The Facade Improvement Grant Program provides matching grants, up to $50,000, to small business owners and tenants to assist them in restoring or beautifying their facades or storefronts.

The Facade Improvement Grant Program was established to support and encourage small business to reinvest in the downtown and neighborhood business districts. Attractive building facades support and encourage local businesses. They can have a significant effect on the attractiveness and marketability of the surrounding area. To encourage business owners to reinvest in the downtown and smaller, neighborhood business areas, the City of Madison is offering grants to assist in the exterior renovations of these otherwise sound and vital properties.

The City of Madison has awarded 99 Facade Improvement Grants, totaling $1,285,200, plus $2,503,800 in private funds were invested in the improvement and beautification of Madison business districts...

Building Improvement Grant

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Utility costs drive much of the opposition

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As market conditions evolve, the greatest opportunity in commercial real estate may lie in improving the buildings that already exist.

How unpopular are large data centers in Wisconsin?

Very unpopular, as 74% of voters in a new poll said they believe the costs of data centers outweigh their benefits.

The poll, released Wednesday by the Marquette University Law School, said opposition to large data centers is up nearly 20 points from the 55% that opposed them a year ago.

For data center operators, the news is actually better than it was a month ago in the Marquette poll, when 78% opposed them...

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Industrial Sector Moves Toward Balance From Oversupply

While market performance remains uneven geographically, the industrial real estate sector as a whole continues its transitional trend from the supply excess of the start of the pandemic to a more balanced phase.

Despite the various headwinds of recent years — such as the tariffs situation, economic uncertainty and the spike in energy prices — demand for industrial space has remained relatively solid, largely due to investment in supply chain resiliency and distribution networks...

Key Takeaways:

• The construction pipeline grew 32% year-over-year (Y-o-Y) from more than 338 million square feet in August 2025 to nearly 447 million square feet in August 2026.
• Year-to-date industrial sales reached nearly $60.5 billion, a 40% increase Y-o-Y
• The average leasing rate across top markets was up 5.4% year-over-year in August.
• Inland Empire, Calif., industrial rents grew by nearly 7% in a 12-month period.
• Columbus, Ohio, vacancies reach 7.5% following 600-basis-point (bps) year-over-year decrease.
• Year-to-date industrial sales volume in Tampa, Fla., doubles in August, hitting $1 billion.

Regional Highlights:

• Sale prices in Los Angeles went up 9% Y-o-Y to approach $300 per square foot.
• Indianapolis commands the highest regional premiums on new leases.
• Construction activity more than doubled year-over-year in Charlotte, N.C., and Baltimore.
• New Jersey topped year-to-date sales in the Northeast, while Boston commanded the highest average sale price per square foot in the region.

CARW Deal of the Year Awards and Annual Meeting

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Vacancy in the Madison life science market increased slightly to 4% but remains low, according to the latest Life Science Market Overview published by Broadwing Advisors.

The report, released Wednesday, said the 4% vacancy rate represents 193,229 vacant square feet for the market’s 89 lab properties, which total nearly 4.8 million square feet.

A vacancy rate of under 5% is indicative of strong tenant demand, but it is not always a foolproof sign of a healthy commercial real estate market.

The Broadwing report said Dane County’s low vacancy rate limits companies’ ability to quickly accommodate growth. Most available lab space is predominantly located in University Research Park and the west submarket.

Hoteliers are sighing in relief as the latest industry data shows positive recovery momentum.

For the fourth time this year, hotel revenue per available room rates have seen a double-digit year-over-year gain. 

During the week of Sept. 13-19, the industry reported a 10.4% year-over-year RevPAR increase, according to data released by CoStar. The average daily rate was up 5.7% to $179.30, the highest nominal weekly ADR ever recorded in the U.S...

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The athleisure retailer is set to take up about 12K SF in the Magnificent Mile at the corner of North Michigan Avenue and East Illinois Street, Crain's Chicago Business reported. Lululemon also has six other Chicago locations.

Interim co-CEO Meghan Frank said on an earnings call earlier this month that Lululemon plans to take a "very measured" approach to store expansion. It plans to open a net 35 new stores this year...

Soaring 10-year Treasury yields have thrown ice-cold water on CRE’s typically unrelenting optimism.

The key economic benchmark hit 5.3% on Wednesday afternoon, reaching its highest level since 2002 at the end of its biggest quarterly increase since 1994. As the 10-year climbed, some of the industry’s largest players — already battered by high construction costs, inflation and geopolitical upheaval — watched the historic upswing from Bisnow’s National Commercial Real Estate Finance Event and agreed that times were about to get a lot tougher...

          

	The Gialamas Company, Inc.	RFA Asset Management Madison, WI	Key Commercial Real Estate, LLC
Madison Commercial Real Estate LLC	St. John Properties	IA Management, LLC	Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate
Park Towne Realty LLC	Mullins Group, LLC	Crown Commercial	Flad Development & Investment Corp.
Evans Properties, LLC	Keller Real Estate Group		MIG Commercial Real Estate, LLC
First Weber Group, Inc - West Towne	Opitz Realty, Inc.	First Weber Group, Inc - Prairie Du Sac
The Lenhart Company, Inc	Scott Faust & Associates	Shamrock Real Estate Services, LLC	Targa, Inc
Executive Management, Inc	Stark Commercial - East	Urban Land Interests	Slinde Realty Company
Assist-2-Sell/Pohlkamp & Associates	Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Matson Real Estate	Artisan Graham Real Estate

Hovde & Hovde, Inc