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Park Towne Development: News & Notes

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Joe 

Development News for the Week of:    4/6/2012 -  4/13/2012  

 

 

Madison's long-awaited Central Park is in line for its first permanent structure: an artist-inspired public restroom. The city is moving forward on the $600,000 facility, which would be constructed of a quartzite stone mosaic and includes a green roof to capture storm water runoff. Construction could start by fall, park planners say.

 

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF THE DANE COUNTY FORECLOSURE PREVENTION TASKFORCE 

 

Three years after the start of an organized effort to fight foreclosure in Dane County, area residents are still losing their homes at near-record levels. But hope remains, as well.

 

 IS MADISON AN EXPENSIVE PLACE TO DO BUSINESS? 

 

For the first time, Madison has been included in a survey of cities' business costs by the global accounting firm KPMG. Issued every two years, the Competitive Alternatives survey rates more than 110 cities in 14 countries on the cost of doing business. The study looks at 26 components -- from tax rates and labor costs to construction prices and energy costs -- to create a comparative index.

 

UW-MADISON REAL ESTATE CONFERENCE TO FEATURE BIG INDUSTRY NAMES, IDEAS TO SPUR THE HOUSING MARKET 

 

UW-Madison's annual real estate conference on June 1 will explore ways to build workable national housing policies in a polarized political environment.

 

COUNCIL FIGHT OVER 800 BLOCK OF EAST WASH SHAPES UP 

 

A battle is brewing over how best to develop a key block of East Washington Avenue near the Capitol,...Mayor Paul Soglin proposed a tentative deal to sell a 4.5-acre, city-owned parcel on the north side of the 800 block of the avenue for $2.94 million to Urban Land Interests.

 

CITY EYES GREEN COMMERCE CENTER ON THE EAST SIDE 

 

Imagine several renewable energy startups with dozens of skilled employees housed in an East Washington Avenue office featuring the latest in green building technology. Its a pipe dream at the moment but with the economy recovering, city officials are moving on plans for the Madison Sustainability Commerce Center (MSCC).

 

MATC BOARD APPROVES NEW CULINARY INSTITUTE 

 

Madison Area Technical College's Culinary and Baking Institute will have a new, highly visible location Downtown. The MATC District Board on Wednesday unanimously approved the $8 million project, which includes a three-story building that will house a retail bakery, a dining room and a demonstration kitchen.

 

PLANS FOR TWO NEW STUDENT APARTMENTS RECEIVE GO-AHEAD 

 

A city planning committee approved a permit to demolish two buildings at Brooks and Dayton streets Monday to make way for a five-story apartment building.

 

CITY OFFICIALS SUPPORT UNIQUE CHARACTER OF MIFFLIN 

 

City planning officials supported changes in the downtown plan, which will now aim to preserve the character of the Mifflin neighborhood...the Plan Commission approved a six-story height limit for future developments on Mifflin and Dayton.

 

WORK SET TO RESUME ON $6 MILLION FIRCHBURG HIGHWAY PROJECT 

 

A $6 million highway project in Fitchburg, stalled since December by a contractor default, should be up and growling again soon following an agreement reached Monday afternoon between the state Department of Transportation and a bonding company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Around the State and Points Elsewhere 

CITIZENS WEIGH IN ON CREAMERY EXPANSION

 

The Shullsburg Creamery expansion plans were supported by the Shullsburg City Council and a crowd of 22 citizens at the council meeting April 4. Shullsburg Creamery plans to expand its plant in downtown Shullsburg to accommodate making small amounts of specialty cheeses while providing a viewing area as a public attraction. The project could add 4-5 employees and utilize the current staff better.

 

EMPTY DOWNTOWN BELOIT BUILDING AT CENTER OF REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT

 

Downtown Beloit might be getting a $7.3 million facelift. The Hendrick's Development Corporation wants to tear down the former Wagner's Office Supply building in the 400 block of East Grand Avenue. It would be replaced with a four-story multi-purpose building with space for retail, offices and apartments.

 

JUDGE ASKED TO RESUME COSTLY CLEANUP OF FOX RIVER

 

Federal prosecutors will ask a judge Thursday to restart the cleanup of contaminated sediment from the Fox River in Brown County, a project that could cost more than $1 billion.

 

GRAND PLAN FOR THE ARTS IN RICHLAND CENTER

 

The price tag was less than a cup of coffee, but the real cost is significantly more. The return on the investment, however, could be priceless for this city's downtown. Six years after the Richland County Performing Arts Council handed $1 to the city to purchase the blighted Richland Center City Auditorium.

 

 

The Milwaukee Common Council on Wednesday is to consider a resolution that would give aldermen more power to get the city Redevelopment Authority board to consider buying or selling properties, or taking other actions. The resolution, sponsored by Ald. Bob Bauman, was recommended for approval by the council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee on a 4-0 vote.

 

 

A panel discussion on new construction in historic districts will be hosted Wednesday by Historic Milwaukee, Inc.The event is sponsored by Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren at the firm's offices at 1000 N. Water St., Suite 1700. It begins at 6 p.m., with a meet and greet, followed by a discussion that starts at 7 p.m.

 

GERMANTOWN CHANGES ZONING TO ALLOW MIXED USES

 

New zoning for about 25 acres of the 254-acre Blackstone Creek development area, in Germantown, has been approved by the Village Board. The new zoning will allow Tarantino & Co. to develop restaurants, medical offices and other commercial uses in the area north of the Mequon and Division roads intersection, says an article at GermantownNow.com by reporter Danielle Switalski.

 

WISCONSIN PUBLIC NATIONAL PARK IS A TRIBAL FIRST

 

In a first for the U.S., the Red Cliff Chippewa is creating Frog Bay Tribal National Park on nearly 89 acres of its reservation and opening the lakeshore property and its views of the Apostle Islands to the public. The park's canopy of old towering trees - hemlock, white pine, white spruce, balsam fir, yellow birch and white cedar - marks a healthy and diverse boreal forest community, uncommon in Wisconsin even before settlement, Red Cliff Natural Resources Administrator Chad Abel said. "This is a rare gem," Abel said.