Jan. 13–Another possible hotel project is being contemplated for downtown Milwaukee’s lakefront.
The hotel, which would have around 200 rooms, would be built about a half-block south of E. Michigan St., between N. Cass and N. Van Buren streets.
That site, owned by U.S. Bank, is between the U.S. Bank Center’s galleria and that office tower’s parking structure north of E. Clybourn St.
Bank executives have been in discussions with hotel operators interested in a potential project at the site, said Joseph Ullrich, U.S. Bank vice president and director of real estate leasing. Those discussions are very preliminary, he said.
But the those talks are “going down the road a bit,” Ullrich said Monday. He made his comments during a panel discussion on downtown lakefront development, sponsored by the Greater Milwaukee Committee, at the University Club.
Ullrich declined to name the hotel prospects.
The site is about one block west of the proposed 44-story Couture development, which would include a hotel and high-end apartments. The Couture has been proposed by developer Rick Barrett, who also was a member of the panel.
Barrett, who operates Barrett Visionary Development, told the audience he hopes to begin construction of the Couture in the first quarter of 2015 and have it completed 28 months later.
Barrett hasn’t identified prospective hotel operators for the Couture, which would be built on the site of the underused Downtown Transit Center.
Barrett has been negotiating to buy the county-owned transit center, 909 E. Michigan St. Any such sale proposal needs approval from the County Board and County Executive Chris Abele.
Meanwhile, developer and panel member Mark Irgens said he plans to break ground this spring on the 17-story 833 East office building, which would be built at 833 E. Michigan St., just west of the Couture site.
His firm, Irgens Development Partners, has leases signed for 156,000 square feet and is in active discussions with four prospective tenants for another 50,000 square feet, he said. The building will total 358,000 square feet.
Tenants announced for 833 East include law firm Godfrey & Kahn, which would anchor the building; commercial real estate brokerage Colliers Wisconsin; and Irgens Development Partners.
Irgens and city Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux, another panel member, afterward declined to comment on a possible city role in financing 833 East.
However, sources familiar with the project say a possible tax incremental financing district has been dropped.
The other panel member, Sandra Botcher, Northwestern Mutual vice president, said the company’s planned 32-story office tower will be completed by the end of 2017.
That tower, with over 1.1 million square feet, will replace a smaller, obsolete building on the company’s downtown campus which is being demolished.
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