Southeast Wisconsin

Corporate Report Wisconsin, Feb 2006

FRANKLIN

Ground will be broken this summer for an $80 million, 275,000-sq.-ft. outpatient facility here. The builder is Wheaton Franciscan Services Inc., the parent of Covenant Healthcare in Glendale and All Saints Healthcare in Racine. The facility will offer 23 beds for day procedures and overnight stays, and construction is expected to be completed by November 2007.

MILWAUKEE

About $6 million in upgrades are underway at the Bradley Center, home to the Milwaukee Bucks and other sports teams, the most extensive renovations to the downtown complex since it opened in 1988. Changes include two permanent bars on the main floor, one sponsored by Miller Brewing Co., another sponsored by Bacardi rum, and a new club in the upper deck for upper-level season-ticket holders. The current Bucks retail store on the lower level is being rebuilt and expanded, and about 40 courtside seats have been added under one of the baskets. Video-display panels and the Bradley Center's sound system are being upgraded.

A new record for train passengers traveling between Milwaukee and Chicago was set in 2005. Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation officials estimated the 500,000th passenger boarded Dec. 4, surpassing the previous record set in 2004 of 470,186 passengers, and project a total for the year of more than 530,000 passengers. November had also been the 12th straight month of new ridership records. Higher gas prices and new service to the Milwaukee airport were cited as factors.

Among the top 54 metropolitan regions, Milwaukee has the 53rd cheapest office space, according to a report from Property & Portfolio Research Inc., Boston. The average net office leasing rate in Milwaukee was $13.66 per square foot, while the average in Minneapolis is $21.65 and $22.94 in Chicago. The report said Milwaukee's lack of growth industries retrains office demand. Despite the low rents, the vacancy rate remains relatively high at 15.8% downtown, and there are no new office buildings under construction.

The city hopes to save as much as $1 million a year by contracting for prescription drug coverage through Navitus Health Solutions LLC., which administers the state's prescription drug program, BadgerRx. About 5,000 city employees and an equal number of dependents are in the city's basic health plan. The savings come through greater purchasing power in negotiating prices for prescription drugs.

PLEASANT PRAIRIE

Cherry Electrical Products will move about 100 jobs from Kenosha County to Mexico beginning in April. Cherry, a privately held company that moved here from Waukegan in 1998, will still employ about 210 at its corporate headquarters in sales, engineering and distribution. The company makes electrical components for a number of manufacturers and employs about 4,000 worldwide.

An Abbott Laboratories Inc. division bought 118 acres here recently for $8.6 million, but the company was not discussing its plans for the land. The parcel is between Kenosha County Highways Q and C immediately north of the 267-acre Prairie Woods Corporate Center business park. Abbott, which makes healthcare products, is already the largest employer in the county, with several hundred county residents commuting to its northern Illinois complex in Lake County, and 500 more working at its Hospira subsidiary here.

RACINE

The city plans to demolish the entire 3100 block south of Washington Avenue as part of a redevelopment effort. The city paid about $1 million to acquire all the properties, and demolition should cost about another $200,000. The area is a Tax Increment District, and the city wants to issue a request for proposals to find a developer while clearing the land. Earlier proposals featured a restaurant on the east corner connected to three-story buildings.

WAUKESHA

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Waukesha Iron & Metal Inc. $114,450 for 31 workplace safety violations. OSHA said it found workers lacked enough protection while cutting lead-painted materials for req'ding. Waukesha Iron & Metal has 15 - 20 employees and no history of OSHA violations, the agency said. The agency fined the company $84,000 for four willful safety violations and $30,450 for 27 serious workplace violations ranging from employees lacking proper equipment to various training issues.

STATEWIDE DEVELOPMENTS

SOUTHWEST

BELOIT: Regal-Beloit Corp. got a $500,000 loan from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce to help establish a $5 million training center at its headquarters here. The maker of mechanical and electric motion control and power generation products will create 15 jobs at the center and retain 41 others, and has several manufacturing plants in the state.

BOSCOBEL: The industrial park in this Grant County community welcomed 115,000 square feet of new space and the potential for 95 new jobs in 2005. Alcan/Pechiney Plastics is adding 64,000 square feet for $9.3 million and expects to add 15 jobs. Nu-Pak food packaging is adding 50,000 square feet and 80 jobs with a $6.5 million expansion, for which it received state tax credits (as noted in the Jan. '06 CRW).