As it has many years in our history, school work will again define the summer months for Kraemer Brothers as we tackle renovations while students are on break. In the Platteville School District there will be four schools under renovation, including Westview Elementary where we began the expansion last fall with simultaneous additions for classrooms and a gymnasium. The upcoming summer renovations will complete the tie-in to the existing school. The three other Platteville schools to be renovated with school out include the high school, middle school and the Neal Wilkins Early Learning Center. The summer projects start in June and will be finished by the end of August, completing the overall project in time for the 2016-17 school year, just as the school district had planned when selecting Kraemer Brothers.

PHOTO CREDIT: PLATTEVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Our newest hotel project for a valued hospitality client opened to guests Feb. 2 in the new Liberty Center retail development near Cincinnati. The new six-story AC Hotel is one-of-a-kind. Instead of a full-service, in-house restaurant, the AC’s lounge serves drinks, and its kitchen serves European-inspired breakfast items. This modern hotel allows guests to check-in online, skip the front desk, and use a smart phone as the room key. Outdoor terraces offer views of Liberty Center. Its overall features include minimalist designs with hardwood floors and sleek furniture. With 132 rooms, an indoor pool, a spa, a 2,100-square-foot conference center, and ground floor retail space, this AC Hotel is the first newly constructed facility in the United States since Marriott International and European hotelier Antonio Catalan (AC) brought the brand to this country. And the new brand has an aggressive expansion plan, as evidenced by Kraemer Brothers’ current construction project on another AC Hotel in downtown Madison for a different client.

A successful first project last year for Kraemer Development has led to an additional construction project to begin soon. The new retail and office building on Greenway Boulevard in Middleton is a new $4 million facility to be located in front of the Wisconsin Trade Center kitty-corner from Kraemer Brothers’ recent Greenway Station project. It will be a three-level structure with parking in the basement and several tenant spaces on the main level and second floor. The exterior facade includes high-end design with brick, stone and other materials. Initial site work begins this month, and in late May foundations will start, with completion in January 2017.

PHOTO CREDIT: RED DEVELOPMENT

The fall semester was greeted by the newly completed science building at the University of Wisconsin- Baraboo/Sauk County campus. New labs and classrooms are the primary features of the new structure, replacing outdated space. A large classroom has a view of the distant Baraboo Hills across the valley and will also serve as a community room for a variety of purposes. In all, the building provides students and faculty with 14,000 square feet of new educational science facilities and renovation of 10,000 square feet of existing space. The new building is contemporary in design and nestled into the campus hillside to preserve the breath-taking view, as well as to achieve sustainable energy goals. The unique grass-covered roof doubles as a sustainable feature and a platform for outdoor concerts and plays. By coordinating closely with the administration, Kraemer Brothers was able to save over $250,000 for the city and county by recommending changes to the building plans while preserving overall quality. This relationship also guided our efforts to minimize inconveniences for students and faculty during construction.

Nearly 700 attendees enjoyed testing the facilities at the grand opening of Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania. Three years in the making, phase one encompasses the 457-room eight-story hotel, the 100,000-square-foot indoor waterpark with retractable roof, and the 65,000-square-foot convention center, along with an indoor family activity center, a variety of stores and restaurants, and an outdoor waterpark. This monumental project was not without challenges along the way, but our team successfully overcame them, including bedrock removal with extensive blasting, persevering two of the worst winters in the last 20 years, and completing major changes throughout the resort without extending the schedule. Today, the management team for Kraemer Brothers has phase two well under way, under the leadership of our project managers and onsite superintendents. To be completed in early 2017, phase two is an additional 100,000 square feet of indoor waterpark, convention space and over 400 guest rooms. According to Travis Nelson, son of Todd Nelson, Kalahari owner, when finished the entire resort will encompass 150 acres and carry the title, “America’s Largest Indoor Water Park.”

PHOTO CREDIT: WATER TECHNOLOGY, INC.

Kraemer Brothers is constructing an AC Hotel by Marriott in downtown Madison one block from Capital Square on East Washington Street. Several months in the making, plans include demolishing three buildings to make way for a structure that will include two levels of underground parking and a 10-story hotel with 164 units. An elegant lounge for guests will be located on the top two floors and will include an outdoor patio overlooking the Capitol Building and Lake Monona. Like the AC Hotel currently under construction in Cincinnati, this hotel will feature modern European design and luxurious finishes. Its exterior design includes stone veneer and brick, a glass curtain wall system and metal panels, as well as a green roof. Challenges presented by the urban site include a lot-line-to-lot-line ground floor and multiple earth retention systems to support neighboring structures. Construction begins this month and will be complete in December 2016.

A healthy dose of summertime school construction has the majority of Kraemer Brothers field crew completing projects for the upcoming school year. The newest project is a nine-week renovation at Sauk Prairie High School. A few blocks away, work on the new Bridges Elementary School is in the home stretch. A few miles to the west, the Tower Rock Elementary addition and remodel is being prepared to receive additional students and staff in the fall. Crews at Fennimore High School are ahead of schedule. With flooring in the addition structure underway, we are charging forward with the interior remodel phase. Finally, the UW’s new science building in Baraboo will be complete in August along with the rest of the schools. As CEO Tom Kraemer was heard to say, “To the disappointment of hundreds of thousands of youngsters, we have never missed a completion date on our school projects.”

When Kraemer Brothers constructed the Hilton Garden Inn – Milwaukee Airport for a valued client in 2010 we were told to expect to return and build a second hotel on the adjoining property. In May, almost five years after completing the HGI, we will break ground for a Home 2 extended stay hotel there. The site is ready and waiting. While we were there five years ago we demolished a building in preparation for the would-be project that will be constructed from May to February of next year. The project will be a three-story, wood frame hotel with 100 rooms, an indoor swimming pool, kitchen and 63,000 square feet in total, with an exterior facade including burnished block, EIFS, metal panels and cement board siding. It will be our 29th hotel project for our long-time client.

PHOTO CREDIT: AGODA

Kraemer Brothers is hunkering down for another two years in the Pocono Mountains for our valued client, Kalahari Resorts. This spring our crew will commence building an additional nine-story hotel and doubling the existing waterpark. Phase II means crews will be building onto an occupied resort, as guests begin arriving at the 732,000-square-foot Kalahari resort in July after the 21-month project is completed in late June. In the spring of 2017 Kraemer Brothers will have spent four years at the site for Kalahari and doubled the resort since beginning Phase I. The success of this adventure would not be possible without the the hard-working contractors and suppliers of Eastern Pennsylvania who have contributed to the success of this project, and Kraemer Brothers tips its hardhat to all involved.

PHOTO CREDIT: WATER TECHNOLOGY, INC.