Jefferson St., where the firm will occupy about 2,400 square feet. The company has seven employees and has been located in Mequon for eight years.
"We decided it was the right time to look around and see what our options were," said company president Marilyn Vollrath. "There’s so much going on downtown. It’s just a very exciting place to be. With all of the new buildings and more people moving downtown, there’s so much to do and so many places to go out to eat after work. I feel like we’ll spend more time downtown now."
The strategic communications firm specializes in investor relations, public relations, marketing communications and public affairs.
Huge Athletic Complex Planned in Bristol
Kenosha-based MPM Property Management wants to build a 240,000-square-foot athletic facility with indoor baseball, softball, football and soccer fields and volleyball courts in the Town of Bristol. The facility would be built on a site east of U.S. Highway 45 between 87th Street and County Highway C. The developers must receive approval from the Kenosha County Board to begin construction.
Waukesha
SK-Waukesha LLC plans to build a 6,790-square-foot gas station/convenience store/McDonald’s restaurant at the southwest corner of East Main Street and Les Paul Parkway. The building will be built on the site of the Swing Time miniature golf course. The miniature golf course will be replaced by a new miniature golf course that will replace the batting cages, said Swing Time owner Pete Gilsinger. Swing Time will maintain its driving range. The batting cages had to be eliminated to provide adequate parking for the McDonald’s/convenience store. The batting cages were less profitable than the driving range or the miniature golf course, Gilsinger said. He hopes the McDonald’s restaurant will help attract more customers to the driving range and miniature golf course at Swing Time. Gilsinger also owns the Swing Time driving range and miniature golf course at Highway 175 and Lannon Road in Germantown. At the Germantown location he plans to add batting cages, a go-kart track and a covered driving range area that can be heated in the winter.
Brown Deer
Wade Weissmann Architecture and Jon Schlagenhaft Design plan to move to a new, 14,000-square-foot, single-story office building that would be built on a 1.15-acre vacant lot at 8655 N. Deerwood Drive in Brown Deer. Wade Weissmann Architecture is currently located at 7127 N. Green Bay Ave. in Glendale and Jon Schlagenhaft Design is currently located at 10134 N. Port Washington Road in Mequon. The new office building would be built in the Original Village, a historic district located southeast of Brown Deer and Green Bay roads that is the original settlement area of Brown Deer. Wade Weissmann Architecture is the developer for the project and is expected to seek some tax incremental financing, said Brown Deer planning and zoning specialist Nate Piotrowski.
Apollo Tan plans to move from 6140 W. Brown Deer Road to a 4,100-square-foot space at 6780 W. Brown Deer Road. The tanning salon had to move because of the construction of a Lowe’s store.
Germantown
Michael C. Kirk recently opened Maxim Wealth Management, LLC, a financial planning and wealth management office at W175 N11117 Stonewood Dr., Germantown. The firm focuses on comprehensive financial planning for individuals and businesses.
Lawyers Larry R. Cote Jr. and R.L. McNeely have opened a new law firm, Law Offices of Larry R. Cote Jr. LLC, in the Stonewood Corporate Center, W175 N11163 Stonewood Dr., Suite 220, in Germantown. The emphasis of Cote’s practice are on civil litigation, criminal defense, employment matters, construction contract issues and family law. McNeely, a professor in the Bader School of Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is serving in an of counsel capacity at the firm.
Menomonee Falls
Rick Bartelt and Richard Filo, the co-owners of Bartelt Filo, a residential and commercial designer, builder and remodeling company, plan to demolish the former Colony Motel at N86 W14131 Beacon St. to build a 7,500-square-foot single-story office building and a 15,000-square-foot two-story office building.
Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Arctic Glacier Inc. plans to spend $5 million to convert the former Superior recycling center at N60 W16280 Kohler Lane into an ice manufacturing facility. About 25 employees are expected to work in the facility.
Kenosha
Carthage College plans to build six new dormitory buildings on the south side of the campus, which is located at 2001 Alford Park Drive. Each of the new dormitory buildings will be five stories tall with 78 rooms. The first of the six buildings is already under construction.
Steve Elkin plans to build a 13,740-square-foot multi-tenant commercial building on a one-acre vacant site at 11300 75th St.
Hartland
T-Lon Products Inc., a manufacturer of fluoropolymer seals and bearings, used mostly for mobile hydraulic equipment, plans to build a 36,831-square-foot building on a vacant site at 1110 Richards Road. The company will move there from 540 Progress Drive, Hartland, where it has been located since it was founded in 1979, vice president and owner Bob Olson said.
West Allis
City officials selected West Allis LLC, a partnership of Brian Kliesmet and Steve Stewart, to develop a 0.6-acre site located north of Greenfield Avenue between 63rd and 64th streets. Kliesmet and Stewart plan to demolish three mostly vacant old buildings, totaling 22,000 square feet of space, on the site and build a five-story building with 42 condominiums, 88 underground parking spaces and 22,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. The condos will cost between $169,000 and $369,000.
The penthouse units will have their own garden. The project, expected to begin construction later this year, is the latest redevelopment planned for the city’s farmers market neighborhood. Other projects include Toldt Development Inc.’s plan to build 14 buildings with about 650 condominiums and apartments on a 17-acre site west of 65th Street and between Greenfield Avenue and Mitchell Street.
"We have 700 new apartments and condos (that will be built) in that neighborhood within a stone’s throw of 1 million square feet of office space," said John Stibal, the city’s director of development. "We’re creating a new neighborhood next to thousands of jobs and next to downtown (West Allis)."
Leases
Judson & Associates Commodi-Tees leased 2,800 square feet of space at 5500 W. Clinton Ave., Milwaukee, from Stark Properties.
SPARQ Products leased 27,000 square feet of space at 1860 Executive Dr., Oconomowoc, from Walter Bohrer.
Anderson Pump & Process leased 28,143 square feet of space at 21365 Gateway Court, Brookfield, from Dabble Investments.
TRS Metal & Roofing leased 16,000 square feet of space at 901 Sentry Dr., Waukesha, from Capitol Acquisitions.
Todd Transit leased 5,000 square feet of space at S83 W18890 Saturn Dr., Muskego, from Lindus Properties.
MEDS/PDN leased 1,500 square feet of space at 708 Larry Ct., Brookfield, from PWS Eterprises.
Wright Pump Systems leased 13,953 square feet of space at S84 W18693 Enterprise Dr., Muskego, from Hiram Miller.
Char Fiore leased 1,600 square feet of space at 2321 S. 108th St., West Allis, from WPVA of WI.
Mid-America Real Estate
Design Within Reach leased 5,812 square feet of space at 173 N. Broadway St., Milwaukee, from 173 Broadway LLC.
NAI MLG Commercial
Xpress Wireless leased a 1,600-square-foot retail space and GolfTEC leased a 2,211-square-foot retail space at Stratford Plaza, 12132 W. Capitol Dr., Wauwatosa, from C-Jem LLC.
Action Powersports Inc. leased a 17,600-square-foot building at 202 Travis Lane, Waukesha, from Rudolph/Diane Raab Revocable Trust.
Edward Jones leased 1,400 square feet of space at W64 N717 Washington Ave., Cedarburg.
2nd Wind Exercise Equipment leased a 3,454-square-foot space at the Promenade Shopping Center, in Wauwatosa and a 3,130-square-foot space at 8709 S. Howell Ave., Oak Creek.
Polacheck Company
Edger J.L. Perez leased 2,500 square feet of space at 5836B 75th St., Kenosha, from Plaza 50 Associates – Richard Yuspeh.
Red Oak Label LLC leased 4,572 square feet of space at 2923 S. 160th St., New Berlin, from DA Milwaukee.
Chernins Shoe Outlet LLC leased 11,394 square feet of space at the Northwest Fashion Center, 8603-65 W. Brown Deer Road, Milwaukee, from RIG Northwest Fashion Square LLC.
Anna’s Linens Inc. leased 9,000 square feet of space at Midtown Center at Capitol Drive and 56th Street in Milwaukee, from Inland Western Milwaukee MidTown LLC.
Subway Real Estate leased 1,595 square feet of space at 6035 Durand Ave., Mt. Pleasant, from 6035 Durand LLC.
Catalyst International leased 41,120 square feet of space at 8989 N. Deerwood Dr., Brown Deer, from Brown Deer WI LLC.
Orkin Inc. leased 2,884 square feet of space at 10101 Innovation Dr., Milwaukee, from Woodlake LLC.
Sales
Judson & Associates
EZ Properties purchased 1,720 square feet of space at 310 Williams St., Waukesha, from Esser Properties.
Mark Dodd purchased eight acres of land on Highway ES in Mukwonago from Bruce Krogstad.
D&T LLC purchased 22,646 square feet of space at 11122 W. Rogers St., West Allis, from FJA Christiansen Inc.
Bielinski Homes purchased 27 acres of land at the northeast corner of Port Washington Road and Highway 33 in Port Washington from Tom Jacque.
Olson’s Outdoor Power purchased 10,000 square feet of space at S63 W14323 College Ave., Muskego, from Jean Richards.
Adair Plumbing purchased 10,160 square feet of space at 9530 N. 107th St., Milwaukee, from George Kanavas.
Port Grand View Development purchased 1.36 acres of land at 350 E. Seven Hills Road, Port Washington, from Fountain Head Development.
Space Management purchased 10,400 square feet of space at N94 W14588 Garwin Mace Dr., Menomonee Falls, from Bando-McGlocklin.
Boro Buzdum purchased 3.1 acres on Highway 74 in Sussex from Marine W.J. LLC.
NAI MLG Commercial
Kangaroo Brands Inc. purchased a 16,100-square-foot industrial building at 8222 N. Granville Woods Road, Milwaukee, from Interstate Brands Corp.
J&E Investments LLC purchased an 11,979-square-foot office building at 2130 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, from H&R Block.
Polacheck Company
Hopkins Development Group LLC purchased 1.46 acres at 4220 N. 35th St., Milwaukee, from Center Marketing Company.
Hot Line Truckload Services purchased 4 acres at 6650 N. Industrial Road, Milwaukee, from Clyde Jenkins.
Franklin WI-Good Holdings LLC purchased 0.76 acres at 2930 W. Rawson Ave., Franklin, from Alvin Brinkman.
New Construction
Berghammer Construction, Butler, is building the 53,000-square-foot new Toyota dealership for Heiser Automotive Group in the Metro Auto Park on Milwaukee’s northwest side. The design was created by Gensler Architects and local architectural services are being provided by ArchDesign Ltd., Cedarburg. Berghammer is also the general contractor for a 30,000-square-foot building being developed by Liberty Property Trust that will be leased to the U.S. Department of Defense. The building was designed by Stephen Perry Smith Architects, Menomonee Falls. In addition, Berghammer recently completed a 24,000-square-foot tenant improvement for PriceWaterhouse Coopers on the 17th and 18th floors of the 100 East building in downtown Milwaukee. The architect was The Environments Group, Chicago. Berghammer also recently completed the renovation of the old MSOE gymnasium into educational space for Tenor High School. Eppstein Uhen Architects provided architectural services for that project.
Creative Constructors LLC, Menomonee Falls, recently completed the interior finish-out of a 1,800-square-foot Starbucks café at 3550 Washington Ave. in Sheboygan.
Selzer-Ornst Co., Wauwatosa, was recently selected to complete the interior renovation of KPMG’s offices at the U.S. Bank Tower, 777 E. Wisconsin Ave., in downtown Milwaukee. Selzer-Ornst was also selected to complete the interior renovation of the offices for The Interdependents Inc. at 777 N. Jefferson St. Selzer-Ornst is also completing the renovation of 29 resident rooms in the Congregational Home in Brookfield. Plunkett Raysich Architects was the designer for the Congregational Home and for the Dr. Ziegler & Leffingwell offices. Recently, Selzer-Ornst completed the renovation of the Dr. Ziegler & Leffingwell offices in West Allis. Selzer-Ornst has also completed construction of a 445-vehicle parking structure, designed by Renner Architects, at the Summit Place office complex in West Allis.
Briohn Building Corp., Brookfield, was selected to design and remodel a 90,000-square-foot Pick n’ Save grocery store at 12735 W. Capitol Dr., Brookfield.
MEDC Loans
Jennifer Rau plans to move her vintage clothing store, Yellow Jacket Inc., from 2225 N. Humboldt Blvd., Milwaukee, to 1235 E. Brady St. Rau received a $140,000 MEDC loan and $210,000 in financing from U.S. Bank to purchase the Brady Street property, which is a Victorian home built in 1872. The first floor will be converted into a retail space for the Yellow Jacket store and the second floor will continue to be used as a residence. Yellow Jacket specializes in vintage clothing and accessories from the 1960s, 70s and 80s and has been located in leased space at Humboldt and North Avenue for nine years.
Renaissance Food Court LLC d.b.a. Scoopz Milwaukee received a $402,704 MEDC loan and $1.3 million from Legacy Bank to fund construction of Scoopz, a start-up frozen custard restaurant that will be located at 3617-31 W. North Ave.
Arton’s Corp. d.b.a. Art’s Cameras Plus received a $464,800 504 bond to provide funding for its plans to purchase a 3,500-square-foot building to add a third Art’s Cameras Plus location at 4981 S. 76th St., Greenfield.
