City again seeks downtown site development proposals

Wisconsin Center may expand, but not on available parcel

The City of Milwaukee is again seeking development proposals for a downtown site near the Wisconsin Center convention facility — which is now considering its own expansion plan.

The city-owned development parcel south of West Wisconsin Avenue, between North 4th and North 5th streets, was the subject of a similar 2016 request for proposals.

That request brought two plans, both involving hotel expansions that depend on the Wisconsin Center expanding its facilities. The publicly owned convention center is just across Wisconsin Avenue from the city-owned parcel, now used as a parking lot.

The Wisconsin Center District, which operates the convention center, has recently been considering a possible expansion.

That project would build an addition to the north, on a convention center parking lot south of West Kilbourn Avenue. Those expansion plans would not include operating facilities on the city-owned parcel, according to a Center District letter recently sent to city officials.

So, the city is updating its request for development proposals for its parcel to make it clear that any plans should not include Wisconsin Center facilities south of Wisconsin Avenue, according to information released Thursday by the Department of City Development.

The two proposals received after the 2016 request were from hotel operators Marcus Corp. and Jackson Street Holdings LLC.

Marcus Corp.’s proposal, known as eMbarKE, calls for a 276-room expansion of the company’s neighboring Hilton hotel and development of a 200-unit apartment high-rise.

The proposal from Jackson Street Holdings, called Nexus, would feature three hotels totaling 506 rooms.

Nexus also called for meeting rooms and exhibit space that would be financed, owned and operated by the Wisconsin Center District.

An April letter to city Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux from Martin Brooks, the new Center District president, said the city-owned site “is not part of our expansion strategy.”

Brooks also said “a new convention center hotel is critical to support our ideas of expansion,” and that district officials want to work with city officials and developers to ensure people “can move seamlessly between our properties.”

A 2017 report said a Wisconsin Center expansion would cost $225 million to $275 million, according to a new estimate — outstripping the $200 million the Center District is able to borrow. So officials said they will look at what they can buy for that lower amount, and whether that less-costly proposal makes sense.

The Center District is continuing to study that possible expansion.