MADISON, WIS. — Lee & Associates has brokered the $2 million sale of land at 149 E. Wilson St. in Madison. McGrath Projects purchased the property and plans to build a luxury multistory housing project on the site. Steve Doran of Lee & Associates of Madison and Debby Dines of Dines Inc. were the brokers involved in the transaction. McShane Construction was the seller.
LISBON, WIS. — The Dickman Co./CORFAC International has brokered the sale of a 2,000-square-foot industrial building in Lisbon, approximately 25 miles west of Milwaukee. The property, situated on six acres of land, is located at W230 N9515 Colgate Road. Space4U LLC purchased the building and land from GRR8 Development LLC. Nick Keys and Zach Noble of The Dickman Co. were the brokers involved in the transaction representing the buyer and the seller.
MILWAUKEE — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has secured a $21.5 million Freddie Mac CME loan for Presidio Square Apartments in Milwaukee. The 248-unit, garden-style apartment complex was built in 1991. Jeannie Johnson of KeyBank Real Estate Capital Markets’ multifamily team arranged the financing for the undisclosed borrower. The financing will be used to pay off an existing loan.
DE PERE, WIS. — Ogden & Co. Inc. has arranged the $3.9 million sale of a 56-unit apartment complex in De Pere, a suburb of Green Bay. Trumpeter Trail is located at 605-665 Trumpeter Trail. Trumpeter Trail Associates LLC sold the property to the buyer, a Wisconsin-based investor group. David Tighe and Tim Dwyer of Ogden & Co. were the brokers involved in the transaction.
BROOKFIELD, WIS. — Mid-America Real Estate Corp.’s Investment Sales team has brokered the $1.7 million sale of a 4,991-square-foot, multitenant retail building in Brookfield. A private investor purchased the property located within Underwood Crossings, a 175,000-square-foot retail center. The development is located at the southeast corner of Bluemound Road and Columbia Drive approximately 12 miles west of downtown Milwaukee. The subject building features a Starbucks, Great Clips and T-Mobile. Target, Trader Joe’s and PNC Bank shadow anchor the property. Carly Gallagher of Mid-America and Dan Cohen of Mid-America Real Estate – Wisconsin LLC brokered the transaction on behalf of Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. US Inc.
Manufacturing, beer and the Green Bay Packers are typically the three things that come to mind when one thinks of Wisconsin. Although we will always love beer and our Green Bay Packers, the real estate landscape is changing. During the past decade — and even more so over the past few years — Milwaukee has begun its transformation into a hip and vibrant city and is making its mark in progressive green technologies, water research and startups. As Steve Palec, managing principal of Cresa Milwaukee, pointed out in his May 2012 article for Heartland Real Estate Business, for the first time since 2001 we are finally going to see a new office development and a change in our skyline. With the exception of the world-renowned Calatrava Art Museum and Pier Wisconsin in 2001 and 2006, respectively, Milwaukee’s lakefront has remained relatively unchanged for decades. The recession is only partly to blame. A 1915 deal made by the city of Milwaukee divided the lakeshore into land reserved for public use and land eligible for private development. Although the city entered into this agreement for several reasons, it was partially to ensure that all, not just the elite, could utilize the shores …
The industrial real estate market in Southeast Wisconsin continued its climb upward during 2012 as the overall vacancy rate fell from 7.1 percent to 6.5 percent. The result was positive net absorption of 3.6 million square feet for the year. This trend marks two-and-a-half straight years without a quarter of negative absorption. Seven of the eight counties in the Milwaukee industrial market area posted a reduction in vacancies during 2012. In Kenosha County, for example, the vacancy rate dropped from 11.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 9.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. Two transactions by Venture One Real Estate LLC accounted for most of the positive net absorption. The first transaction, which occurred in December 2012, was the sale of a 62,000-square-foot facility to EMCO Chemical Distributors Inc. This deal was followed shortly by Venture One’s acquisition of the 160,300-square-foot former Cenveo Inc. facility in Kenosha. Kenosha’s industrial market should perform well this year because of overflow demand from the Racine County market, which will necessitate deals in Kenosha. The shortage of space in Racine County will make it a better candidate for build-to-suit and speculative developments in 2013. Transaction Highlights Strong demand in Waukesha …
A rise in office-using employment and corporate profits has benefited underutilized Milwaukee space and spurred some companies in the metro area to expand their space needs. Several leases above 30,000 square feet were finalized in the first half of 2012. The accounting firm Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP took 68,000 square feet. Healthcare information systems provider Connecture Inc. inked a deal for 32,200 square feet. Marshall & Swift/Boeckh, a provider of building cost data and estimating technology to the property insurance industry, leased 38,200 square feet. Leasing activity helped push absorption into positive territory during the first two quarters, although rent growth remains minimal. It will take a few quarters of strong absorption before any significant upward trend in rents is realized. The limited construction pipeline has helped stabilize vacancy. The few competitive projects to break ground must have major leases in place before building activity gets under way. A rise in owner-occupied and government construction, however, could affect short-term vacancy in targeted areas, if leased space is vacated. About 30,000 square feet of office space came on line in the second quarter upon the completion of the refurbished Clock Shadow Building on Bruce Street in Milwaukee. The mixed-use building …
Milwaukee ended 2011 with its sixth consecutive quarter of positive net absorption and more than 3 million square feet of absorption for the year. Xceligent Inc. reported that the Milwaukee industrial market ended 2011 with a vacancy rate of 7.6 percent, down from 8.6 percent at the end of 2010. The national industrial vacancy rate by comparison ended 2011 at 9.9 percent, according to CoStar Group. Hungry for space Of the 67 national industrial markets tracked by Cassidy Turley, 59 recorded positive demand for warehouse space. Milwaukee was among the top 10 performers along with Dallas, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Houston and Chicago, the latter of which only surpassed Milwaukee by 200,000 square feet in 2011. Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin continue to attract food industry manufacturers, distributors and packagers. Most recently, Seda International Packaging Co., an Italian firm, opened its North American headquarters in Pleasant Prairie. It joined other food retailers like Gordon Food Services and Affiliated Foods Midwest, which have opened distribution centers in the last 2 years. ALDI and Roundy’s Foods also both have distribution centers greater than 1 million square feet in Southeast Wisconsin. Janesville, Wisconsin also attracted Melster Candy, which relocated its manufacturing operations to a 100,000-square-foot plant, …
The Milwaukee apartment market continues to enjoy higher occupancies, less concessions and yes, some actual rent growth. The market saw less available units in recent years. As the old law of supply and demand dictates, that drop in the number of available units has led to a significant reduction in concessions, thereby increasing effective rents. In some cases, not only was there an increase in effective rents, but in actual rents at some properties and within certain markets. What are the driving factors and what can we expect going forward? There are a few components at work — more jobs and virtually no new developments. Another important, but less quantifiable factor, is the desire of some potential homeowners to remain renters. When we talk about job growth, we are certainly not talking about a dramatic increase. Still, an increase is always better than a loss. After hemorrhaging jobs in the late 2000s, as the recession gripped the area and the rest of the country, Milwaukee began to rebound in 2010. In fact, according to Manpower International, the area was one of the top job growth areas in the country, ranking sixth in fastest employment growth of the top 100 metropolitan …