Continued success can cause some of its own issues. The UW Men's Basketball team under Bo Ryan has been incredible successful. This year they have had many blowout victories and those games are just not that exciting to watch. Have I become spoiled by the success! Are we that good that there are not that many teams that can compete with us? I don't think I am alone in this; as I watched the last ten minutes of the game on TV last night there were not many fans left and the usually loud crowd noise was almost gone. Oh I know that things are going very well if I am complaining about too many large victories but I can't wait for some hard fought victories in the Big Ten season! 

Should zoning, Madison Comprehensive Plan be changed for grocery store?

Alexander Co. President Joe Alexander says he has more than met a sales goal imposed by the city in exchange for $4.27 million in taxpayer-funded development aid for the Capitol West condo project. "It's great news for Downtown Madison and the Downtown market that we can move that many units," Alexander said about the 77 condos sold at the mixed-use development in the 300 block of West Washington Avenue. The sales quota in the Alexander agreement requires at least 71 of the 141 total condos in phase 1 of the project to be sold by Dec. 31, or the developer would face up to a $1.82 million penalty. The condos have been on the market since phase 1 was finished in June 2008. City officials, however, wouldn't say whether they consider the terms of the agreement met now. Several city staffers either deflected or failed to return repeated calls for comment about the current status of the Alexander agreement, while City Council President Lauren Cnare said she couldn't comment on the sales quota specifically. "We would very much like (Alexander) to meet the agreement," she said. "This is about public financing. It's taxpayer money, and we want the obligation to be met in spirit and number. But we don't know where that is yet." Katie Crawley, spokeswoman for Mayor Paul Soglin, said the city will evaluate the project on Jan. 1 and wouldn't have additional information to provide until then.

New Downtown Plan, some controversial projects force talk on how city should grow.

City reaches tentative settlement with billboard company

Madison and Adams Outdoor Advertising have struck a tentative deal that settles long-standing litigation, frees the city and other taxing entities from repaying $1.1 million in excess tax collections, but allows some more billboards in the city. The city doesn't permit new billboards, but under the deal, Adams could get permits for five double-sided billboards and replace or repair two others. The new billboards could not be placed in the city's historic, urban design or no advertising districts. In exchange, the city wouldn't have to pay Adams $623,600 and other jurisdictions $455,500 for tax overpayments, interest and court charges from a summer settlement related to lawsuits dating back nearly a decade. Also, Adams would remove two billboards from the city-owned Villager mall on South Park Street and another from the vacant, city-owned Union Corners property at the corner of East Washington Avenue and Milwaukee Street. Those billboards would have hampered redevelopment at those properties, where the city has made multi-million-dollar investments, and could have led to more litigation, city officials said. "You look at what you get in balance," Mayor Paul Soglin said, adding that new billboards will be in less intrusive locations than some existing ones. "It's a good deal."

Former city employee George Austin is mover and shaker for high-profile developments

He's not an architect, developer or politician, but George Austin has left an imprint on Madison's landscape like few others. As a former city Planning and Development director and a private consultant since 1998, Austin led the most complex, iconic projects in the city, including Monona Terrace, Overture Center and the recently opened Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery - a half-billion dollars in construction in the past 15 years. Now, Austin, 59, is engaged in two more high-profile initiatives within a block of the state Capitol, both presenting the sort of challenges that confronted previous big efforts. Austin is helping the city ready a vision that could involve a hotel, offices, housing, commercial space, and underground parking on two blocks that host the historic Madison Municipal Building and decaying Government East parking garage. And once again, he's working for philanthropists W. Jerome Frautschi and his wife, Pleasant Rowland - who donated $205 million to build Overture - on a $10 million bid to redevelop the historic 100 block of State Street. That effort already has drawn fire over the Frautschis secretly amassing properties and then unveiling a proposal involving demolition of landmarks before checking with city staff and the public. Admirers and critics see Austin as an unflappable fixer, solving complex challenges of land use, finance, politics, ego and timing as if deciphering a Rubik's Cube. But some look at his continuing work for the Frautschis and wonder if Austin sometimes suppresses his better instincts to serve his private clients.

Madison Superintendent Dan Nerad said Wednesday he will unveil next month a new plan for improving the achievement of low-income minority students. The plan will summarize the district's current efforts as well as put forth new approaches, such as a longer school year and opening magnet schools, Nerad said. Nerad discussed the plan in a meeting with the State Journal editorial board less than a week before the School Board is to vote on Madison Preparatory Academy, a proposed charter school geared toward low-income, minority students. Nerad said he opposes the current proposal for Madison Prep primarily because it would violate the district's contract with its teachers union, but that he agrees with the charter school's supporters in that a new approach to close the achievement gap is necessary. "I made a purposeful decision to not bring (a plan) forward over the past several months to not cloud the discussion about Madison Prep," Nerad said. "It's caused us to take a step back and say, 'We're doing a lot of things, but what else do we need to be doing?'" Last week, School Board president James Howard said he expects the board to reject the Madison Prep proposal when it votes Monday. However, Madison Prep supporters are lobbying board members to change their minds. Urban League of Greater Madison president Kaleem Caire has criticized the School District for not having a well-defined plan for addressing the achievement gap between white and minority students.

Power line project a high-wire act, staying on schedule

Madison would require its contractors to provide benefits to employees with domestic partners equal to benefits given to married employees, under a proposal that was introduced at Tuesday's City Council meeting. Sponsor Ald. Mike Verveer, 4th District, said it was needed to maintain equal treatment of employees whose companies work for the city. "It's absolutely the right thing to do to ensure city taxpayer money is spent on contractors that treat their employees equally and fairly," Verveer said, adding he expected broad support. The measure would apply to service contracts over $25,000, contracts for city financial assistance over $25,000, and public works contracts that are bid out. If a contractor doesn't provide benefits to married employees, it wouldn't have to give them to those with domestic partners. The city spends tens of millions on contractors every year. Mayor Paul Soglin supports the proposal and City Council President Lauren Cnare expects passage. "I'm hoping people will consider it not onerous on business, but an equality thing," Cnare said. Some costs are unclear. In a memo, the city Finance Department said the proposal would have costs for monitoring and enforcement, may result in contractors pushing costs to the city or other customers, and could force some to withdraw from the city's competitive bidding process. The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce has not taken a position, executive director Jennifer Alexander said.

Dane County home sales rise for 5th consecutive month, up by 31 percent in November

Existing home and condo sales in Dane County increased for the fifth month straight compared with last year, while median price dropped a bit. There were 319 sales in November, compared with 244 in November 2010, for a 31 percent increase, according to the South Central Wisconsin MLS. Sales were up by 34 percent, 18 percent, 23 percent and 3.3 percent in July, August, September and October, respectively. Median sales price for Dane County in November was $209,900, compared with $213,475 in November 2010. It was up by about 7.7 percent compared to November 2009, when median price was $194,900. (You can see the full MLS report here.) Year to date through October, the sales volume gap between this year and last year - when a federal tax credit boosted sales for the first six months - continued to narrow. The gap in Dane County dropped from 25.6 percent at the end of June to 7.7 percent through November, when there were 4,311 sales compared with 4,666 through November 2010. Across the eight-county region, the gap was cut from 20.6 percent to less than 5 percent.

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A Trader Joe's grocery store is planned for the Underwood Crossing retail development in Brookfield, the 23-acre former Quebecor World printing plant site at 12821 W. Blue Mound Road. The development will be anchored by a 140,000-square-foot Target store, which is under construction and expected to be complete by late summer of 2012. Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. is the developer for the Underwood Crossing project. The Trader Joe's store will be built on an outlot at the northeast corner of the site, located southeast of Bluemound Road and North Columbia Boulevard. Trader Joe's is a popular Monrovia, Calif-based specialty grocery store chain. Trader Joe's currently has about 350 locations in 25 states, but only two locations in Wisconsin, one at Bayshore Town Center in Glendale and the other in Madison. Ryan Cos. has also "potentially secured a soft goods retailer as the junior anchor tenant," for the Underwood Crossing project, according to a Brookfield Plan Commission staff report. The developer is seeking Plan Commission approval to increase the size of the junior anchor tenant store from 18,000 square feet to 23,950 square feet.

Retail building planned

Construction on a new retail building could start in late March or early April on Lime Kiln Road, said Community Development Director Andrew Vissers. The 9,200-square-foot building will be located in front of Target on the southwest corner of Lime Kiln Road and Allouez Avenue. It will have five tenant spaces and likely will house a mix of local and national retail chains, Vissers said. The developer, Endeavour Corp. of Milwaukee, told the Bellevue Site Plan Review Commission that three spaces have commitments to lease.

Janesville in midst of health care building boom

Health care providers wrapping up nearly $200 million in construction and renovation in Janesville said the projects will improve access to health care, satisfy consumer demand and create a competitive environment that leads to improved quality and better controls on rising health care and insurance costs.

$12 million apartment complex proposed for old Broadway cannery

A proposal to redevelop former Pabst brewery buildings into apartments for seniors is taking a different approach on its financing plan--one that doesn't include a federally guaranteed loan. New York-based Whitestone Realty Capital LLC wants to convert the former Pabst malt house and adjacent grain warehouse, south of W. Juneau Ave. and west of N. 10th St., into 124 upscale apartments. That $22.5 million project, announced in July, was to be financed in part through a $12.3 million loan insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. If HUD issued the guarantee, the loan would be made by selling bonds, with the sale proceeds provided to Whitestone through the city. But that carried some risk for the city. If Whitestone defaulted on the loan, the department could withhold portions of future federal community block grants to help make the loan's payments. The department provides those block grants annually to cities.

Milwaukee-based Direct Supply Inc. would be given more time for its plan to buy a city-owned property for an expansion project, under a proposal approved by a Common Council committee. The company, which sells supplies to nursing homes and assisted living facilities, would have until the end of 2019 to buy the city Department of Public Works facility at 6660-6710 N. Industrial Road. The company originally was to buy the property by the end of 2014. The public works operation would be relocated, and the property converted into parking for Direct Supply employees. The sale price hasn't yet been negotiated.  That extension was recommended Tuesday by the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee on a 4-0 vote. The committee also recommended reducing the company's projected job growth figures. Direct Supply plans to add 150 jobs through 2014, giving it 1,018 employees in Milwaukee, according to a city report.

The Baker Tilly accounting firm, which had announced plans to co-anchor a proposed downtown Milwaukee office tower, instead is considering two existing downtown buildings for its new home. Baker Tilly executives are considering leasing space at either the U.S. Bank Center, 777 E. Wisconsin Ave., or the 411 East Wisconsin Center, 411 E. Wisconsin Ave., said Bill Wertz, partner and market leader of the firm's Milwaukee office. Wertz told me no leases have been signed, and that either building is a viable option. Baker Tilly's lease at Honey Creek Corporate Center, an office park north of I-94 and west of S. 84th St., expires at the end of 2012. In April, it was announced that Baker Tilly had signed a letter of intent to lease about 60,000 square feet at the proposed Washington Square office building. Washington Square would be built on what is now a surface parking lot south of E. Mason St., between N. Jackson and N. Jefferson streets. At that time, the firm's executives hoped to move downtown by June 2013. Under that timetable, construction on Washington Square would likely have had to start this past summer.

Two largely vacant office buildings at downtown Milwaukee's Schlitz Park soon will be renovated, a $5.5 million project to accommodate some new tenants to be announced soon. This is the first step in a larger planned redevelopment of Schlitz Park business park. Developer Gary Grunau told me Tuesday that the two former Schlitz bottlehouses, at 1610 N. 2nd St. and 101 W. Pleasant St., will be remodeled. That work is to begin immediately. The two buildings also will be connected at the first floor to create 8,000 square feet of common space, known as The Link.  It will include meeting areas for work or breaks, as well as a fitness center. The connected buildings, which total 140,000 square feet, will have 90,000 square feet of available office space. Grunau said he's working with prospective tenants that will fill a substantial portion of that vacant space. He declined to name them because the leases are not yet final.

An apartment building aimed at homeless families, and families at risk of becoming homeless, is being propposed for Milwaukee's north side. The development, with around 35 units, would be built at the northwest corner of E. Center and N. Buffum streets by Chicago-based Heartland Housing Inc. Heartland is seeking an option to purchase a vacant, city-owned lot for the development. The city Redevelopment Authority board on Thursday will review that option request. The 30,000-square-foot lot would sell for $30,000. Heartland, a nonprofit developer, will seek federal affordable housing tax credits to help finance the project, said Michael Goldberg, executive director. Those credits are given to developers in an annual competitive process. Developers that receive the credits agree to provide apartments at below-market rents to people earning no more than 60% of the area's median income. The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority usually announces in April which developers receive credits from that year's allocation.

Hearing grows heated over bill to hasten mining approvals

A mining bill that received its first public airing Wednesday was championed as an engine for economic growth and decried by opponents for stripping numerous environmental protections from state law. More than 200 people attended a legislative hearing at Wisconsin State Fair Park, where emotions ran high over a bill that would rewrite mining laws by carving out special provisions for iron ore mining. Even though the bill's first hearing took place in Milwaukee - a major center for mining equipment manufacturing - all of the attention was centered on a portion of Iron and Ashland counties. It's there, southwest of Hurley, that Gogebic Taconite is proposing to construct a $1.5 billion mine that officials said Wednesday would employ 600 to 700 workers, with average salaries of $83,000 a year, including benefits. Earlier this year, the company said it needed more certainty from the state's regulators, prompting a bill on Dec. 8 that supporters believe will give the company assurances to construct a four-mile iron ore mine, providing a jolt to one of the poorest regions in Wisconsin. Without the changes, Gogebic President Bill Williams told the Assembly Jobs, Economy and Small Business Committee, he doubted outside investors would lend money for the 1,000-foot-deep mine.

Official: Streamlining mining permit process may actually hamper timeline

 An official with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told legislators Wednesday that an Assembly GOP bill to streamline the permitting process for iron mines may lengthen the amount of time it takes for a company to get permission to mine in Wisconsin.  The bill would give the state Department of Natural Resources 360 days to act on an iron mine permit as well as eliminate public hearings and legal challenges, reduce wetland and other water protections, and slash by half the amount of money iron mining companies would be required to pay local communities to help offset their costs. Supporters say the changes are needed to bring iron mines and the jobs they provide to the state. Bill Williams, president of Gogebic Taconite, which has proposed a $1.5 billion iron mine south of Ashland that would provide 700 jobs, said the project won't happen without the changes. But Rebecca Grasser, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the 360-day period the bill gives the DNR to act on a permit could preclude the federal agency from working jointly with the DNR. That, she said, could actually lengthen the time a mining company would have to wait for action on a permit request. At Wednesday's public hearing held at State Fair Park, Ann Coakley, who works on mine permitting for the DNR, said the agency received the 183-page bill on Thursday and has not had enough time to fully review it. But the shortened time frame could cause conflicts with federal agencies that must also act on the permit application, she said.

Milwaukee choice school sues state DPI over loss of funding

A private Milwaukee choice school is suing the state Department of Public Instruction, saying the agency improperly cut off its voucher funding, making its closure imminent. The lawsuit from the Margaret Howard Christian Leadership Institute, and the school's administrator, La?Keycia Howard, say the school will be forced to close its doors next week if the DPI doesn't pay the $188,000 in voucher support the school had coming. The school's attorney is trying to get a judge to order the DPI to release the money. The attorney, Thomas Frenn, said a court hearing on the matter is scheduled for Thursday. Schools in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program receive payments of up to $6,224 per student in state funding. The program is administered by the DPI. According to the lawsuit, the DPI ordered the school in August to post a $160,000 bond after finding financial problems at the school. But the school says the DPI report on which that order was based contained errors on what debts were owed by the school. The lawsuit claims the school doesn't have the resources to come up with the $160,000 bond. The school, at 1127 S. 35th St., has 115 students, Howard says. DPI officials wouldn't comment on the case but provided a copy of the Nov. 17 notice that the school's voucher payments were being withheld, and the August notice that a surety bond would be required.

Growing companies struggle to find help

A lack of qualified workers continues as a major concern for Milwaukee and Waukesha county manufacturing businesses, a new survey of business executives shows. According to the 2011 First Business Economic Survey conducted by the University of Wisconsin's A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research, nearly half - 46% - of the manufacturing companies that responded said they were hiring and experiencing worker shortages. "People have concerns that if they are seeing growth in their business - and most are - that they can sustain that growth by finding good workers to add capacity," said Dave Vetta, president and CEO of First Business Bank-Milwaukee, which sponsors the survey. "This survey, I think, ends up being more of a platform or a call to action that we're all aware of this skills gap and doing what we can do to build the awareness and the education around attracting young people early on" to manufacturing, he said. "There are some terrific jobs available in the manufacturing sector." Overall, business conditions in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties are largely unchanged from the previous year, the survey shows.

Manpower hiring survey is most optimistic since 2008

Despite rampant economic uncertainty, the prospects of finding a job will improve at a steady if unspectacular pace during the first three months of next year, both nationally and in Wisconsin, a new survey says. The quarterly poll of employers' expectations compiled by Manpower Inc. found "the most promising hiring outlook" since the period that immediately preceded the financial meltdown of 2008, according to the Milwaukee-based global staffing services company. Of the 18,000 employers nationally that Manpower surveyed, 14% expect to hire new staff in the first three months of next year, while 9% expect a decrease in payrolls, resulting in what the survey calls a "net employment outlook" of 5%. After adjusting for recurring seasonal factors, such as winter-related slowdowns in construction or retailers' holiday hiring, the net outlook for the first quarter is 9%, an increase from 7% in the current quarter. A total of 70% of the employers in the forward-looking indicator expect no change in staff levels, denoting relative stability for the broad swath of the U.S. economy. The uncertainty that unnerves many managers and executives, however, also registers in the survey. The remaining 7% who are undecided about their first-quarter staffing plans represent a sharp increase from 3% who were unsure in the preceding two quarters. The uncertainty reading represents the biggest jump of that magnitude since 1977 and the highest percentage surveyed since 2005. "We're looking at modest improvement, and that's a positive sign," said Jonas Prising, a senior Manpower executive who oversees all operations in the Americas.

Spending on train service spurs new round of wrangling in Legislature

A year after the death of Wisconsin's high-speed rail plan, spending on trains is still a volatile political issue. That was evident in last week's debate over planning a new train maintenance base, which quickly became a platform for partisan bickering over who was more fiscally responsible in handling passenger rail matters. But as Republicans and Democrats maneuver for political advantage on this issue, consider: Regardless of whether the maintenance base is built, the state and federal governments already have committed about $100million to improvements on Amtrak's Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line. The Hiawatha is the national passenger railroad's most heavily used route outside the East and West coasts, providing more than 800,000 rides a year and growing. Southeastern Wisconsin business leaders strongly support the line. Spending on trains is dwarfed by road expenditures. In the fiscal year ended June 30, the state spent less than $50million on passenger and freight rail programs, compared with more than $2billion - more than 40 times as much - on building and maintaining state highways and local roads. The latest debate focuses on a maintenance base to service two trains that are being built in Milwaukee by Talgo, a Spanish manufacturer. On Thursday, the Legislature's GOP-led Joint Finance Committee voted 8-3, along party lines, to borrow $2.5million to plan the base - half what the state Department of Transportation requested - while ordering the department to study the options of servicing the trains in Chicago or scrapping the project. Those new state-owned trains will replace aging Amtrak-owned equipment on the Hiawatha. Amtrak services its trains in Chicago.

Wisconsin has lost out on $1.3 billion in federal money

The Wisconsin Budget Project today released a report showing that since Republicans have taken control of state government, Wisconsin has lost out on $1.3 billion in federal funds. "It's troubling to see how much federal money was left on the table at a time when Wisconsin needs every dollar it can get," says Jon Peacock, research director for the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, which initiated the budget project. "State officials maintain that they didn't have the necessary funds to draw down the federal money, but that doesn't make much sense when you consider that the Legislature found some $200 million in tax breaks to hand out to corporations." The biggest chunk of federal money turned down by the state was the more than $800 million grant for a high-speed rail system connecting Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago and the Twin Cities, which Gov. Scott Walker turned down even before he took office.

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