Park Towne : News & Notes

Opponents of a new land use plan for Dane County say it will drive up home prices and strip communities of local control, while backers say limits are needed to safeguard water resources and quality of life. More than 350 people packed the City Council chamber in the City-County Building on Thursday night to talk about the set of guidelines proposed by the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission.

Plans to tear down Rusty's Tavern and replace it with a new Mobil gas station/convenience store have run into conflict with an existing municipal water well. The city has now put the project on hold pending a review from its Water Resources Management Commission.

Dane County faces a balancing act as its communities grow over the next several decades. On one hand, city and village officials say they need a constant stream of new houses and businesses to pay for services and keep taxes down. But environmentalists note there is a finite amount of space and a need to preserve farmland.

Barb Pratzel can feel the pulse of the neighborhood getting stronger. A diverse customer base at her busy Manna Cafe & Bakery, 611 N. Sherman Ave. in Lakewood Shopping Center, offers some proof.

McBride Point, a project at 301 N. Hamilton St. that will demolish six rental properties for construction of a four-story 67-unit apartment complex, has city planners' approval as it goes back before the City Plan Commission on Monday. In December, the commission asked for more details on a proposal from owner Phil Hees of the McBride Cos. for the small Downtown block that now contains the Pinkus McBride Market and Deli.

There's no truth to news reports that Brown Shoe Co. has decided to yank the operations of its Famous Footwear subsidiary out of Madison, corporate and state of Wisconsin officials say. The Clayton, Mo., company issued a strongly worded statement Friday after two television stations reported that Famous Footwear employees were being prepared for a pending move.

Once again, tension is building between history and growth on Capitol Square. A proposed redevelopment could further a decades-long erosion of the Square's historical character or help preserve it.

Madison developer Marty Rifken is delighted that his restoration of the International Harvester Building on South Blount Street is moving toward historic preservation status. But Rifken is opposing city landmark status for a 100-year-old building that Rifken's limited corporation bought in 2002 for $380,000.

New to the Shorewood Shopping Center and a mere four doors from Penzeys Spices is the nation's first Vom Fass, the German-based purveyor of fine liquors, wines, oils and vinegars. All of these international products are sold fresh from oaken casks, glass balloons or stoneware crocks. ("Vom fass" means "from the cask.") Among the company's other 200-some outlets are Harrods of London, Galeria Lafayette in Paris and Hong Kong's new Pacific Place shopping center.

Lanson Drake has been trying to figure out for months how to avert a financial disaster when the interest rate on his adjustable-rate mortgage on his Lodi home resets in April. After tapping credit cards to make mortgage payments on a house that would not sell, with the local real estate market stalling, Drake figures he now has no choice but to file for bankruptcy.

Mortgage foreclosures in Dane County leapt nearly 80 percent in 2007, matching the national increase, as the local housing boom went bust and risky loans went sour. In 2007, there were 513 foreclosure sales scheduled with the Dane County sheriff, compared with 286 in 2006, a 79.3 percent increase. That compares with about an 80 percent nationwide increase, from 717,522 homes in 2006 to some 1.3 million in 2007, RealtyTrac, a California-based realty tracking company, reported Tuesday.

Phone lines were abuzz last night in Cross Plains. About 24 hours before an eagerly anticipated public meeting on land use development, the town of Cross Plains chairman canceled it, citing discovery of a legal snafu that nullifies the Plan Commission that was scheduled to hear public comments.

A controversial housing development proposed in the town of Cross Plains will face public scrutiny tonight. Developer Janice Faga has proposed a project that could comprise 66 houses on 337 acres, including 168 acres of open space - about 2.5 acres per lot - near the intersection of Old Sauk Pass and Timber Lane, along the town of Middleton border.

The town of Cross Plains will take steps at its Feb. 11 board meeting to once again create its Plan Commission because its original action creating it was not properly documented, Chairman Harold Krantz said Wednesday. That snafu prompted the cancellation of a public hearing that had been set for Wednesday evening on a controversial housing development proposal.

Madison is moving to support a major redevelopment project on Capitol Square. The city's Community Development Authority on Wednesday included a project on the 10 block of North Pinckney Street in its work plan for 2008.

About 1,000 downtown households in multiple-unit dwellings such as apartment and condominium buildings now have access to Internet service of up to 50 megabytes per second, five to 10 times faster than cable and phone broadband. ResTech Services, 120 W. Gorham St., provides the service wirelessly to the buildings and it's then distributed to dwellings within the buildings via ethernet lines, said Jonathan Wiciak, ResTech marketing and account manager.

Now is a time for balance. With state tax collections falling short, Wisconsin lawmakers should focus on spending cuts, in the short term, to keep the state budget in balance.

The Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort has unveiled renovations to its second largest waterpark resort, Klondike Kavern, which originally opened in 1998. Joe Eck, director of sales and marketing for the resort, said Klondike Kavern's Gold Mine Mountain was replaced by Bonanza Bluff, a play structure that includes 50 play and spray features on 12 different platforms, a 750-gallon tipping bucket, a 14 foot body slide and a 4 foot side by side children's slide.

Development plan advances. Supervisors favor proposal for student housing, offices, retail space downtown. A $75 million downtown development for N. 6th and W. State streets that would include student housing, offices, retail space and a parking ramp won a preliminary endorsement...

Help for homeowners facing foreclosure is available through a program organized by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. The program features a national toll-free hot line, 888-995-4673, that offers 24-hour assistance from the Homeownership Preservation Foundation. Counselors can help homeowners work out a budget or contact their lender. WHEDA also has partnered with Common Wealth Development of Madison, a community development firm, to provide counseling for Dane County homeowners with more complex foreclosure problems.

Residents resist quarry growth. Lisbon homeowners appeal to county. Homeowners near the Halquist Stone Co. quarry are hoping that Waukesha County officials will look past the company's civic activism and block a quarry expansion that neighbors fear would jeopardize their quality of...

Development tops list for candidates. 2nd District to get new fire station, too. Candidates for one of Brookfield's two districts with primaries next month are looking toward the city's future in terms of redevelopment and protective services...

Cambridge to build laboratory in business park. A new three-story 116,700-square-foot laboratory and manufacturing facility will soon be added to Cambridge Major Laboratories, N10497 Washington Drive...

Planners OK Quad expansion. Addition uncertain; printer continues to explore options. Quad/Graphics, one of the largest employers in West Allis, is considering a $14 million expansion of its Highway 100 plant that could create an additional 80 jobs - if the company follows through...

Condo developer files for court receiver. First Place project beset with debt, lawsuits. The owner of a large Milwaukee condominium project, facing major construction cost overruns and mounting debts, has filed for receivership - effectively ending its control of the development...

Froedtert near deal at West Bend. St. Joseph's Hospital says it will begin talks on affiliation. The organization that operates St. Joseph's Hospital near West Bend appears poised to join the growing Froedtert & Community Health system...

Businesses see proposal as road to ruin. I-94 plan limits access to 27th St. from south. Like motorists stuck in traffic, retailers and residents fighting to maintain full access to the S. 27th St. business district have been honking loudly and making little progress...

Village status gives Caledonia a handful of new opportunities. Now that Caledonia is a village, it is moving full speed ahead with development, intergovernmental agreements, capital improvement projects and maybe, down the road, its own school district...

Woodman's wants to build its next supermarket in Sun Prairie. The Janesville-based company will seek approval from the Sun Prairie Plan Commission Tuesday night to build on 25 acres it owns along U.S. 151 and County C in this northeast Madison suburb. It would be the firm's third store in Dane County.

The Capital Area Regional Planning Commission is considering criteria for Urban Service Area extensions that would protect Dane County's farmland and ground water from poorly planned development. In particular, these extensions would protect Lake Waubesa and areas around it from threats of urban sprawl. Oranizations such as the Black Earth Creek Watershed Association, the Friends of the Dane County Parks, Friends of Badfish Creek, Friends of Cherokee Marsh, the Madison Audubon Society, the Sierra Club Four Lakes Group, Trout Unlimited, and the West Waubesa Preservation Coalition have already begun to weigh in on these proposals. And the general view is that the rules are wise and necessary.

UW-Madison may be able to get the new dorm it wants without waiting for Legislative approval to get the process rolling. As the university looks for ways to revive its bid for additional on-campus student housing, one possible option is a lease/purchase plan, according to UW System assistant vice president David Miller.

Mark Bugher, the director of University Research Park, has begun his duties as board chairman of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce. Bugher, vice chairman for the past two years, was elected in December and will serve as chairman through 2009.

Madison is already considered one of the best places in the United States for bike riders, but some in the city are aiming for the apex of bike-friendlydom with a series of proposals to encourage two-wheeled, pedaled transport to work, school and just for fun. The 94 recommendations in the not-so-subtly titled "Making Madison the Best Place in the Country to Bicycle" were released last month by a mayor-appointed committee. They range from converting existing streets into "bike boulevards" to hiring a "bicycle ambassador."

Concerned that a high-voltage transmission line next to the Beltline Highway will stifle development and dramatically lower property values along the busy corridor, a group of area business and civic leaders are pushing to have the line placed underground. Sub-Zero Freezer, Mortenson Investment Group, Culver's restaurant, the UW Arboretum and T. Wall Properties are among those supporting an underground line. They have formed an LLC, or limited liability corporation, to cover legal fees and other expenses of intervening in the case.

Some prominent local businesspeople say they have joined with area municipal officials to fight for the idea of building a high-power transmission line underground. The Coalition for an Underground Alternative is trying to raise $350,000 to push for burying the huge 345-kilovolt, 32- to 55-mile line that American Transmission Co. wants to build across the width of Dane County. The line is needed, ATC has been saying, to meet the area's growing appetite for electricity.

More retail is on the way for Orchard Pointe in Fitchburg. Tim Neitzel, one of the developers of Orchard Pointe, a large retail project near the intersection of McKee and Verona roads, said Friday he will construct two retail buildings on the property that at one time was home to a golf dome.

The Sun Prairie School District is set once again to tap into the Earth's natural body temperature to warm and cool its newest elementary school. Creekside Elementary, located on the city's south side, will be the second of three Sun Prairie schools the district plans to heat and cool using a geothermal system.

"Erdman was seeking a strategic partner in healthcare real estate and selected Cogdell Spencer, a pioneer in healthcare development, physician ownership, ...

Biotech association to get its own office. State trade group moving to Madison research park. In a move that symbolizes the growth of its industry in the state, a Wisconsin biotechnology association will leave its space in a Madison law firm for its own offices...

Doyle pushes tax incentives, warns of spending cuts. 'State of the state' address includes efforts to boost business, but shortfall looms. Gov. Jim Doyle called for new tax breaks Wednesday to create the next generation of high-tech jobs but warned that a stalling economy threatens state government's ability...

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin recently approved a vital improvement to Dane County’s electric transmission system linking a new ...

Jack Fischer's 30-plus years of experience include helping site the largest Motorola plant outside of the United States, working as a developer and being part of an architectural consulting firm while he was still in college. He says that experience has helped him understand a key question facing state government: "What do private businesses look for?"

Drug-maker plans growth. Germantown firm looks to expand, add 45 employees. Drug-maker Cambridge Major Laboratories Inc. is planning a $25 million expansion of its Germantown laboratory and manufacturing facility and will be adding 45 jobs, company executives said Thursday...

Pabst Farms plans tweaked. Shopping area developers drop hotels, move stores back, add small pond. In revised plans submitted Thursday, developers of a proposed shopping mall at Pabst Farms have eliminated two hotels, moved some big-box stores slightly and added a small pond at...

MATC: Failure to launch. Milwaukee Area Technical College seemingly has business incubators that don't incubate very well - in traditional terms...

Parking worries derail proposed change to Village development. The Brookfield Common Council last week voted down a change in the general plan for a proposed residential building in the city's Village Area after several aldermen expressed concerns about the impact the development would have on the neighborhood...

JFS apartment complex proposal moves forward. The Brown Deer Village Board on Jan. 21 approved both a development agreement and an option to purchase part of the former Kohl's Food Store property...

Building would be city's tallest if approved. Rezoning would be needed to allow 97-foot-tall office at the corner of Greenfield, Moorland. Brookfield residents and members of the city's Common Council last week got a closer look at a state-of-the-art development slated for the northeast corner of...

North Hills Medical Centre to feature third building. The North Hills Medical Centre will soon feature another medical office building on the village's far southeast side...

Train station could be catalyst for redevelopment. Perhaps the best hope for kick-starting a revival of downtown South Milwaukee is the possible extension of the Metra commuter rail line from Kenosha to Milwaukee...

Turning Milwaukee Avenue into a Main Street. One option for revitalizing older downtown areas such as Milwaukee Avenue is becoming part of the Main Street program...

Downtown design concept draws kudos. Owner of Parkland Mall property also on board with plan. Public reaction was mostly positive Jan. 15 to a 26-page report describing downtown redevelopment plans for Muskego...

Shopping center may benefit from TIF twist. The Hales Corners Community Development Authority has endorsed a financing method that could result in the remodeling and possible expansion of an aging shopping center in need of attracting new tenants...

Developer looks to expand student housing complex. 2040 Lofts plans to add 100 more units near MU. A Chicago development firm will soon begin building a $15 million addition to its apartment building that targets Marquette University students...

Partners hope custard stand sweetens North Ave. economy. For nearly a decade, Damon Dorsey and Bob Plevin have led development efforts along W. North Ave. in Milwaukee, transforming vacant lots and dilapidated properties into attractive retail shops, offices and apartments. Plevin's and Dorsey's work with...

Wisconsin job cuts forecast from home-building slump. But economist sees good signs in state. Even though the housing construction downturn isn't as bad in Wisconsin as in some other states, it will ultimately cost jobs here, an economist said Tuesday...

Sportsplex seeks cash investors; Engage LLC needs $3.5-$4.9 million to build Sussex facility. The company that wants to build a 130,000-square-foot Sportsplex in Sussex now has at least two-thirds of the money it needs to start building the facility.. The company that wants to build a 130,000-square-foot Sportsplex in Sussex now has at least...

Sluggish market may save farms. Suburban sprawl could pause as building lags. High gasoline prices and a downturn in the housing market may be bad for the economy, but a new wariness about home building could save Wisconsin farm fields by slowing the sprawl of development into rural...

Siemens catches a wave. German conglomerate makes state its U.S. water research center. It's a burgeoning idea on the shores of Lake Michigan: As drinkable water becomes scarce in parts of the United States, Asia and the Middle East, demand is bound to proliferate for new technologies...

Developer buys St. Francis lake parcel for housing. An area development firm has purchased a lakefront parcel in St. Francis to build housing...

Development in the Park East corridor in downtown Milwaukee has been slow, but a ribbon cutting ceremony will be held Thursday for the first building to be built in the corridor on a property sold by local government. The ceremony will mark the completion of construction for The Flatiron, a six-story building with 38 condominiums and 2,860-square feet of retail space.

New home construction last year in the U.S. was the lowest in 27 years, according to a recent report from the Commerce Department.

Two longtime local specialty retailers have closed at the Hilldale Shopping Center, taking with them some of the mall's global appeal. Patrick's Look of the Isles went out of business last month after 24 years, and this week Oriental Specialties closed its doors after a 31-year run in Madison.

If everything falls into place, shoppers could be buying Thanksgiving 2009 turkeys at a new Hy-Vee grocery on East Washington Avenue. The Madison Plan Commission Monday night OK'd a proposal from the West Des Moines, Iowa-based retailer to turn the long-vacant Kmart at 3801 E. Washington Ave. into Wisconsin's first Hy-Vee. The firm operates 223 stores in seven other Midwestern states.

Billboards have been targeted for extinction in Madison since at least the 1970s, but they've survived. Now, some are interfering with new housing and business development. So the city, despite sentiment that oversized outdoor advertising is unsightly, might ease its ban on new billboards. The proposed change would let billboard owners improve the signs or build a new one if they take down an old one.

An east Madison institution is considering developing its lakefront site. The East Side Club has formed a committee that last spring began looking at possibly redeveloping the site of its clubhouse, which fronts 150 feet along the shore of Lake Monona at 3735 Monona Drive.

One of the raps on the local business development scene has been the lack of support for upstart technology companies, especially from traditional financial institutions. Madison Development Corp. is working to change that through a unique program designed to reduce the risk for banks while funneling badly-needed money to entrepreneurs.

Madison Development Corp. will be able to start a new round of business loans now that the nonprofit organization has obtained $2.3 million in second-round funding. The money is for MDC's Venture Debt Program, which has loaned up to $200,000 each to 10 young technology businesses since the fund started with $2 million in 2004. Biotechs NeoClone, Gentel Biosciences, C5-6 and BioSystem Development were some of the companies awarded the first round of loans.

The fight for the grocery dollar in Dane County is about to get even more competitive. Less than a year after the opening of a Copps in Sun Prairie, a SuperTarget in Fitchburg and a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Monona, Woodman's Food Market, is proposing its third store in the Madison area.

Q: What happened to the Costco that was supposed to open in Middleton? And what happened to the PDQ that was supposed to replace the former Sentry store on Allen Boulevard in Middleton? A: Be patient.

Historic consultant Gary Tipler is grinning Monday as he stomps on dusty floorboards. His feet hit the wood with a solid sound that echoes in the empty second floor of the 110-year-old McCormick-International Harvester Branch House, a three-story building at 301 S. Blount St., just east of the Capitol Square.

Home construction took a significant hit in Dane County in 2007, according to figures released Thursday, but one major local home builder says a few hopeful signs may be starting to emerge. Permits were issued for 1,167 single-family homes and duplexes in Dane County last year, a drop of 16 percent from the 1,393 houses and duplexes that began construction in 2006 and a 50 percent decline from 2005, according to a report from MTD Marketing Services of Wisconsin, in Menasha.

After two-and-a-half years, four proposals and 44 meetings, veteran Madison architect Bob Sieger has almost given up on building anything on the corner of Regent and Monroe streets. Lofts. Condos. A hotel. A smaller hotel. No matter what he proposes for 1501-09 Monroe St., Sieger says, a small group of opponents in the Vilas Neighborhood Association will shoot it down. "I've got the feeling I could build a park here, and it wouldn't be good enough," Sieger said.

Local Real Estate Development organization changes name to reflect broadened scope

January 16, 2008 – Smart Growth Madison, Inc., board members voted unanimously last week to change the name of the organization to Smart Growth Greater Madison, Inc. in order to demonstrate their increased involvement in issues outside of the City of Madison boundaries.

Despite strenuous efforts to meet a target date of 2009 to expand Warner Park stadium for the popular Madison Mallards baseball team, the city is preparing for the possibility that it will be delayed at least another year. A key argument for a 2009 opening is a recent study that said the existing bleachers would only be safe to use through this year's season. Parks Division Manager Simon Widstrand said Tuesday that as soon as weather permits, a professional will look at the existing bleachers to see if they really must be replaced that quickly.

A new power line connecting Fitchburg and Verona could be operational by June 2010, American Transmission Co. said after the line received preliminary approval from the state Public Service Commission. The three-member PSC on Tuesday unanimously agreed to issue a verbal order approving ATC's request to construct a new substation in Fitchburg and about six miles of 138-kilovolt transmission line connecting that substation to an existing substation in Verona.

Plans for a new high-voltage line carrying electricity through Dane County won the state Public Service Commission's initial approval Tuesday. The three-member panel unanimously agreed that the line is needed to meet Dane County's growing electricity needs. A written decision will be issued in the next few weeks.

The timing may be just right. The reconstruction of Main Street is completed, new businesses are opening and there's room for more. More than 100 people from Evansville and the surrounding area will gather Saturday at Evansville High School for an Economic Development Summit. The city of 4,039, located about 22 miles south of Madison, is the fastest growing community in Rock County, which officials say means there's a market for more jobs, goods and services.

In a flurry of final changes, plans for redeveloping troubled Allied Drive are coming together "like a Rubik's Cube," Madison Community Development Authority Chairman Stuart Levitan said. As key decisions and deadlines near, Levitan, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Ald. Brian Solomon are confident in the multimillion-dollar plan, which would dramatically reshape the core of the Southwest Side neighborhood.

A costly plan to revitalize long-troubled Allied Drive passed some major hurdles Monday, setting up a Madison City Council vote on Jan. 22. The city's financial committee, the Board of Estimates, grilled proponents of the multimillion-dollar plan for two hours but only briefly discussed the proposal before voting 4-0 to endorse it. Two members were absent.

Jacobson Bros. Meats & Deli closed its shop at the Meadowood Shopping Center on the Southwest Side, 5734 Raymond Road, on Dec. 30. Of the three employees, one retired, another went back to school and the third was transferred to another Jacobson Bros. location, said Mark Jacobson, company vice president.

Extensive snow and ice damage led to Monday's closing of Northside Brennan's Market, 1422 Northport Drive, the company announced today. "Previous renovation commitments at our Monroe and Brookfield stores will not allow us to invest in the Northside location at the level we would need to serve the community," Tim Culhane, manager of Brennan's Market, said in a news release. "We hope that our loyal Northside customers will find the time to come and visit our other locations, which will have a stronger future made possible by this difficult decision."

Despite opposition from the state's largest business group and others, a measure that would raise Wisconsin's minimum wage each year based on inflation was expected to pass the state Senate today. It also would immediately increase the minimum wage from $6.50 to $7.25 an hour. But don't spend that extra 75 cents per hour just yet.

After 37 years of rehabilitating and building homes and young lives, Operation Fresh Start is struggling with the slow housing market. The agency hires teenagers in trouble for its work crews that build or renovate houses that are sold to low-income buyers.

Wisconsin 's papermaking industry took another blow Wednesday, with the cost this time 444 jobs. NewPage Corp., a company that supplies paper to catalog and magazine publishers, said Wednesday it will close a newly acquired plant in Niagara, near the Michigan border in northeastern Wisconsin, and shut one of three machines in Kimberly, near Appleton.

Judge scolds city over project. Panel met in secret for Downer parking. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Elsa Lamelas took the City of Milwaukee to the woodshed Wednesday, comparing its handling of neighborhood concerns over the construction of a five-story parking structure on N. Downer...

More review of shopping center wanted; Relocation of anchor stores a 'deal breaker'. The new developer of the Pabst Farms shopping center did not get its wish last Wednesday night, to pick up where the former developer left off in the project's approval process, as Oconomowoc plan comm. The new developer of the Pabst Farms shopping center...

Chicago-based CenterPoint Properties plans to build three more speculative industrial buildings in Pleasant Prairie along Interstate 94. CenterPoint presented a conceptual plan and related documents to the Pleasant Prairie Plan Commission this week for the construction of the first building in the development, a 453,000-square-foot structure that will feature warehouse, distribution and office space on approximately 30 acres of land.

It was hard for Jason Bartel to quit smiling. He was busy getting Kroll's West, a restaurant and bar a long punt from Lambeau Field, ready for another unexpected weekend of Green Bay Packers football - the NFC championship no less. "It is like having another Christmas - one month later," the general manager said. "It is going to be a fun weekend, a lucrative weekend financially. The positive part about it is the whole community benefits."

Hedge fund operator to grow in St. Francis. Stark Investments to add 2 buildings for $35 million. Hedge fund operator Stark Investments plans to expand its St. Francis corporate campus overlooking Lake Michigan with two office buildings, each with around 100,000 square feet, in a $35 million development...

Development of former hotel could get boost. Menomonee Falls could soon have a place to house its overnight visitors. A plan is developing to replace the former Menomonee Falls Inn with a new hotel. The hotel, W14776 Main St., has been closed for about a year. Representatives of Professional Hospitality, the Madison-based firm that owns the site, discussed the plan with village officials in a closed session meeting Jan. 7.

Council approves zoning for mixed-use development. Restaurant/brewery, condos and offices planned in first phase. The Mequon Common Council last week approved a zoning change that will make way for the development of the former Thermoset site on Mequon Road between Industrial Drive and Buntrock Avenue...

Developer must repair, protect Indian mounds. Tire ruts scar ancient figures at Pabst Farms. State officials have ordered Pabst Farms developers to repair and better protect American Indian effigy mounds near a large construction site after work crews damaged the panther-shaped burial sites...

Visioning session will explore four-story buildings. Redevelopment of East Silver Spring business district moves forward. Whether Whitefish Bay residents want more four-story buildings in the East Silver Spring Drive shopping district as it redevelops is one of the questions officials hope will be answered...

Rezoning likely in downtown Delafield. Some businesses in downtown Delafield may be rezoned as a result of developer Bob Lang's sale of about a dozen buildings to the Steinergroup, a Milwaukee-based real estate and investment firm.. Some businesses in downtown Delafield may be rezoned as...Biz Times Real estate deal of the week

Residents question size of proposed medical office building. Northeast corner of Moorland and Greenfield called the corridor for tall buildings. Residents from the south side of Brookfield last week asked questions and expressed concerns about a 127,000-square-foot medical and office building planned for the northeast...

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk is set today to sign an ordinance that could change future rural development patterns. The "transfer of development rights" ordinance is designed to concentrate new housing closer to cities and villages, rather than have it scattered in rural areas.

More tax breaks and more state funding - those are some of the tools Gov. Jim Doyle will recommend as a way to encourage investment in young technology companies. Doyle told a meeting Monday of the steering committee of Thrive, the economic development arm for the eight-county Madison region, that he is proposing a plan called Accelerate Wisconsin.

Doug Bach has long felt that a critical element has been missing in the often exasperating debate over what to do about Madison's lakes. "There's never been a sense of urgency, far as I can tell," says Bach, an environmental engineer who lives on Lake Monona and is president of the Yahara Lakes Association, a nonprofit group that represents lakeshore property owners.

A slight uptick in December was not enough to save 2007 from being the worst year for home building in Dane County this century, MTD Marketing reported today. There were 78 permits issued for new homes and duplexes in Dane County in December, up from the 72 in December 2006, but well below the range for December of 125 to 216 going back to 1999, when MTD started keeping records.

The Allied Area Task Force and the Community Development Authority seemed to pass another hurdle Monday night in their effort to redevelop the Allied Drive area when representatives from both groups presented an updated vision for the plan to neighborhood residents and task force members. The hurdle? Gaining the tentative trust and approval of the community.

Monona businessman and campus landlord Richard Fritz is proposing a six-story, 36-unit student apartment building at 125 N. Randall Ave. Located across from the Camp Randall greenspace, the site currently has four rental homes owned by Fritz. Plans call for razing those buildings and replacing them with new construction.

A local architect is testing the city's changing regulatory environment tonight before moving ahead with a proposal that would put six stories of student housing on four lots at the corner of Randall Avenue and Randall Court. City principal planner Bill Fruhling said the $5 million project meets most of the guidelines in a proposed master plan for Regent Street and the south campus area that was drafted in November but still needs city approval.

A $24 million high-rise apartment building near UW-Madison will move forward despite lingering concerns about the fate of two historic houses on the site. The Madison City Council on Tuesday approved the 14-story tower with 162 apartments and underground parking at 1022 W. Johnson St., satisfied with the developer's plans to relocate historic houses.

Proposals to provide housing on South Park Street for homeless people may clash with Madison's plans to redevelop the neighborhood. As a result, the city should negotiate with the federal government to relocate the housing elsewhere in Madison, said Ald. Tim Bruer, 14th District.

When he was a high-ranking executive at GE Healthcare, Dr. Bill Clarke heard a lot of pitches from aspiring entrepreneurs. It became fairly routine, and he wasn't expecting anything extraordinary when he came to hear Jamey Weichert, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, detail Cellectar, a local firm he had founded to develop his cancer-fighting compounds.

Cellectar, a Madison company developing products that light up cancerous tumors and shrink them, is getting a big financial boost. Investors have raised $13 million, which will be used to begin phase 1 clinical trials for Cellectar's lead product, CLR 1404. The safety tests on human cancer patients are scheduled to begin this summer if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves Cellectar's application for Investigational New Drug (IND) status.

Updated plans for the redevelopment of the Allied Drive neighborhood met with tentative approval from about two dozen neighborhood residents Monday night at a meeting hosted by the Allied Drive Task Force and the Community Redevelopment Authority. The plans included more details on the amount and placement of low-income housing and community spaces in the first phase of the redevelopment, as well as several layout changes based upon community input from the task force's last meeting on Dec. 16.

The Wisconsin Army National Guard has acquired 31 acres on Madison's Far East Side for a consolidated military facility. The site, across North Stoughton Road from Truax Field near Hanson Road, will include a 139,500-square-foot building that will house several units of the Wisconsin Army National Guard, along with units from the U.S. Army Reserve, Navy Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve and a 10,000-square-foot maintenance facility.

Dane County Habitat for Humanity executive director Brian Miller, who more than doubled the number of homes constructed by the group in his short tenure, is leaving his post to take a position in Atlanta with the international Habitat for Humanity. Miller has been in his current post since 2003, and during that time Dane County Habitat for Humanity home construction for low-income families has gone from an average of four to six a year to about 16 a year.

The Parade of Homes is poised to gain back some of its former glory this year. The 2007 event featured just three sites with 21 homes, the first time the number was less than 30 in more than a decade and the fewest since 1982.

The Urban Open Space Foundation, the group behind the development of Madison's central park, is changing its name and has landed a contract with the U.S. Forest Service to help cities across the nation revitalize their urban cores. The Center for Resilient Cities, as the group is now called, was renamed because it has a new focus on how to create environmental, economic and social benefits in depressed areas. Rather than creating "sustainable" cities, the group wants to help "redesign and rebalance cities" in a way that will help them address current problems and better anticipate future challenges as they develop, said Heather Mann, executive director for the group.

PASSENGER TERMINALS Dane County Regional Airport in Madison has been recognized for a second consecutive year as one of the world's top 20 most noteworthy airports by Passenger Terminal World, a British-based trade magazine.

The Madison Mallards and the city of Madison have been thrown a $1.6 million curveball in their efforts to reconstruct the Warner Park baseball stadium. The City Council approved a $4 million financing package for the project in its 2008 capital budget, including $800,000 in city money to renovate the aging bleachers and a $1.2 million city loan to the Mallards, with the remainder to be covered by the team.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk is thanking a Madison woman for her generous donation of land to Dane County. The property, donated by Mrs. Anita Gurda of Madison, is adjacent to Brigham County Park in the town of Blue Mounds. Mrs. Gurda donated the 2.5 acre wooded site in honor of her deceased parents, Fred and Hazel Hanneman.

Hawley Strigenz Development Corp. has significantly scaled back the size of the proposed Catalano Place on the Park development that it is planning to build in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. As a result, construction is expected to start soon. The firm has dropped its original plans to build a five-story, 150,000-square-foot office and retail building at the northwest corner of Milwaukee Street and Menomonee Street.

Several new affordable housing projects are being proposed in Milwaukee. United Methodist Children's Services of Wisconsin plans to build a four-story, 43,000-square-foot building adjacent to its existing facility at 3940 W. Lisbon Ave. The building will have 24 three-bedroom housing units and about 10,000 square feet of community space. According to a proposal filed with the city, the monthly rent will be affordable for families earning 30 percent to 60 percent of Milwaukee County's median income.

HellermannTyton Corp. will shift its manufacturing operations from Naples, Fla., to Milwaukee, where it plans to expand and create 154 new jobs over the next three years. The company is acquiring and renovating a facility at 8475 N. 87th St. and expanding an existing facility at 7930 N. Faulkner Road. The total project cost is estimated at $7.8 million.

Dairy expertise sought. Chinese group is in Wisconsin seeking bids on $200 million project. A Chinese trade delegation is in Wisconsin this week seeking companies to bid on a $200 million dairy industry improvement project...

Gov. Jim Doyle today announced a package of tax breaks and other incentives to encourage start-up businesses in Wisconsin. The package, which will be further outlined in Doyle's "State of the State" speech later this month, includes additional state money for technology grants and loans and additional tax benefits for investors in start-up companies.

The Republican-controlled Assembly probably won't take up a smoking ban this year, Speaker Mike Huebsch said Wednesday. And if a universal health care plan passes the Democratic-controlled Senate, it won't go further than a committee hearing in the Assembly, he said.

Hiring practically stalled in December, driving the nation's unemployment rate up to a two-year high of 5 percent and fanning fears of a recession. Employers last month added the fewest new jobs to their payrolls in more than four years, according to the employment report released today by the Labor Department. The report showed that employment conditions are deteriorating, strained by a housing slump and credit crunch that are sapping economic strength.

More review set for Pabst Farms mall. Oconomowoc planners want public hearing. New plans for a large shopping mall - now an open-air hybrid of upscale and familiar big-box stores - at Pabst Farms need more work and a public hearing before they can proceed, the city Plan Commission said Wednesday...

Pabst Farms changes sought. City worried about big-box stores backed up against roadways. City officials have asked the new developers of the proposed Pabst Farms Town Centre shopping mall to move big-box stores away from the corner of I-94 and Highway 67, an area considered a...

Redevelop air base to expand Mitchell, panel says. Officials urge runway, space for businesses. The 440th Air Force Reserve facility should be redeveloped into a runway for Mitchell International Airport and to house aviation-related businesses, including a Midwest Connect maintenance building, after...

Falls Inn project proposed. Madison firm seeks to redevelop site. A Madison firm is trying to strike a deal with the village that would lead to the redevelopment of the Menomonee Falls Inn on Main St., just off of Highways 41/45...

Business leaders want to warm city's climate. The elevator doors at the Shangri La Hotel in Shanghai, China, slid open and Jeff Joerres of Manpower Inc. found himself face-to-face with another leader of Milwaukee's business community, Paul Purcell of Robert W. Baird & Co...