Developers propose new hotel on Wisconsin Avenue

Jackson Street Management LLC, which includes Ed Carow and Mark Flaherty of Milwaukee-based hotel development firm Wave Development LLC, wants to build a 10-story, 200-room full service Marriott hotel wrapping around the Johnson Bank building southwest of Wisconsin Avenue and Milwaukee Street in downtown Milwaukee.

The developers are lining up financing for the $50 million project, said spokesman Evan Zeppos. The developer will not be seeking any subsidy from the city for the project, Zeppos said.
The hotel project would create a major economic boost for downtown Milwaukee, Zeppos said.
“This is just what the doctor ordered for downtown,” Zeppos said. “It’s a major shot in the arm.”
However, the project could be controversial because buildings that are more than 100 years old would be demolished to make way for the hotel.

Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman, who represents the downtown area, said he strongly objects to demolition of the buildings, which he says have great historic significance and should be restored. The hotel developer should find another, preferably vacant, site downtown for the building, he said.

“This is just economic waste,” Bauman said. “There are plenty of other sites where they can build a new building downtown without destroying historic structures. The city would support it and would partner with them to create a bigger and better project.”

The Marriott hotel development will not work at another location, Zeppos said. The site’s location along downtown Milwaukee’s main street, Wisconsin Avenue is important. Also, the site’s location on the east side of the river in the heart of the central business district and within close proximity to the Frontier Airlines Center and other downtown attractions is crucial to the development’s success, he said.

The project will be reviewed by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. However, the Common Council could override the commission’s recommendation.

The buildings on the site are old, but lack historic significance, Zeppos said.
“Being old is different than being truly historic,” he said. “The facts regarding the true significance of the buildings need to be weighed.”

Next Generation Real Estate owns the building at 327 E. Wisconsin Ave., which is one of the buildings that would be torn down for the hotel. The building has a vacant former Walgreens space and is the home of the Downtown Books store. Michael Levine, the owner of Next Generation Real Estate, said the building has been altered several times over the years and no longer has any historic or architectural significance and could not be restored to its original appearance.

“It is old. It is not historic,” Levine said. “There is no architectural significance whatsoever.”

Reported by:  BizTimesDaily.com