About Us

James E. Gatzke

Attorney James E. Gatzke has been a builder and developer in the Milwaukee area for the past 20 years. A licensed real estate broker since 1980, Gatzke has been involved in the design, development and/or marketing of everything from single family homes and residential subdivisions to commercial office buildings, retail centers, industrial parks and mixed use developments. Gatzke assisted in the negotiation and creation of one of the most successful TIF supported mixed use projects in the history of the State of Wisconsin (Westridge Office Park) and drafted the legal documents making Westridge, a $400 million development, a possibility. Gatzke is currently involved in the development of a $55 million hotel/conference center and water park which is scheduled to be built in the vicinity of Moorland Road and Greenfield Avenue on New Berlin’s north side.

Jim and Eliesha Gatzke have recently been involved in several commercial re-development projects in and around Waukesha, Milwaukee and Racine counties as well as in Florida and Maine. Two of their commercial buildings are located in the West National Avenue Corridor redevelopment district in New Berlin, and they are also involved in New Berlin’s City Center development.

As an attorney, Gatzke also has an extensive background in service to municipalities. He began his law career as an Assistant City Attorney and as a Prosecutor for several municipalities in the Milwaukee area. His experience as a municipal lawyer served him well during his four years as the Mayor of the City of New Berlin from 1997 to 2001 and his four years as Chairman of the City’s Plan Commission. During that time Gatzke also appeared on several occasions to argue on behalf of his and other communities in Madison and Washington. In the Fall of 2000, Gatzke served on then President-elect George Bush’ Presidential Transition Team. Over the past several,Gatzke and his law partner, Mark Ruppelt, have starred in a regular radio call-in show on Clear Channel radio called “At The Bar with Gatzke & Ruppelt,” where they take listeners calls and offer advice on a wide variety of legal topics. Gatzke has also served as a substitute host on Mark Belling’s Late Afternoon Show, historically the highest rated afternoon radio show in the Milwaukee market. Gatzke has been the Senior Partner at the law firm of Gatzke & Ruppelt for the past 11 years.

Gatzke was born in New Berlin, Wisconsin on October 27, 1958. He has resided in New Berlin his entire life, and currently lives there with his wife, Eliesha, and five children. He has undergraduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin (Communications), Marquette University (Journalism) and received his law degree from Marquette University, where he delivered the Valediction for his graduating class. Gatzke received the Dean’s Honor Rating during his undergraduate years at UW and Marquette, and was an Honor student at Marquette Law. He received the American Jurisprudence Award for banking and Negotiable Instruments and is a member of the Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity. He has been a member of the Waukesha County Bar Association, the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American Trial Lawyers Association. He continues to be active in several New Berlin organizations and regularly volunteers his time on behalf of children and youth sports.

Eliesha R. Gatzke

Eliesha Gatzke has been involved full-time in the development and real estate management business for the past six years, and is the current President of GE Properties, a real estate development and management company based in the Milwaukee area. Prior to that she managed her own business for 15 years and assisted with the design and decorating aspects of GE Properties’ numerous real estate developments. Eliesha was also involved in the planning process for several development studies in New Berlin and the surrounding municipalities, and her input into development matters is often solicited by municipal officials on a consultant basis.   

Eliesha Gatzke spear-headed the design and construction of the award-winning 15710 West building in the heart of New Berlin’s re-developed downtown. Eliesha and Jim Gatzke have recently been involved in several commercial re-development projects in and around Waukesha, Milwaukee and Racine counties as well as in Florida and Maine. Two of their commercial buildings are located in the West National Avenue Corridor redevelopment district in New Berlin, and they are also involved in New Berlin’s City Center development.

Eliesha is a physician licensed to practice in the State of Wisconsin, and has also worked as a sports medicine and training consultant for several professional sports franchises and for a group of Colorado orthopedic surgeons who were on the cutting edge of the development of arthroscopic surgical procedures and post-surgical therapies. Upon her return to Wisconsin, she owned and managed one of the most successful clinics in the state, dealing primarily with victims of traumatic and sports related injury.

Eliesha was born in Minnesota and as a young child moved to the Door County area in northeastern Wisconsin. She attended high school in Green Bay before heading off to the UW-Madison for college. She completed her post-graduate medical training in suburban Chicago and began practicing as an Associate doctor at a clinic in the Fox Valley before starting practice on her own in New Berlin. Eliesha has been involved in numerous service organizations throughout metropolitan Milwaukee and has served on the Board of Directors for entities focusing on everything from education to youth sports.