Opening at a tough time
He opened Wauwatosa’s Renaissance Milwaukee West Hotel with around 70 full-time employees.
That’s about half of what the hotel and its restaurant, Eldr + Rime, expected to have.
The hotel, created by converting a former office building next to Mayfair mall, has received strong reviews from guests who are excited about the first Wisconsin location for the high-end Marriott Renaissance hotel chain, Khokhar said.
“I just wish the volume was a little higher,” he said.
In response, the Wauwatosa Common Council in June approved a $300,000 forgivable loan for Renaissance developer HKS Holdings LLC.
Other new area hotels include a 132room Holiday Inn Express which opened this summer at 115 Discovery Drive, in Brookfield’s The Corridor mixed-use development.
That hotel is operated by Coralville, Iowa-based Hawkeye Hotels Inc., which is opening a neighboring 132room Fairfield Inn by the end of December.
Hawkeye Hotels and its partner, Bloomington, Minnesota-based JR Hospitality Group LLC, also are opening three hotels at 515-525 N. Jefferson St., in downtown Milwaukee, by the end of December.
One six-story building will feature a Home2 Suites and Tru hotel totaling 213 rooms. The other six-story building will be a 115-room Holiday Inn Express.
Hawkeye Hotels hasn’t closed any of the 50 hotels it operates in the Upper Midwest and other regions, said Knute Gregory, marketing manager.
But Hawkeye isn’t initially expecting a typical level of business at its new hotels, he said.
“As long as we’re keeping up with the market, that’s really our goal,” Gregory said.
Other projects are in the works with an eye towards opening once the worst of the pandemic is over.
Wisconsin Center will deliver boost
The expansion of downtown’s Wisconsin Center convention center — which will boost business for area hotels — is to begin construction in late 2021.
That $420 million taxpayer-financed investment will double the facility’s space, with completion expected by March 2024.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Madisonbased North Central Group Inc. have plans for a high-end Marriott Autograph hotel, with 200 to 250 rooms at West Juneau and North Phillips avenues near Fiserv Forum.
Construction isn’t to begin until fall 2021, with the hotel to be completed by late 2022 or early 2023.
Also, renovations continue at converting downtown’s historic Adams Building into the Adams Hotel.
It will have 10 to 12 rooms, as well as a cafe and lounge, when it opens next spring, said Lee, president of Van Buren Management Inc.
He’s optimistic the pandemic’s effects will lessen by then. It also helps that Van Buren Management already owned the building, which was last used for offices and Whiskey Bar tavern.
Meanwhile, Mark Flaherty, managing partner of Jackson Street Holdings LLC, which operates Milwaukee Marriott Downtown, Westin Milwaukee, 550 N. Van Buren St., and SpringHill Suites by Marriott Milwaukee Downtown, 744 N. Phillips Ave., declined to comment for this article.
However, Marcus Hotels & Resorts Inc. has announced it will reopen its Saint Kate — The Arts Hotel, 139 E. Kilbourn Ave., on Thursday.
That means all eight company-owned properties will be reopened, as well as nine of 10 hotels other managed by Marcus.
Marcus Hotels temporarily closed several properties this spring after the pandemic drastically cut travel.
Over 400 workers in July were permanently laid off at the company’s three Milwaukee hotels — Saint Kate, the Pfister and the Hilton — as well as at Grand Geneva Resort & Spa and Timber Ridge Lodge & Water Park, both in Lake Geneva, and at Hilton Madison Monona Terrace.
Marcus Hotels President Michael Evans declined to provide the company’s current employee count.
Marcus Hotels, like other operators, has “reduced staffing levels to be more aligned with reduced demand due to COVID-19,” he said.
As demand increases, Marcus expects to add more workers, Evans said.
While the hotels lost group bookings — including those tied to the downsized Democratic National Convention — business throughout the summer was stronger than expected thanks to leisure travelers, Evans said.
The company’s parent, Marcus Corp., will release its third quarter earnings on Tuesday .
Evans said industry experts are forecasting steady improvement during 2021, but most agree a return to pre-pandemic business levels isn’t expected next year.
Marcus Hotels, like other operators, has focused on social distancing, masks, increased sanitation and other steps to reassure its customers.
“As consumer confidence grows,” Evans said, “so will demand.”
But the hotel industry’s pleas for additional federal aid haven’t resulted in Congressional action amid disputes between House Democrats and Senate Republicans over the level of a broader COVID-19 stimulus package.
It leaves hotel managers yearning for a time beyond the pandemic’s grip.
“We’re all looking forward to just getting back to normal, and doing what we do best,” Khokhar said.