Downtown Masonic Center sold to hotel developers
Developers planning to convert and expand downtown Milwaukee’s Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center into a 220-room luxury hotel could begin that work by next spring.
An affiliate of Madison-based Ascendant Holdings Real Estate bought the historic Masonic Center, 790 N. Van Buren St., for $3.5 million, according to state real estate records posted Tuesday. The next step will be a detailed architectural and engineering design process for the project, owner Eric Nordeen said.
That will probably take four to six months before Ascendant applies for a building permit, he said.
That could bring a construction start by spring 2018, with the hotel taking about 18 months to complete.
The firm is still seeking a construction loan and additional equity investors to help finance the project, Nordeen said.
The total project cost would be at least $60 million, he said.
Ascendant plans to convert the three-story Masonic Center into the hotel’s lobby, restaurant and meeting rooms.
Ascendant also would develop an addition atop the building’s southern end, stepped back from the street.
It would have most of the hotel’s
planned 220 guest rooms, although five to 10 guest rooms could be on the Masonic Center’s third floor.
Scottish Rite sold the building because the fraternal organization’s dwindling membership could no longer afford to maintain it. Those ranks have dropped from 6,000 in 1985 to 700, of which just 100 are active members.
The building was constructed as a church in 1889 and became a Masonic facility in 1912, according to a city historic preservation report. It was extensively remodeled in 1936 and includes an auditorium that is rented out for events.
The hotel would not be affiliated with any chain. It would be managed by Portland, Ore.-based Provenance Hotels.
Tom Daykin can be reached at tdaykin@jrn.com.