University Club Closes Downtown Club

University Club of Milwaukee, 924 E. Wells St. Michael Barera, (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons

A Milwaukee institution is no more.

On Tuesday, the University Club of Milwaukee shuttered its downtown club, 924 E. Wells St.

“This is a tremendously difficult decision to make, especially at this time of year, and given that the walls of the City Club contain years, and in some cases generations, of memories for our members. We recognize that this closure may feel like losing a second home for many of you. Like you, we revere the proud history of the City Club and its place in the lives of many members and the Milwaukee community,” wrote board chair Jim Caragher in an email sent to the club members.

The club will continue to operate its “country club,” the former Tripoli Country Club, 7401 N. 43rd St., in Brown Deer. The two clubs merged in 2016, taking on the University Club brand and positioning the two facilities as “city club” and “country club.”

The downtown facility will now be sold.

The University Club moved into the six-story downtown facility, overlooking Juneau Park and Lake Michigan, in 1928. City assessment records indicate the building has 58,125 square feet of space. That includes a first-floor restaurant, a large ballroom on the second floor, meeting and hotel rooms, a fifth-floor dining room and a sixth-floor lounge.

Caragher’s email, obtained by Urban Milwaukee, says a series of considerations drove the decision. Cited factors include the number of non-golf members falling from more than 500 to approximately 200, growing deferred maintenance, reduced restaurant business due to increased competition and a shift to work-from-home arrangements and failure of the two clubs to truly merge into a cohesive unit.

“Taking all these circumstances into consideration, the Board believes that the best course of action is to exit the Club business downtown and focus on preserving the Country Club experience. The Country Club is largely experiencing member engagement at a greater level, and we are poised to continue the positive changes that make our golf, aquatic, and racquet sports programs attractive to a broad audience of current and potential members, and well-positioned for the needs of both individuals and families,” wrote Caragher.

Employees were notified early Tuesday and all, according to the email, are to receive a severance payment.

Existing club members are able to transition to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, which recently underwent a operational restructing and multi-million-dollar facility overhaul, at a “preferred rate” and with no initiation fee.

Carl Granberg serves as the general manager of both the city and country clubs run by the University Club.

The change comes as many private clubs have faced mergers, service reductions or closures in the wake of changing consumer preferences. The University Club wasn’t the only club to pursue a country club merger. The Wisconsin Club, located on the other end of Downtown, merged with the Brynwood Country Club in 2009.

More than a decade prior to the 2017 merger, the University Club sold a lot to the north of the club to the Mandel Group for the development of the University Club Tower. That transaction included the construction of a parking structure for the club and the ability of club members, for an additional fee, to use the athletic facilities in the condominium tower.

The Georgian Revival-style club building was designed by architect John Russell Pope. It sits at the intersection of E. Wells Street and N. Prospect Avenue. According to a Wisconsin Historical Society report, the partial sixth floor was added in 1953. The Milwaukee club was founded in 1898 by a group of college graduates with a mission to share ideas and grow relationships. The Tripoli Club was founded in 1921.

The ballroom at the University Club has long served as the meeting place for the Greater Milwaukee Committee and hosted other civic events.