Convention center growth
Renderings are revealed for a possible expansion, but money is needed.
A possible expansion of downtown Milwaukee’s convention center now has slick renderings and refined cost estimates — but still no plan on how to pay for the project.
The price tag for expanding the Wisconsin Center north to West Kilbourn Avenue has been revised to an estimated range of $247 million to $277 million, according to a report released Friday.
The previous estimate from November was $225 million to $275 million.
The problem is that the Wisconsin Center District, the agency that operates the convention center and other venues on downtown’s west side, currently can only borrow around $200 million.
So, to finance the long-awaited expansion, the district would likely need approval from the state Legislature and governor to levy higher taxes in Milwaukee County.
And, so far, there’s been no public push to win that approval.
“Financing will be a question,” said Ellen Nowak, chair of the center district board, which reviewed the new report.
Still, the report is “moving this along a little bit today,” said Nowak, who’s also Gov. Scott Walker’s Department of Administration secretary.
The report is from Tampa, Fla.based Crossroads Consulting Services LLC and Kansas City-based architectural firm Populous — which also is lead architect for the new Milwaukee Bucks arena.
Those firms recommend that the Wisconsin Center’s main exhibit space, ballroom and smaller meeting rooms, which now total 265,800 square feet, be expanded to 422,800 to 437,800 square feet. They also say the Wisconsin Center should be remodeled.
The convention center expansion also would need an estimated 1,000 new hotel rooms within a short walk of the facility to help support the expected increase in events, said Susan Sieger, Crossroads president.
That could finally bring a privately financed hotel to the city-owned parking lot in the 400 block of West Wisconsin Avenue — which is just south of the Wisconsin Center.
But, as with last year’s preliminary report, there’s not yet a specific plan to pay for the proposed expansion.
Financing questions “can be answered further down the road,” Nowak said.