Downtown Ramada Inn closes

An affiliate of Marquette University owns the building, which will be demolished.

Downtown Milwaukee’s former Ramada Hotel has closed, and the sevenstory building is to be demolished, according to city records.

The 155-room hotel is owned by an affiliate of Marquette University, which bought the property in 2015 for $3.8 million.

Marquette will work on a demolition schedule, as well as short- and longterm plans for the building’s 1.8-acre parcel, said Lynn Sheka, senior director of university communication.

The site is next to an additional 10 acres of developable land owned by the university, she said.

The hotel was vacant as of Oct. 5, according to a notice filed with the city Department of Neighborhood Services. Sheka said the hotel operator decided not to renew its lease with Marquette.

The building, constructed in 1967, was operated as a Ramada for most of its existence.

The hotel lost that franchise about a year ago, and more recently operated under the name City Center Hotel Milwaukee.

Marquette in 2014 and 2015 bought the hotel and other properties, including two office buildings and a restaurant, on roughly 12 acres bordered mainly by North Sixth, North Tenth, West Michigan and West Clybourn streets.

The university in 2016 announced plans to demolish the buildings on that site to develop a $120 million athletic performance research center.

The center, with 250,000 to 300,000 square feet, was to include a $40 million investment from Aurora Health Care Inc.

But that plan was dropped last year. Instead, Marquette is building a smaller research center at 1201 W. Wells St. Its $24 million first phase is under construction.

A university spokesman said last year that Marquette officials were evaluating other uses for the former athletic center site.

Since then, city building permits have been issued for an office building on the downtown west side site, at 525 N. Sixth St., to be remodeled for Marquette’s Department of Psychology.