Commission OKs Marriott — on one condition
Proposed Wisconsin Avenue redevelopment.
Last night, the City of Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission voted 4-1 to allow developers seeking to build a Marriott Hotel downtown to demolish five buildings which are part of the city and national historic registry. However, the commission imposed one condition on the hotel plans — an issue that the developer refuses to budge on.
The condition? Set the top three floors of the hotel tower at least 15 feet from the property line.
In the works since August, Ed Carow and Mark Flaherty, partners in Jackson Street Management LLC, want to open a 200-room hotel wrapped around Johnson Bank at the corner of Wisconsin and Milwaukee Streets.
Carow and Flaherty plan to use $50 million from foreign investors to build the hotel, which could create 350-450 temporary construction jobs and 200 permanent hospitality jobs.
On Monday, they returned with a plan presented last Thursday to the public and endorsed by Mayor Tom Barrett. Instead of modern glass on Wisconsin Avenue, the plans show a complete restoration of the late 19th century facade of the Downtown Books building. That pleased the commission, but they were not as happy with the redesign on Milwaukee Street.
Proposed view of Marriott Hotel on Milwaukee Street.
That portion of the development would completely demolish the buildings between Johnson Bank and a restored building on the corner of Michigan, owned by local architect David Uihlein. Some of the materials from the existing buildings would be recycled into the new hotel and it would be designed to blend in with the surroundings.
However, the developers want the entire hotel on the property line, which worried many in attendance.
Uihlein supports the hotel project, but wants the tower set back, “to provide for the unity of the facades on the street.” He added that pushing the tower back would still allow for three stories at the property line, which is considered the maximum height for pedestrian lighting and comfort.
Needless to say, Monday night’s vote did not reflect the outcome Carow and Flaherty had wanted. They were hoping the commission would simply vote up or down on the proposal, with its recommendation moving on to the Common Council, where Mayor Barrett and Council President Willie Hines Jr. have expressed support for the project.
Instead, HPC chair Randy Bryant wanted to seek a compromise, since his personal opinion is that “not everything that is old is worth saving.” He pushed the developers and their architect, Doug Nysse, to accept the idea of setting back the upper tower.
“We are making a historic move here to allow you to demolish historical buildings,” Bryant said. “We recognize that restoring these buildings might not be cost effective. We’re open to a new hotel and we’re willing to allow some leeway with some restrictions on the historic appearance.”
Evan Zeppos spoke for the developers after the meeting and he described the commission’s caveat as “political chicanery.”
“We will appeal the condition first thing tomorrow to the council,” Zeppos said. “We’re disappointed, but not surprised. This is a bad decision for Milwaukee, for economic development and for downtown. We wanted an up and down vote, but they failed to do that.”
Carow and Flaherty will need 10 votes to pass their current proposal with the Common Council.
In a related move, Ald. Terry Witkowski proposed ending the “bureaucratic drama” of the commission by promising to introduce legislation that would allow the Common Council to review the role, procedures and powers of the HPC.
“By it’s action the commission is essentially delaying and preventing the city’s duly-elected legislative body from taking action on the important Marriott proposal. The delay has been harmful to the viability of the project,” Witkowski said.
This was the proposal from December. Not blending in well.
While Barrett and Hines are supportive, Ald. Bob Bauman — who represents the district where the new hotel would be built — has been vocally opposed to the project, even before it was publicly presented to the commission. In fact, his opposition (via numerous emails and press releases) has been so great that the developers’ attorney attempted to have him recused from the proceedings.
That did not happen, but the usually animated Bauman seemed uninterested in the discussion, objecting to the motion and then casting the sole vote against it.
The marathon meeting was the continuation of a debate over whether historical properties should be preserved at all costs. Those in favor of the development didn’t stick to the issue of the facade or historical relevance, but instead desired approval of the project for the jobs it would bring.
“We have a job emergency in Milwaukee and we need good jobs,” Austin Thompson said, a representative of Good Jobs Livable Neighborhoods. “Milwaukee doesn’t belong to the past, it belongs to the future.”
And so the debate continues. Are historical considerations above the considerations of the economy? Weigh in with your thoughts.
In the meantime, see the buildings for yourself — click here for a video tour.
Cover image is the most current proposal for Wisconsin Avenue. Proposal photos provided by Jackson Street Management, LLC.
blah..that new proposed building is so boring…the modern building is much more interesting. Downtown already has 20 hotels and probably dozens of other buildings that look just like the one that was proposed. Milwaukee needs to continue pressing itself as a modern city, buildings like the Calatrava, the 6th street bridge, and others are doing great, but if Milwaukee wants to continue to draw people to it they are going to want to live and work in a modern, updated, and exciting city.
As long as Milwaukee continues to entertain these dispersed “boutique” hotel projects, we will continue to lock out the kind of large, convention-headquarters hotel development Milwaukee needs to protect and optimize our investment in a convention center. Convention planners absolutely want their attendees together, not scattered around various hotels. To achieve this, they will go somewhere else, no matter how nice our airport is, how low our room rates are, or how hospitable our city and its people are.
I like how the third image has the mouseover text on it, and when clicked, it just goes to the same size image. Quality work.