News and NotesConservancy Place - DeForest, WI


Park Towne Development: News & Notes

As Monday is Memorial Day may we all take a moment to remember those who have died in service to our country.

Have a great week!

Joe
 
Development News for the Week of:    5/19/2012 -  5/25/2012  

 NERAD SAYS MADISON WILL CONSIDER APPLYING FOR NEW RACE TO THE TOP FUNDS

 

The Madison School District "will consider the feasibility of applying" for part of a $400 million Race to the Top federal grant program announced Tuesday, Superintendent Dan Nerad said. The program rewards districts trying to raise achievement levels of low-income and minority students.  

 


Developers say a $4.9 million ongoing renovation of three blighted apartment buildings in the town of Madison will benefit the community that surrounds it and the business park next to it, while its tenants will get a better place to live at below-market rates.  

 

 

Nearly 200 people packed into a conference room at the Fitchburg Public Library last Thursday to hear about the $175 million plan to renovate the Verona Road interchange at the Beltline. It was the first of a series of public information sessions over the next month.

 

 

Dane County's Distressed Property Index was well below 30 percent in April, continuing a steady pattern so far this year. The index reading in April was 25.6 percent, down from 31.2 percent in April 2011 and down from 27.1 percent in March.

 

LOCAL PROGRAM OFFERING DISCOUNTS ON DANE COUNTY HOME PURCHASES TO END AUG. 1, ORGANIZERS SAY

 

Citing a much improved market, local housing industry leaders are retiring a discount program on Dane County home purchases about 14 months after it started.  

 

UPPER YAHARA RIVER TRAIL FUNDS OK'D

 

Dane County will chip in $134,049 toward the village of DeForest's effort to complete the Upper Yahara River Trail, the county executive's office announced Thursday. The funds for the trail were part of a $603,300 investment in recreation projects through Dane County's Partners for Recreation and Conservation (PARC) program.  

 

WINDSOR PICKS NEW PLANNER

 

Windsor's new planner should be a familiar face to anyone involved in town government 10 years ago.Windsor Chairman Bob Wipperfurth announced during Thursday's town board meeting the town would begin contracting planning services from Jamie Rybarczyk of Foth Infrastructure and Environment. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

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 Around the State and Points Elsewhere 

  

 Continuing spring's strong bounce-back, April saw another good month for state home sales, as well as a small price increase. Existing home sales rose 19.5 percent compared with April 2011, the Wisconsin Realtors Association said Monday.

 
 

Continuing spring's strong bounce back, April saw another good month for state home sales, as well as a small price increase. Existing home sales rose 19.5 percent compared with April 2011, the Wisconsin Realtors Association said Monday.

  

  

The real estate market in Wisconsin continued to rebound last month, as sales of existing homes rose 19.5 percent and the median sale price nudged up 2.4 percent.

 

ENBRIDGE $400 MILLION PROJECT WOULD EXPAND OIL FLOW THROUGH STATE.

 

A Wisconsin crude oil pipeline would see a 40% increase in the amount of oil flowing through it under a proposal unveiled by Enbridge Inc.The Canadian firm last week unveiled a $3.2 billion project that would expand the flow of oil between North Dakota and Chicago, as well as between Canada's oil sands region and the U.S. and eastern Canada.

 


The Milwaukee office of Opus Development Corp. announced that a Hallmark Gold Crown store will occupy the final space of its Shoppes at Fox River Phase I retail development in Waukesha. The store will occupy a 3,368-square-foot space.

 

 

For now, it's older buildings and parking lots, but when Commonweal Development bought the Reinhart property at the confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa rivers Tuesday afternoon, it marked the first official step toward the parcel being transformed into what project backers hope will be a monumental step in Eau Claire's continuing downtown redevelopment.

 

 

Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar Inc., which last year acquired Bucyrus International Inc., plans to expand its presence in the Milwaukee area, according to commercial real estate sources. 

 

 

The Oshkosh Common Council on Tuesday will consider providing $3 million in public assistance for the renovation of the former City Center Hotel. The proposed assistance would help the hotel developers secure bank financing for the balance of the estimated $14 million acquisition and renovation of the property at 1 N. Main St.

 

 

Milwaukee's Bradley Center has been renamed the BMO Harris Bradley Center after the bank made an undisclosed investment in the future of the building. 

 

SUSSEX DISCUSSES DEVELOPMENT IN CLOSED SESSION

 

For the second time in a month, Village trustees have met behind closed doors to privately discuss the possibility of providing real estate tax incentives for the development of a commercial park on the west edge of the village. 

 

 

MENOMINEE SPLIT FROM FIRM DEVELOPING PROPOSED KENOSHA CASINO

 

The ongoing effort to open an $800 million Indian casino in Kenosha has hit new hurdle, with the Menominee tribe and the California firm tasked with infusing cash into the project and arranging financing for it confirming Thursday that their deal has been axed. 

 

SHOREWOOD PLAN COMMISSION HEARS, REACTS TO PLANS FOR SENIOR LIVING FACILITY

 

Preliminary plans for a senior living facility are moving forward in Shorewood. The Plan Commission on Tuesday heard a presentation from representatives of Illinois-based Pathway Senior Living. 

 

ANOTHER APARTMENT PLAN SURFACES FOR JACKSON ST.

 

Another apartment plan is surfacing for a two-block stretch of N. Jackson St., on Milwaukee's east side. Dominion Properties is seeking a zoning change that would allow an apartment building on a vacant lot at 1509-1513 N. Jackson St., according to a proposed ordinance introduced this week.

 

LAND SWAP BETWEEN NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL AND COUNTY NEARS COMPLETION IN OAK CREEK

 

A long-planned Oak Creek land swap involving Milwaukee County and Northwestern Mutual is likely to be completed by late September, said Milwaukee County Parks Director Sue Black.

 

RADISSON HOTEL OWNERS MISS 2ND PAYMENT ON LOAN | $17.65 MILLION VILLAGE LOAN HELPED FINANCE CONSTRUCTION

 

An investors group which owns the new Radisson Hotel, in Menomonee Falls, has missed its second payment on a $17.65 million village loan that helped finance its construction. An investors group which owns the new Radisson Hotel, in Menomonee Falls, has missed its second payment on a $17.65 million village.

 

ZOO INTERCHANGE WORK'S TWISTS AND TURNS REACH INTO WAUWATOSA ROADS

 

As the Wisconsin Department of Transportation reconstructs the Zoo Interchange, drivers will experience road blocks on Wauwatosa streets in the early stages leading up to the looping highway work.

 


The average U.S. rate for the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to a record low for a fourth straight week. Cheap mortgages have helped boost home sales modestly this year.