Athletic club renovation to resume
Apartment project’s price tag now $62M
The stalled redevelopment of downtown’s historic Milwaukee Athletic Club is to resume work this fall, with apartments replacing initial plans for a hotel.
As a result, the project’s costs, initially estimated at $70 million, are now around $62 million, said David Kriete, club president.
Kriete told the Journal Sentinel that a revised financing package should be completed no later than Sept. 30.
“Thankfully the business model and financing are approved by all capital partners, but the time to execute now that things are approved takes a little bit of time,” he said.
Once renovations begin, the work could be completed in as soon as nine months, Kriete said.
But, a more realistic timeline is 10 to 11 months given that the building, 758 N. Broadway, is over 100 years old, he said.
The redevelopment plans still include major renovations of the athletic facilities, bar and dining areas, and event space for club members.
But a plan to convert old guest rooms into a 96-room boutique hotel on the 12story building’s five upper floors has been dropped as the hospitality industry has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead, those floors will have 54 upscale apartments, Kriete said.
Meanwhile, a possible first-floor restaurant, open to the public, is still being considered, he said.
Denver-based Sage Hospitality, which was to operate the hotel, has dropped out of the development.
But Joshua Jeffers, who operates J. Jeffers & Co., and Tony Janowiec, president of Interstate Development Partners LLC, are still partnering with the club on the project, Kriete said.
The developers started internal demolition work just over a year ago.
Nearly all of that was completed before the pandemic’s economic effects struck hard in March — shutting down work at the building.
The project has its construction permits, and the developers are prepared to resume renovations as soon as financing is closed by the end of September, Kriete said.