Developers propose hotel at Mayfair office site

Upscale project would add amenities

A high-end hotel is being pitched to redevelop an empty office building at Mayfair mall — a site where Wauwatosa officials earlier opposed plans to raze the building for two chain restaurants.

The developers are seeking $9 million in city cash to help finance the project.

HKS Holdings LLC would convert the empty 11-story, 150,000-square-foot office building, near the northeast corner of North Mayfair Road and West North Avenue, into a 196-room hotel with 12 floors.

A two-story addition west of the office building would house the hotel’s restaurant, 4,500-square-foot ballroom and two smaller meeting rooms, according to plans filed with the city.

The possible hotel brand isn’t yet being publicly identified. However, it would be the first such hotel in Wisconsin and would include a chefdriven destination restaurant.

The upscale hotel would target business travelers who want to be in Wauwatosa but are staying elsewhere, said Kyle Strigenz, an HKS Holdings co-owner.

“They love being in Tosa,” Strigenz said. “But they feel there are some basic amenities that are missing.”

The hotel would draw travelers now staying in such communities as Menomonee Falls, Brookfield and Waukesha, he said.

Also, a proposed 2,200square-foot rooftop event

space, with an outdoor terrace, would help attract weddings and other events, Strigenz said. That type of venue doesn’t exist in Wauwatosa, he said.

Strigenz and his partners made a presentation at last week’s meeting of the Common Council’s Financial Affairs Committee. The committee didn’t take action on the proposal, which would need council approval.

HKS Holdings approached Mayfair’s owner, Chicago-based GGP Inc., after the Plan Commission in May delayed acting on a proposal to replace the vacant office building with a pair of one-story restaurants: Uncle Julio’s, a Mexican eatery; and Seasons 52 Fresh Grill.

Commission members, including Mayor Kathy Ehley, said they were disappointed with GGP’s restaurants proposal because it didn’t provide a strong enough impact.

Chris Jaegar, Mayfair general manager, told members of the council committee that other hotel developers passed on the site before Mayfair proposed the two chain restaurants. The HKS proposal, he said, would strongly activate the corner site.

By stripping the office building down to the frame, and then rebuilding it as a hotel, HKS would save $4 million to $5 million on the project, Strigenz said. He didn’t disclose a total cost estimate for the project.

HKS is seeking $9 million of city funds that would be provided through a tax-increment financing district.

The city’s cash would be repaid through the hotel’s new property taxes.

Committee members voted to discuss the possible city financing assistance in a closed session, which is allowed under the state open meetings law. Any action on a specific proposal would require a public vote.

Ald. Joel Tilleson, a Plan Commission member, led efforts in May to delay action on the proposed restaurants.

Tilleson also said then that the Common Council would likely consider financing a more ambitious development at the corner that would generate more property tax revenue at Mayfair.

Bayshore Town Center, in Glendale, Brookfield Square, in the City of Brookfield, and The Corners, in the Town of Brookfield, have all received financial help from their communities to create developments that have a mix of uses, including apartments, offices and retail space.