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Park Towne Development: News & Notes

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Joe 

Development News for the Week of:    3/31/2012 -  4/6/2012  

MARCH PENDING OFFERS IN DANE COUNTY SHOW GOOD YEAR

 

Based on accepted offers in March, agents say sales in April will likely be strong, especially for single-family homes. Condos are still lagging.

This week, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi highlighted a bike map of the future that included hundreds of miles of potential off-road bicycle and pedestrian trails that would link communities, parks and natural attractions throughout the county.

 

 

Barring an unforeseen hitch, Mayor Paul Soglin will soon propose a tentative deal to sell a full block on East Washington Avenue to Urban Land Interests for a roughly $32 million, 160,000-square-foot, mixed-use project bringing high-tech jobs, housing and parking.

 

HOUSING HOLDING BACK RECOVERY

 

There are signs that Wisconsin's economy might be slowly recovering, albeit six months behind the rest of the country. But one sector remains a drag and it's a big one: housing starts.

 

HOUSING STARTS-MARCH 2012-DANE COUNTY

 

Dane County housing starts moved from 60 in March of 2011 to 69 in March of 2012 - an increase of 15%. The graph below shows the number of monthly Dane County housing starts dating back to January, 2005. Each green data point represents an increase from the same month of the prior year. Each red data point represents a decrease. 

 

PAUL SOGLIN SYAS QUIT BLAMING THE CITY FOR STALLED DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS


Mayor Paul Soglin has had it with people bashing Madison as being anti-development. A few months ago, critics said the demise of the Edgewater hotel project was an example of how impossible it is to do business here. Now the city is getting blamed for the impasse over Jerry Frautschi and Pleasant Rowland's plans for a $10 million makeover of State Street. Soglin is sick of it.

 

SOGLIN SEEKS MORE COLLABORATION BETWEEN CITY, SCHOOL DISTRICT

 

Mayor Paul Soglin wants more collaboration between the city and the Madison School District to improve educational outcomes for students. The initiative comes amid a citywide debate over how best to raise the achievement levels of a growing number of low-income and minority students.

 

 

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 Around the State and Points Elsewhere 

PSC MAY DECIDE ALLIANT'S $393 MILLION POWER PLANT PURCHASE

 

State regulators may decide Thursday whether Wisconsin Power & Light Co. can buy a natural gas-fired power plant in Beloit for $393 million. The state Public Service Commission will consider the matter during its weekly meeting Thursday, according to an agenda released this morning.

 

AMERICA'S ROMANCE WITH SPRAWL MAY BE OVER

 

Almost three years after the official end of a recession that kept people from moving and devastated new suburban subdivisions, people continue to avoid counties on the farthest edge of metropolitan areas, according to Census estimates out today.

 

COUNTY TO OPEN NEW FACILITY TO SERVE SENIORS, ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES AND THEIR FAMILIES

 

Dane County will soon be home to an Aging and Disabilities Resource Center (ADRC) that will enhance long term care for older adults and adults with disabilities and their families, regardless of income, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced today.

                

TIF DEAL WILL HELP ASSOCITAED BANK WITH MOVE

 

The Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday approved a development agreement with Associated Banc-Corp that provides tax-increment finance assistance to move its headquarters from Ashwaubenon to downtown Green Bay.

 

 

Milwaukee County this week issued a request for interest (RFI) seeking developers interested in purchasing and redeveloping the Milwaukee County Downtown Transit Center site at 909 E. Michigan St. in downtown Milwaukee.

 

 

The city and the Chicago Cubs are getting close to a long-awaited deal to rebuild Wrigley Field, but other parties - notably Cook County and the state of Illinois - are not yet aboard.

 

 

The city intends to pay a developer $95,000 annually for 10 years to support the $10.5 million Festival Foods grocery store planned at 647 S. Green Bay Road.

 

 

Wauwatosa-based Irgens Development Partners LLC is in discussions with U.S. Bank about developing an office building at the site of the annex parking garage, located southeast of the U.S. Bank Center at 777 E. Wisconsin Ave. in downtown Milwauke.

 

 

On Tuesday, the Town of Delavan Plan Commission will review the newest plan from Chicago-based developer Sho-Deen Homes: a preliminary plat with 74 lots on 39 acres.

 

 

Downtown office vacancy declined for a fifth consecutive quarter, as tenants show more decisiveness amid a gradual economic recovery.

 

ZONING PANEL DELAYS VOTE ON STATE BUILDING ON 27TH ST

 

The city approval process for a two-story, 64,000-square-foot office building proposed for a long-vacant site on Milwaukee's west side ran into a delay Wednesday over concerns about the building's design.

 

 

Liberty Property Trust Inc. has sold 49 properties for $195 million, including 18 suburban office and flex-space buildings in the Milwaukee area, it was announced Wednesday.

 

 

Potawatomi Bingo Casino's 20-story hotel proposed for Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley, and a 36-unit apartment building planned for the east side, were each approved Wednesday by a Common Council committee.The Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee unanimously recommended approval for the hotel, which had some design changes to its canopy after previously winning Plan Commission approval.

 

 

Fiduciary Real Estate Development Inc. plans to build 330 apartments on 40 acres in Menomonee Falls over two years starting in spring 2013, under a proposal pending before the village Plan Commission. The apartments, which would include 80 units for seniors, are planned for land on the south side of Highway Q, just east of Grace Lutheran Church, which opened last year near Maple Drive. 

 

An Appleton development firm wants to buy just under 17 acres of the former Iceport site, in Cudahy. Economic Development Associates' offer has been accepted, in principal, by the  city's Community Development Authority, said Brian Biernat, Cudahy's economic development director. A proposed sale price hasn't been disclosed yet, and is still subject to negotiation, he said.