After a slow start, the office space at Bayshore Town Center is beginning to fill up. In November of 2006, Columbus, Ohio-based Steiner + Associates completed the transformation of the 500,000-square-foot Bayshore Mall in Glendale into Bayshore Town Center, which has about 1 million square feet of retail and restaurant space and about 200,000 square feet of office space.
That large chunk of new office space has been slow to absorb. The metro Milwaukee office market is fairly soft as a whole, and the north shore has not been a prominent office space submarket. Most of the region’s office space is concentrated in downtown Milwaukee, the Mayfair Road corridor in Wauwatosa and in Brookfield.
At the end of 2007, the northern part of the metro Milwaukee area had a 19.69 percent office space vacancy rate, up from 17.5 percent in 2006 and 16.75 percent in 2005, according to Inland Companies office broker Lyle Landowski. The addition of the large amount of office space at Bayshore had driven up the vacancy rate of the northern submarket.
In addition, the idea of leasing office space in a mixed-use town center was a new concept for the Milwaukee area.
However, it appears that that concept is finally catching on, as Bayshore has landed several office tenants recently. The town center’s office space is now 60-percent leased, according to Jimmy Thompson, office leasing director for Steiner + Associates.
Thompson said the office space has been successful, typically fully leased with a waiting list, in Steiner’s other town center projects. The office space at Bayshore is leasing up at a pace similar to that of the company’s other projects, he said.
“The leasing of the office space always trails the opening of the retail space,” he said. “The project is tracking in line with the history of our other properties.”
Office tenants are attracted to the town center concept. Office workers have easy access to the stores and restaurants at Bayshore. Parking is free, and security is provided on the site 24 hours a day.
“A lot of people really like working in this mixed-use environment,” Thompson said.
Because Bayshore is the first town center development in the Milwaukee area, it took a while for people to discover it and understand that it would be a nice place to work, said Dan Wroblewski, a broker for Inland Companies who is representing Steiner in leasing the Bayshore office space.
“It’s really an education process with the market,” he said. “We knew it would take a little time for the market to discover the benefits of Bayshore. Our goal was just to get people on the site to see it. People have really started to see the amenities at Bayshore as a benefit to their business to help retain talent and entertain clients.”
The tenants that Bayshore has landed include:
• Brown Deer-based Guaranty Bank, which recently leased 42,000 square feet of office space at Bayshore. The new offices will take the entire fourth floor of the Bayshore building that has LA Fitness on its ground floor.
“We no longer view the workplace as an endless sea of cubes and workstations,” said Brent Tischler, senior vice president of retail banking for Brown Deer-based Guaranty Bank. “Our new Bayshore workplace will be designed to foster greater integration across teams. Our space will offer a bright, collaborative and efficient environment within the vibrant Bayshore Town Center, which should help us attract and retain top talent.”
• Dallas-based The Regus Group recently opened an 18,000-square-foot business center in Bayshore Town Center. The Regus Group provides fully services, move-in ready office space to businesses of all sizes. The new Regus facility at Bayshore has 82 offices, 124 workstations and two conference rooms. It is located directly above the Trader Joe’s store at Bayshore.
“The opening of our Bayshore Town Center (business center) now provides businesses of all sizes in the north shore area a great option for first-class office space in one of the most popular destinations in the greater Milwaukee area,” said Jeff Doughman, regional vice president for Regus. “The center is also a perfect fit for those local clients who want to avoid the busy commute into downtown and all of the related construction projects, especially the Marquette Interchange.”
This is Regus’ fourth location in the Milwaukee area. It has two locations in Brookfield and one in downtown Milwaukee. The company has more than 200,000 clients served at 950 locations in 400 cities and 70 countries.
• VICI Beauty School leased 14,368 square feet of office space at Bayshore. The beauty school also has locations in Brookfield, Milwaukee and Greenfield, and plans to add a location this summer in Madison.
• Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. recently leased 5,016 square feet of office space at Bayshore.
• North Shore Urology leased 2,824 square feet of office space at Bayshore, Deerwood Orthodontics leased 2,629 square feet and Peery Enterprises leased 1,242 square feet.
Interest in leasing office space at Bayshore continues to grow, Wroblewski said.
“We’ve got another 50,000 square feet of deals in the pipeline, with about 8 to 10 potential new tenants,” he said.
“We’re seeing a huge uptick in interest from prospects as people are becoming aware of what is going on,” Thompson said.
West Allis
The International Clown Hall of Fame is considering plans to buy the 9,700-square-foot Quest Building at 7326-28 W. Greenfield Ave. in downtown West Allis, and relocate there from its current location in a 2,000-square-foot space at the Tommy G. Thompson Youth Center at the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis. The museum is also considering a 8,000-square-foot building near Greenfield Park, but prefers the Quest Building, said volunteer administrator Terese Hall.
“We really need to have a place of our own,” she said. “(The Quest Building) is perfect, we could move right in.”
Quest Graphics LLC, a printing company, plans to move out of the Quest Building to a larger space at 1201 W. Prairie Ave. in Waukesha. Troy and Jennifer Grzybowski purchased the Quest Corp. assets a year ago. They were previously the owners of Letterhead Graphics, which was formerly a subsidiary of Quest Corp.
The clown museum has numerous clown artifacts, some from the late 1800s, and most of its materials are not on display because it needs more room.
“That’s why we need our own building,” Hall said. The museum is trying to raise $900,000 to purchase the Quest Building, she said.
During its existence, the Clown Hall of Fame has moved from Delavan, to the Shops of Grand Avenue in downtown Milwaukee and to its current location at State Fair Park. About 5,000 to 10,000 people visit the museum each year.
Oconomowoc
Richard Shovick plans to build a 14,000-square-foot strip mall on a vacant one-acre site, southwest of Valley Road and Highway 67, just outside of the Pabst Farms development and next to a site where he plans to build a sports-themed restaurant called Blue Ribbon Restaurant.
Brookfield
Jake and Karen Replogle, the owners of Jake’s Restaurant in Pewaukee, recently opened Haute Taco, a Mexican restaurant and tequilia bar, in a 2,200-square-foot space in the Brookfield Towne Centre at 18905 W. Capitol Drive. The restaurant’s menu will feature authentic Mexican food, rather than the Tex-Mex fare served by many Mexican restaurants in the area. “I’m building my ultimate taqueria, somewhere I would eat every day,” said Jake Replogle. “Our menu includes dishes that you would find in Mexico, but made with the best ingredients available.”
Racine
Jeff Shawhan, a ceramic artist, recently opened a gallery, called Elements, at 409 6th St. in downtown Racine. Shawhan is an associate professor of art at Concordia University in Mequon. He is currently working on a line of fired ceramics which range from vessels to plates and wall hung tiles. In addition to his ceramics, Elements will feature the work of some of other artists in the area.
commercial real estate Transactions
Leases
Boerke Company
Miracle Physical Therapy & Rehab Specialists LLC leased 3,052 square feet of retail space in Cousins Plaza II at 2333 W. Ryan Road, Oak Creek, from Specshep LLC.
CB Richard Ellis
IndependenceFirst leased 40,000 square feet of space, with an option to buy, at 544 S. 1st St., Milwaukee, from 544 South 1st Street LLC.
Inland Companies
Quality Addiction Management leased 4,850 square feet of space at Stadium Business Center I, 1600 Miller Park Way, West Milwaukee.
Gurda Painting leased 2,500 square feet of space at West Allis Commerce Center, 2006-2152 S. 55th St., West Allis.
Come, Sit and Play leased 5,000 square feet of space at 4200 W. Lincoln Ave., Milwaukee.
Western Products leased 10,000 square feet of space at the Park Place Technology Center building A at 11701 W. Bradley Road, Milwaukee.
Verizon Wireless leased 10,000 square feet of space at Lincoln Center, 2448 S. 102nd St., West Allis.
Regina USA Inc. leased 1,076 square feet of space at the Vincent Park Business Center, 19435 W. Capitol Dr., Brookfield.
Liberty Banc Mortgage leased 1,314 square feet of space at Arbor Terrace I at 333 Bishops Way, Brookfield.
E&B Exercise LLC leased 4,077 square feet of space at Vincent Park Business Center, 19275 W. Capitol Dr., Brookfield.
Optique Capital Management leased 7,800 square feet of space at 222 E. Erie St., Milwaukee.
HIS Development leased 1,101 square feet of space at 500 W. Silver Spring Dr., Milwaukee.
Vici Capilli leased 14,368 square feet of space at Bayshore Town Center, Glendale.
MK Financial Group leased 1,863 square feet of space at Vincent Park Business Center, 19265 W. Capital Dr., Brookfield.
Snap Fitness leased 2,639 square feet of space at the Riverbend Shopping Center, 7512 W. Oklahoma Ave., West Allis.
Microbial Discovery Group leased 13,483 square feet of space at the Franklin Park Industrial Center I, 9635 S. Franklin Dr., Franklin.
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. leased 5,016 square feet of space at Bayshore Town Center, Glendale.
Lake Country Montessori leased 3,715 square feet of space at 625 Walnut Ridge Dr., Hartland.
4-Ever Tan LLC leased 1,546 square feet of space at Seven Hills, 1024 E. Commerce Blvd., Slinger.
TRP Associates leased 9,514 square feet of space at the Park Place Technology Center – Builidng B, 11665 W. Bradley Road, Milwaukee.
M&I Equipment Finance Company leased 13,207 square feet of space in the Milwaukee Center, 111 E. Kilbourn Ave., Milwaukee.
NAI MLG Commercial
Storage One Interiors Inc. leased 5,660 square feet of space at W231 N2811 Roundy Circle, Pewaukee, from Briohn Building Corp.
Custom Engraving Ltd. leased 2,250 square feet of space at Winfield Court in Slinger from Rasmussen Wood Werks.
SALES
Colliers Barry
Morse Properties LLC purchased the 41,094-square-foot Wisconsin Lift Truck facility at N118 W19328 Bunsen Dr., Germantown, from Wolter Investment Company LLC.
Inland Companies
Patriot Properties purchased four acres at South 6th Street and Layton Avenue in Milwaukee for $420,000.
Halewhit Properties LLC purchased the 15,100-square-foot Ring Building at 1849 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Milwaukee, from Ring Bldg LLC for $1.625 million.
Steve A. Elkind purchased the China Palace building at 4511-17 N. Oakland Ave., Milwaukee, for $875,000.
Westminster Funds purchased the First Park Butler Distribution Center, a 100,000-square-foot industrial building at 4410 N. 132nd St., Butler, from Chicago-based First Industrial Realty Trust for $5.5 million.
Empire Properties LLC purchased the 38,614-square-foot, five-unit West Bay Commerce Center flex property in the Mequon Business Park at 7100-7170 W. Donges Bay Road, Mequon, from West Bay Properties LLC for $3.3 million.
New construction
New Berlin-based Anderson-Ashton Inc. was awarded a contract to design and build a 23,132-square-foot office and hangar at Crites Field (aka The Waukesha County Airport) for the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center Flight for Life operations.
Brookfield-based Briohn Building Corp. recently completed the design and construction of a 3,600-square-foot tenant improvement for Payless Shoe Source at 3333 S. 27th St., Milwaukee, a 5,000-square-foot retail tenant improvement for WG&R Sleep Shop at 5000 S. 76th St., Greenfield, and a 2,000-square-foot restaurant for Haute Taco in the Brookfield Town Centre at 18915 W. Capitol Dr., Suite 112, Brookfield. Briohn has also substantially completed the design and construction of a 36,000-square-foot building addition to the Sunlite Plastics Inc. facility at W194 N11340 McCormick Dr. in Germantown. Briohn has also completed the design and construction of a 4,480-square-foot second floor interior office space development for Midland Paper at 8601 N. 91st St. in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee-based Inland Companies Inc. recently completed a 1,000-square-foot tenant improvement work for Datalink Corp. at 400 N. Excecutive Dr. in Brookfield. This office project consisted of 1,000 square feet. Inland also recently completed 4,500 square feet of tenant improvements and interior alterations for GAB Robins North America, Inc. at 235 N. Executive Drive in Brookfield.
Wauwatosa-based Selzer-Ornst Construction Co. has been selected to complete the build-out of the Friends of Housing corporate offices, located in downtown Milwaukee.
Berghammer Construction Corporation, Butler, has been selected by DRS Technologies as the construction manager for a multi-phased renovation and consolidation of existing operating space within their facility located at 4265 N. 30th St., Milwaukee.
