Lee Barczak, president of Greendale-based Morgan Kenwood Advisors LLC, and his wife, Jane Schilz, plan to open a restaurant and boutique hotel in Cudahy in March. They also are planning a major redevelopment project for the Avalon Theatre in Bay View, which could include six theaters, a restaurant and a boutique hotel.
In 2004, the couple purchased the former Fountain Blue restaurant, an 86-year-old, three-story, 9,500-square-foot building at 5133 S. Lake Drive, Cudahy, and an 11-room motel building next door that was built in the 1960s. The older building was originally known as The Sheridan Hotel and Palm Gardens tavern until it was remodeled and renamed in 1968.
Barczak and Schilz have gutted both buildings, refurbished the exterior and created a restaurant in the first floor of the former Fountain Blue building, seven hotel rooms on the second floor, a residence for them on the third floor and five hotel rooms and a fitness room in the former motel building next door.
“All we kept were the structures,” Barczak said. “We refurbished the exterior and added new doors and windows.”
The 65-seat restaurant will be called Sheridan’s, and the boutique hotel will be called Sheridan House. The couple plans to open the restaurant and hotel on March 30. Schliz will run the restaurant and hotel.
The Sheridan House is located a short walk from Lake Michigan, Sheridan Park, Warnimont Golf Course and the Oak Leaf Trail. The hotel is also a short drive from downtown Milwaukee and Mitchell International Airport.
Barczak and Schilz believe their hotel will appeal to travelers looking for something different.
“Some people don’t want to stay in another Comfort Suites,” Barczak said. “There’s a trend of people looking for an alternative place to stay. They’re looking for something a little more interesting. We just think this will be a very unique place.”
The hotel rooms will rent for about $159 a night. The couple believes some travelers are willing to pay a little more for a high-quality room in a full-service, unique boutique hotel.
“People don’t mind spending the money as long as they feel they are getting the value,” Schilz said.
The rooms will feature upscale amenities, including Bose stereos, flat-screen televisions and high-speed Internet service.
“I think the rooms are going to be quite surprising to people,” Barczak said. “We have the same beds that the Ritz Carlton uses and the same linens that the Four Seasons and the W Hotels use.”
Three of the rooms are luxury suites, which will include bubble massage tubs.
“They are like sitting in a glass of champagne,” Barczak said.
The hotel will also have a small outdoor courtyard with a fire pit and a fountain. The courtyard could provide space for small weddings or other small events, Schilz said.
Sheridan’s restaurant will feature American bistro cuisine serving breakfast and lunch seven days a week and dinner on Fridays and Saturdays. Barczak and Schilz said the restaurant will provide a higher-quality, mid-priced dining establishment for the south side of the metro area, which they say is dominated by chains. They want to provide a nice place for people in the south side suburbs to eat without having to go downtown.
“We live in Franklin, and we feel we have to travel a ways to eat at a lot of the places we like to go,” Barczak said.
Barczak and Schilz are planning an even more dramatic makeover for the Avalon Theatre in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood. The 78-year-old theater at 2469-2483 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. has been closed since 2000.
The couple is working with an architectural firm in Chicago to craft a redevelopment plan for the building. Their “ultimate plan” would create a six-screen movie theater complex, convert a portion of the building to a 100-seat restaurant and convert the apartments in the building into a 20-room boutique hotel, Barczak said. The restaurant would also provide meals that movie-goers could eat at their seats. Some of the movie theaters could also be used for small live performances.
Movies shown at the Avalon
Theatre would include first-run and independent films.
“We want people to say, ‘There’s always something interesting going on at the Avalon,’” Barczak said.
The redevelopment project would cost about $11 million, he said.
The couple recently met with city officials to explain their redevelopment plan and ask for financial assistance, either tax incremental financing (TIF) or some other form of assistance. They are not asking the city for a specific dollar amount, but instead are asking city officials to tell them how much assistance can be provided, Barczak said.
Bay View has seen an increasing amount of development in recent years, and Barczak and Schilz say the redevelopment of the Avalon Theatre would provide a huge boost to the area and attract even more development to the neighborhood.
“I really think the Avalon is almost like a fuse,” Barczak said. “If we light this fuse, we think development down there is going to explode.”
The couple hopes to finalize plans by the end of March and begin the project in March or April. The construction will take about a year, Barczak said.
The couple said the development in the Third Ward, Walker’s Point, Bay View and St. Francis in recent years make them confident in their projects in Cudahy and Bay View.
“We just really believe the south shore is going to come into its own,” Barczak said.
Milwaukee
Sarah Skinner and Lisa Trautner recently opened Ess Ell Style Studio, a new women’s clothing boutique, in the Kenilworth Square Apartments building at 1919 E. Kenilworth Place on Milwaukee’s east side. Kenilworth Square Apartments is half of the former Kenilworth building, which was split in half to create an apartment building for University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students and a separate building for UWM’s Peck School of the Arts. The two buildings have a total of about 26,500 square feet of retail space, and Ess Elle is the first retail tenant, occupying about 1,300 square feet of space. The store is targeted to young, female professionals, offering causal attire and career wear.
Pleasant Prairie
Oak Creek-based Ener-Con Companies LLC plans to build 44 single-family homes, 108 condominiums and 95 senior condominiums on a 72-acre property at the northeast corner of County Highway H and Bain Station Road. The $53 million development, to be called Bain Station Crossing, will include nine acres of open space and an additional eight acres of woodlands throughout the development.
Brookfield
The Hampton Inn hotel at 575 N. Barker Road, recently completed a renovation project. The four-story hotel, which is about 20 years old, is the first Hampton Inn to have the new Hampton brand guestroom package in every room. All 120 rooms were gutted. The wallpaper was removed, bathroom tile was removed, and new carpeting and new furniture were installed. “We got new everything,” said assistant general manager Justin Jackson. “They don’t look anything like the old rooms. There’s not a single piece of furniture in the rooms now that were in the old rooms.” The rooms were redone to create more space and make them feel larger, he said. The remodeling was done one floor at a time to minimize the disruption to the business, Jackson said.
Leases
CB Richard Ellis
Magnetek Inc. leased 44,095 square feet of industrial space at N50 W13775 Overview Dr., Menomonee Falls, from W.C. Bradley Co.
Briggs & Stratton Corp. leased 55,000 square feet of industrial space at 11100 W. Burleigh St., West Allis from Burleigh Partners LLC.
Fleet Risk Advisors Inc. leased 3,340 square feet of office space at 400 N. Executive Dr., Brookfield, from NNN OF8 Executive Center LLC.
Nature’s Stone Kitchen Supply Inc. leased 27,500 square feet of industrial space at 2176 S. 116th St., West Allis, from Doug Lane.
Spherion Pacific Enterprises LLC leased 2,433 square feet of office space at N14 W23833 Stone Ridge Dr., Waukesha, from Klement Sausage Company.
Trinity Staffing Group leased 1,961 square feet of retail space at 1520-28 S. 108th St., West Allis, from BV West Allis LLC.
Petworld Inc. leased 18,205 square feet of retail space at N84 W157000 Appleton Ave., Menomonee Falls, from S&H Company.
Camp Heartland leased 2,295 square feet of office space at 4425 N. Port Washington Road, Glendale, from Heartland Development Group Ltd.
General Electric Company leased 56,000 square feet of office space at 5319 S. 3rd St., Milwaukee, from CLDF-5919 3rd Street LP.
DLS Financial Services Inc. leased 3,507 square feet of office space at 250 N. Sunnyslope Road, Brookfield, from Maplewood Executive Center LLC.
Digital Measures LLC leased 2,604 square feet of office space at 241 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, from Lokre Preferred Broadway LLC, Rockhar Broadway LLC and Terra Dorada Broadway.
Inland Companies
Responselink of SE Wisconsin leased 800 square feet of office space at Executive Center III, 125 N. Executive Dr., Brookfield.
T & A Healthcare Center leased 1,700 square feet of office space and Advanced Distribution Solutions Inc. leased 849 square feet of office space at the West Allis Center, 1126 S. 70th St., West Allis.
Major Consulting Group leased 452 square feet of office space at Office in the Green, 165 Bishops Way, Brookfield.
Visionary Impressions LLC leased 565 square feet of office space at Merchants Grove, 2420-30 N. Grandview Blvd., Waukesha.
Judson & Associates
Campbell Construction leased 2,400 square feet of space at 404 Travis Lane, Waukesha, fromWaukom Partners.
Excel Manufacturing leased 6,000 square feet of space at W226 N781 Eastmound Dr., Pewaukee, from Schaefer Properties.
Concept Seating leased 8,790 square feet of space at W226 N825 Eastmound Dr., Pewaukee, from Schaefer Properties.
Stella and Chewey’s leased 11,740 square feet of space at W145 S6550 Tess Corners Dr., Muskego, from R.D. Meyer Associates.
Gigahertz leased 1,600 square feet of space at 1860 Executive Dr., Oconomowoc, from Walter Bohrer.
Good Electric leased 7,500 square feet of space at W226 N887 Eastmound Dr., Pewaukee, from FMC- Eastmound.
Mid-American Real Estate
The Salvation Army (Toys for Tots) leased 38,086 square feet of space at Northwest Fashion Square, 8643 W. Brown Deer Road, Milwaukee, from Equity Investment Group.
Liberty Tax Service leased 1,200 square feet of space at Badger Plaza, 4003 Durand Ave., Racine, from Badger Plaza LLC.
NAI MLG Commercial
Marble Slab Creamery Inc. leased 1,400 square feet of retail space at the southwest corner of Highway 20 and Highway H in Sturtevant from Spectrum Development Group LLC.
Aerial Company leased 2,178 square feet of retail space at 11402-22 N. Port Washington Road, Mequon, from Genesis I LLC.
BTDS Inc. leased 3,200 square feet of flex space at 12425 Knoll Road, Elm Grove, from Ironhorse Investments Inc.
BD’s Mongolian Grill leased 5,900 square feet of retail space at Bayshore Town Center in Glendale from Steiner & Associates Inc.
Frank F. Haack & Associates Inc. leased 28,760 square feet of office space at 2323 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, from Jacobus Mayfair Properties LLC.
Sales
CB Richard Ellis
Lighthouse Development Co. Inc. purchased 163,611 square feet of industrial space at 918 W. Summers St., Milwaukee, from 16th Street Community Health Center.
Dave Jensen Properties purchased 1,800 square feet of retail space at 2000 Davidson Road, Waukesha, from Sara Lee Bakery Group Inc.
GFS Marketplace LLC purchased 3.15 acres at the southwest corner of 76th Street and 69th Avenue in Pleasant Prairie from R.A.P. of Pewaukee LLC.
Inland Companies
124th Street Holdings LLC purchased the 41,058-square-foot office and warehouse building at 3505-25 North 124th Street, Brookfield, for $2.32 million.
Canterbury Court LLC purchased the 70,000-square-foot industrial building at 2233-303 W. Mill Road, Glendale, for $1.175 million.
Judson & Associates
Mark and Mary Dodd purchased 9,580 square feetof space at 1151 W. 2nd St., Oconomowoc, from
DK Enterprises.
Megal Development purchased 1.82 acres on County Highway O in Menomonee Falls from Larry Johns.
Mohns Construction purchased 13,500 square feet of space at 12450 W. Colfax Place, Butler, from Anderson Refrigeration.
Shecterle Commercial Properties purchased 1.5 acres at N56 W15572 Silver Spring Dr., Menomonee Falls, from Therese Arenson.
Mid-America Real Estate
Pranke Holding LLC purchased the former Boston Market building at 4859 S. 76th St., Greenfield, from Boston Market Corp.
Spectrum 76 MCD LLC purchased the former Ponderosa building at 7130 N. 76th St., Milwaukee, from Xiao Jun Xhong and Chang-Di Lin.
NAI MLG Commercial
3420 Realty LLC purchased 10,350 square feet of industrial space at 1679 S. Muskego Ave., Milwaukee, from Alison J. Williamson.
RPMC LLC purchased 7,052 square feet of retail space at 1268 W. Capitol Dr., Pewaukee, from Elliott’s Ace Hardware. RPMC plans to build an additional 20,600 square feet of space on excess land at the property.
Oppidan Investment Co. purchased 51,364 square feet of retail space at 2440 E. Moreland Blvd., Waukesha, from B&G Realty Inc.
New construction
MSI General Corp., Oconomowoc, was hired by Senco Development, Waukesha, to build a 6,790-square-foot Shell gas station at the southwest corner of East Main Street and Highway 164 in Waukesha. The facility will include a car wash, convenience store and McDonald’s restaurant. In addition, Mequon-based Urban Planning and Development LLC has selected MSI General for the design and construction of a new multi-tenant building on 13th Avenue in Grafton. The 17,000-square-foot facility will be home to the Milwaukee Ale House as well as a leaseable office building. The Milwaukee Ale House will occupy 9,000 square feet and the remaining 8,000 square feet will be offered for lease.
VJS Construction Services, Pewaukee, is building the 16,598-square-foot Pewaukee Crossings Retail Center in Pewaukee. Tenants in the multi-tenant retail building will include Jimmy Johns and Aromi Coffee. Zimmerman Design Group is providing architectural services for the project.
National Survey & Engineering, Brookfield, is providing site design, surveying and construction engineering services to Key Bridge Development Group Inc. for Pointe Blue, a mixed-use lakefront development in the 1200 block of Michigan Avenue in Racine. The redevelopment project at the former Walker Manufacturing and Pugh Marina site will include 445 owner-occupied residences, a marina, restaurants, office space and 90 apartments. The project is expected to be completed in 2008.
R.A. Smith & Associates Inc., Brookfield, is providing design and engineering services to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for five planned roundabouts on the Highway 145 corridor between Highways 41 and 45 adjacent to the new Cabela’s store in the Town of Richfield. The roundabouts will be located at the ramp terminals of Highways 41 and 45 and at the entrance to Cabela’s. The design is expected to be competed in 2008 and the project is expected to be constructed in 2009.
Anderson-Ashton Inc., New Berlin, was selected by Groundup Opps LLC to design and build a two-story, 9,000-square-foot, multi-tenant retail and office building at 29168 Evergreen Dr., Rochester.
Reliant Glass & Door Systems LLC, Sheboygan, recently completed two glass and aluminum projects, one for the security checkpoint and new ground-level boarding area on Concourse D at Mitchell International Airport for Pieper Electric and the other for the new Best Buy store on Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa for Tri-North Builders Inc.
