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Wisconsin is poised to forgo more than $2 billion in sales tax revenue to subsidize hyperscale data centers built by trillion-dollar companies such as Microsoft and Meta.

Data centers were granted a sales tax exemption in the 2023-25 state budget, which was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers as a way to attract economic development to the state.

That means the $1 billion data center in Beaver Dam, a $20 billion complex in Mount Pleasant and a $15 billion facility in Port Washington don’t have to pay the 5% state sales tax, or local sales taxes, on purchases for constructing and equipping their facilities.

When the budget passed in July 2023, the scale of the data center boom was so uncertain that the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau did not estimate how much state revenue would be “forgone” under the exemption, aside from a hypothetical example.

But now a fiscal bureau projection is in:

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RSK: That is a lot of money to forgo in sales tax. You can bet some new bill will evolve to recollect some of this.

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“At Investors Associated, we make it easy for brokers to match clients with well?managed, high?quality spaces. Our team prioritizes clear communication, quick turnaround times, and a seamless leasing experience. Partner with us to provide your clients with properties backed by dependable service and long?term value.”

The latest monthly report from the Wisconsin Realtors Association found that March home sales increased 7% statewide over the year, WisBusiness reports. That’s after a weak start to the year and brings first-quarter sales totals above the same period in 2025.

 

According to the report, 4,750 homes sold last month compared to 4,441 in March of last year.

With that year-over-year increase in March, the total sales figure for the first three months of 2026 was ultimately 2.1% higher than the first quarter of 2025, up from 11,864 to 12,109.

Most regions across Wisconsin saw increases over the quarter. The central, south central, southeastern and western regions rose between 2.1-3.6%. The northeastern region saw a 0.7% increase, and the northern region declined by 3.8%...

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RSK: Commercial usually follows residential, and we are seeing that hold true in sales and in leasing.

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The Madison Office Lifestyle Portfolio consists of 13 Class A, amenity-rich office properties ranging in size from approximately 25,000 square feet to over 300,000 square feet and is home to more than 130 tenants. The portfolio is located on the west side of Madison and Middleton, with the majority of properties situated in the Far West submarket.

Visits reached their highest March level since the pandemic, boosted by a recovery on the West Coast.

All of the U.S. office markets that Placer.ai tracks showed an increase in office foot traffic in March 2026 compared with a year ago, with the busiest markets close to the pace of foot traffic last seen in 2019, the year before the pandemic.

This March, foot traffic was an average of 26.5 percent lower than March 2019 levels, a 7.5-percentage point improvement from 34 percent lower in March 2025 compared to the same month in 2019, according to Placer.ai.

That is the latest year-over-year increase in office visits in a string of increases that has partly restored traffic over recent years. The trough was deep: Traffic was down 79.9 percent in 2021 compared to before the pandemic.

Also during March 2026, average visits per working day across 11 major U.S. markets were 4.2 percent higher than March 2025. That metric also slumped severely in 2021, showing an 81.6 percent drop.   ...Full Story Here

RSK: Of course the Windy City lies at the bottom but it too is showing gains in RTO.

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We offer the experience, quality and service you deserve, but with the personal attention and dedication that only a family business can provide. We’re not just your landlord, we’re partners in your success.

The office is not what it used to be, and facilities managers are increasingly in the middle of that transformation. After years of compressed leases, space reductions, and the slow burn of return-to-office negotiations, the physical workplace is coming back into focus, not as the default container of work, but as a deliberate instrument of it. That shift is changing what facilities teams are responsible for, what they need to measure, and how quickly they are expected to adapt.

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RSK: This article explains what needs to be done to further the RTO.

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Only a few years ago, data centers were viewed as a small, niche part of commercial real estate. Now they are one of the hottest asset classes, with the U.S. market alone valued at $270B and expected to grow to $700B by 2034. 

This boom has been hyperaccelerated by the rise of artificial intelligence and the ever-increasing demand for the cloud and digital infrastructure. As a result, data center construction has branched out beyond hubs in Northern Virginia and Silicon Valley and into smaller communities across the country while power grids struggle to keep up with demand. This has led to controversy, debates and a rise of NIMBYism from residents who want to keep these massive facilities away from their homes. 

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RSK: The tough side of building data centers. VIDEO at the link...

May 14, 2026
3:30 PM
MESO

Please join us in May for a CBG Meeting,
Networking & Happy Hour hosted at MESO

?? MESO is located at 749 University Row, Suite 320, Madison, WI 53705

??  Please register by Tuesday May 6^th

The meeting schedule is:

3:30 Registration4 PM Presentation:  
MESO & Janesville Economic Development
4:45 Networking

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Since 1971, St. John Properties has designed, developed, and managed spaces that fit every type of business. Our team anticipates and serves the needs of over 2,700 clients, including small, mid-sized, and large companies, nationwide.

Natural gas is emerging as a driving force behind the redrawing of the U.S. data center map.

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RSK: Makes sense to be close to a power source.

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With over 350 experienced real estate professionals, Knight Barry provides exceptional support and service. Visit our website for more information about our 50+ commercial and residential offices throughout Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota.

MADISON: 2450 Rimrock Road, Suite 204, 608-255-2700
CAP SQUARE: 44 E. Mifflin Street, Suite 101, 608-255-2700

The world's electricity demand rose by 3% in 2025, with growth nearly triple compared to the 1.3% increase in total energy consumption, as data centers and electric vehicles continued to push power use higher, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday.

Overall global energy demand growth slowed to 1.3% in 2025, slightly below the previous decade's average of 1.4% and significantly lower than in 2024, as global economic growth slowed and cooling demand in Asia was lower than in 2024, the IEA found in its annual Global Energy Review report published today.

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RSK: There in lies one of the problems.

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With the largest Real Estate Practice of any law firm in Wisconsin, Reinhart offers clients custom-tailored real estate insight.

A niche series of properties has evolved into a multi-city development phenomenon.

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RSK: A new niche sector is slowly growing.

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Housing affordability has become one of the most persistent economic and political challenges in the U.S., and city governments are increasingly looking to the real estate industry for solutions. Rents surged in the years following the pandemic, homeownership slipped further out of reach for many households, and the pressure on local leaders has only intensified. While there are a range of policy ideas being tested, from rent control to subsidies, there is growing alignment around a simpler reality. The most direct way to improve affordability is to build more housing.

That has not always been an easy message to act on. Local opposition, zoning constraints, and rising construction costs have made it difficult to add supply at the pace needed. But in some markets, a combination of policy support and industry execution has started to shift the trajectory. “Austin has been the poster child, they have been able to build a lot of apartments in a short amount of time and are really seeing affordability gains,” said Jay Parsons, Economic Advisor at JPI...

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RSK: And they will both need to give in a little to get things moving forward.

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Park Towne is a family run Madison-based real estate company serving southern Wisconsin for over 50 years. Led by second generation brothers Mike, Jim and Joe Ring, Park Towne has a portfolio of for-lease commercial properties and offers development, management and brokerage services.

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RSK: Looking like Blue Island in the Chicago area will have a battle over a proposed data center in a vacant Medical Campus. Down to power and environmental issues is my guess.

The Future is Now: Today's Buyer Strategies
Back to Search
Thursday, May 28, 2026 (9:00 AM - 10:15 AM) (CDT)

Description

This 9:00AM session is the first of three available on May 28, 2026. It provides a roadmap for REALTORS® to master the modern buyer relationship. Key areas of focus include:

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Question:

An agent at the firm represents a buyer. The buyer is under contract. The property now has water in the basement due to the recent heavy rains. The seller sent an amendment to the real estate condition report (RECR) changing their answer regarding basement defects. Does this give the buyer new rescission rights?

Answer:

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CBRE strongly outperformed industry expectations in the first quarter, nearly doubling its net income for the same quarter last year and raising earnings guidance by 20% on Thursday. 

The world's largest commercial real estate company increased its net income by more than 95% year-over-year to $318M, according to its first-quarter earnings results. The company also delivered $478M in core adjusted net income to shareholders, a nearly 78% increase from last year...

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RSK: For all the bad vibes data centers are receiving here is a good thing...

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Tenaska is moving forward with plans for a $750 million, 425-megawatt battery energy storage system in Loudoun County, a fast-growing suburb of Washington, D.C. known for its concentration of data centers and critical digital infrastructure. The project, known as Spoonbill, would span 93 acres currently occupied by single-family homes and sit near a proposed data center development along an existing transmission corridor. Construction is targeted for 2028 with operations beginning in 2030, and Tenaska is already in discussions with potential customers ranging from data centers to utilities. The facility would store electricity during low-demand periods and release it when demand spikes, functioning as a flexible grid asset rather than a traditional power generator...   ...Full Story Here

RSK: Power and water seem to be where data centers want to move to.

	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	Peterson Management Company Inc.
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

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