4/30/2008 by Richard Thomas

(Photo: Dale Yeates is renovating an office and apartment building on Belknap Street in Superior.)

If you’re looking for a frontline assessment of how things are going economically, talk to a banker.

“Bankers in Superior are very bullish,” said Kurt Bauer, president of the Wisconsin Bankers Association, after a mid-April visit to the city and talks with several loan officers.

They told him residential lending has been flat, but reported brisk demand for commercial loans. “That’s a key economic indicator,” he said.

While much of the nation is talking about recession, Superior is experiencing growth.

“Belknap (Street) is looking really sharp,” said Dale Yeates, owner of Window Shop Interiors in Superior. Last fall Yeates bought an office and apartment building in the 1400 block of Belknap Street. He’s invested $125,000 to renovate it and intends to make it available for rental in early May.

Noting many other commercial projects underway on the strip, Yeates said, “I wanted to be part of it.”

Consider:

• RJS Construction is building a 15,000 square foot office and retail project, Grand Central Development, on the former site of Superior Central High School.

• The city plans to buy and demolish 23 homes near Grand Central and make the land available for new development. On May 6 the city council will consider creating a tax increment financing (TIF) district in the area.

• In April, the University of Wisconsin-Superior began construction on a new $20.9 million student center, the first phase of $64 million in planned campus building projects.

• Johnson Appliance Repair purchased three buildings on Belknap next door to Yeates’ office building, including the former Roberts Home Furniture space. The company moved into one of the buildings with plans to renovate and lease the other two.

“Belknap is looking nice and getting better,” said owner Jeff Olson.

Other recent remodeling projects along the Belknap corridor include the Blaine Business and Technology Center, Belknap Plaza Shopping Center ($2.5 million exterior renovation), Metro Credit Union, the Cathedral of Christ the King, the Hannula & Halom law office, and the Campus Clothes Basket.

The renaissance isn’t limited to Belknap Street.

Other projects underway or recently completed include City Center, a Barker’s Island Inn and Conference Center expansion, New York Building, Washington Building, Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College’s commercial trade program, a facelift at the National Bank of Commerce, Charter Films’ expansion, and the reoccupation of the former Superior Water, Light & Power building by several small tenants.

The most anticipated project of all would be the $6 billion expansion that Murphy Oil is weighing at its Superior refinery. That would require additional temporary housing for some of an estimated 4,000 construction workers, and add 400 permanent refinery jobs to a current workforce of 153.

A decision, let alone the project itself won’t come quickly.

The expansion hinges on the company’s finding a partner that would guarantee a reliable source of crude oil, securing project financing and clearing the state of Wisconsin’s environmental permitting process.

Nevertheless, the mood in Superior is positive.

“You might start believing there’s a recession because of all the media, but we’re not seeing it here,” said Andy Lisak, executive director of The Development Association in Superior-Douglas County.

Still, the city hasn’t dodged the national downturn.

Home foreclosures in Douglas County are rising, from 82 in 2003 to 178 in 2006, and 184 in 2007, according to the Douglas County Clerk of Courts. So far in 2008 there have been 76 foreclosures.

“There are foreclosures, but we did not feel tremendous gain in the housing market, so we haven’t seen a tremendous fall,” said Bruce Lurye, owner of Edwards Realty in Superior. “There’s nothing earth shattering like in California, Las Vegas and California,” he said.

Statewide, home foreclosures increased 70 percent between 2005 and 2007, and the trend shows little sign of slowing in 2008. The number of foreclosures rose 30 percent in March, though that’s an improvement over January’s 45 percent increase.

“The Wisconsin economy will not be as severely hit as other states that experienced strong speculative behavior in their housing sectors,” states the Wisconsin Department of Revenue’s Economic Outlook Report released in February. “However, it cannot be fully insulated given that the downturn in the housing market is spreading beyond housing.”

In 2007 Douglas County enjoyed a 7.2 percent increase in sales tax to $3.3 million. Large construction projects — the Enbridge pipeline expansion in Wisconsin and American Transmission Co.’s power line between Duluth and Wausau — contributed to the spike.

“It was the largest increase we’ve had in quite a while,” said Ann Doucette, Douglas County finance director. “But this year is running a bit behind.”

First quarter sales tax receipts fell 10 percent from the year-earlier period, she said.

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