Convention center expansion study begins

A study of a possible expansion of Milwaukee’s downtown convention center is beginning and should be completed in three months.

The study, by Crossroads Consulting Services LLC, will conduct a market analysis of whether an expansion is justified for the Wisconsin Center, said Russ Staerkel, president of the Wisconsin Center District, the state-created agency that operates the facility.

The study also will conduct an economic analysis of the impact of a possible expansion, Staerkel said Thursday at a meeting of the center district board’s governance committee.

However, the study will not suggest a way to finance a possible expansion, Staerkel told committee members.

A study on whether an expansion is needed, what that addition would look like and its possible economic impact is a necessary first step before trying to find a way to finance a possible project, said Scott Neitzel, district board chairman and secretary of the state Department of Administration.

A report released in March by Crossroads Consulting and Barrett Sports Group LLC said the Wisconsin Center earns less revenue than similar facilities in peer cities that compete with Milwaukee for conventions.

A 2014 report commissioned by the center district said an expansion adding exhibit space, meeting rooms and ballroom space totaling around 110,000 square feet would bring the Wisconsin Center more in line with convention centers in peer cities. The Milwaukee facility is now around 266,000 square feet.

That report said the expansion would cost roughly $200 million and would help the Wisconsin Center draw more conventions, building a demand for more hotel rooms and other services.

However, that 2014 report generated no formal action, mainly because the proposal lacked a financing plan.

Two proposals submitted last year to city officials to develop hotels on a vacant parcel at W. Wisconsin Ave. and N. 4th St., near the Wisconsin Center, are both dependent on expanding the convention facility.

City officials have not acted publicly on either of those competing proposals.