New Operator Takes Over Shuttered Downtown Hotel

174-184 W. Wisconsin Ave., Hampton Inn & Suites. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A downtown hotel that has repeatedly encountered financial issues in the past four years is set to reopen.

The 138-room Hampton Inn and Suites, 176 W. Wisconsin Ave., closed in May and, in July, it was transferred to an affiliate of lender Evergreen Bank Group in lieu of foreclosure.

Now, a new operator has applied to reactivate the property. Illinois-based E.M.A. Hospitality filed a license request Thursday with the city to reopen the first floor dining area. A plan of operation includes details for reopening the entire hotel, including purchasing and renovating the property.

E.M.A. also operates the La Quinta Inn by Wyndham Milwaukee Airport hotel, 7141 S. 13th St., in Oak Creek.

The foreclosure avoidance transfer earlier this year was only the latest issue for the hotel. It was transferred to a lender in lieu of foreclosure in 2019 with a listed value of $19 million in state real estate transfer records. Crossways Capital, which shuttered the hotel in 2023, purchased it in 2019 for $10.66 million. The hotel was most recently managed by Kinseth Hospital Companies for Crossways.

Clai Green operated a wedding venue, Sixth Floor, in leased space within the building and needed to rebook approximately 70 weddings when the hotel abruptly closed.

The E.M.A. license requests says the company intends to reopen that venue at some point in the future.

Two decades ago the property operated as a Howard Johnson Inn & Suites, but was sold in 2005 and remodeled and sold again in 2014 and 2016. The building’s facade has been substantially altered, but the structure dates back to 1917. It’s actually an amalgamation of three structures, the Bartlett Building, the Gross Building and the National Bank Building.

The July deed transfer notice valued the hotel at $11.8 million. It is currently assessed for $10 million.

A representative of E.M.A. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.