Rendering released for Franklin Staybridge Suites.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held recently to celebrate the start of construction of a Staybridge Suites hotel at the southwest corner of South 27th Street and Ryan Road in Franklin. The $10 million, five-story hotel will have 114 rooms. It is being developed by Park Ridge, Ill.-based The Bricton Group Inc., which will also manage the hotel and recently released a rendering of the building. The hotel is projected to pay approximately $216,000 annually in property taxes and $138,000 in hotel taxes. Forty new jobs will be created at the hotel, which is expected to open in August of 2008. It will be the first chain hotel in Franklin and is the third Staybridge Suites planned in southeastern Wisconsin. One is under construction in downtown Milwaukee and the third is being planned for the Pabst Farms development in Oconomowoc. Staybridge Suites is an extended-stay hotel concept owned by Windsor, U.K.-based InterContinental Hotels Group. The Bricton Group Inc. also manages the Hampton Inn & Suites in downtown Milwaukee.
PPG Industries Foundation recently announced that it has pledged $15,000 to the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee capital campaign to fund development of a new South Suburban YMCA branch in Franklin. "We are very pleased to receive support from PPG for the campaign," said Clarence Jenkins, associate vice president – financial development, YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee. "This funding will help cover the many costs involved in building a new facility that will enable us to better serve the South Suburban community in Milwaukee County." The facility will be built just north of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. campus in Franklin on South 27th Street, on a site donated by the company to the YMCA.
Jenkins said the South Suburban YMCA will include a state-of-the-art workout facility, lap pool, quality child care, locker rooms, and multi-purpose and classroom space. The exact size of the facility and the construction schedule has not been set yet because the YMCA is still in the fundraising stage for the project, said Sydney Hofer, public relations specialist for the YMCA.
"We’re hoping to break ground on the facility in spring of ’08, that’s of course contingent on fundraising," Hofter said.
Pittsburgh-based PPG is a global supplier of paints, coatings, chemicals, optical products, specialty materials, glass and fiber glass.
"PPG is strongly committed to supporting the communities where its employees work and live, and especially to encouraging employees’ wellness," said Joel Fechter, manufacturing manager for PPG’s coatings facility in Oak Creek. "We are proud to support the expansion of the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee into the south suburbs, and we hope our employees and their families will become regular visitors to this new, first-rate community and fitness center."
Lake Geneva-based Keefe Real Estate announced recently that the total gifts for 2007 from the Keefe Foundation through September have exceeded $60,000. The company’s agents and employees have contributed $5,000. "The Foundation is a great way to give back to the communities which have supported our business over the last 60 years," said Rob Keefe president of Keefe & Associates, Inc. "We are especially proud of our people, who reached into their own pockets to make this a stand-out year." Organizations that have benefited from the Keefe Foundation in 2007 range from local charities that support rising artists, like the Music by the Lake concert series to national charities such as the American Cancer Society. Other recipients include Holiday Home Camp; Elkhorn Scholarship Foundation; Inspiration Ministries, Aurora Health Care; Fontana Fire & Rescue; VIP Services, American Red Cross; Girl Scouts of Racine County; Hope Worldwide; Salvation Army; and the Alzheimer’s Association. The Keefe Foundation was established by Keefe Real Estate and the Keefe family in 2006.
