Proposed Downtown Hotel Loses A Floor
But what was cut is unusual.
Tempo by Hilton Milwaukee hotel. Rendering by Kahler Slater.
A revised design for the Tempo by Hilton Milwaukee hotel is headed for Historic Preservation Commission review. But the proposed hotel is now smaller.
Despite the fact that the hotel would be built on a surface parking lot, it requires historic commission approval because it is part of the former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel complex. The newspaper properties, most of which have since been redeveloped into housing, were designated historic in 2019.
The commission endorsed plans for an eight-floor, 161-key hotel in April 2023. But a revised plan now calls for one less floor and 158 guest rooms at the 0.71-acre site at 308 W. Kilbourn Ave.
According to a filing by Kahler Slater architect and associate principal Ethan Skeels, what’s being removed is an indoor parking structure. A 2023 design filing shows the indoor structure would have included approximately 60 spaces.
“Since the last submittal in March of last year, the building has kept the vertical expression with the taller windows, particularly with a 2-story base expression which has been edited to capture the first floor of guestrooms with the removal of the second floor indoor parking area,” wrote Skeels in a commission filing published Dec. 23. “We are maintaining, the predominately masonry form with its interrupted expression of a two bay wide entry condition which reads as a vertical slot on the east facade.”
The L-shaped hotel would include almost 30 surface parking lots, accessible from an alley behind the building. The space was previously to be filled by a twisting ramp up to the second floor structure.
While not formally addressed in the filing, the proposal could rely on a shared parking arrangement with one of several nearby parking structures. A new apartment tower on the east side of Downtown would rely in part on a city-owned structure, where Department of Public Works officials recently revealed occupancy has fallen from pre-pandemic levels of 90% to 95% to 50%.
The hotel, across from Pere Marquette Park, would still include a first floor restaurant and large lobby.
HKS Holdings has pursued the development of the new hotel publicly since 2021.
A representative of HKS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the design changes.
The development team had initially submitted a revised design in August, but withdrew the plans in favor of the new filing.
The Milwaukee development firm previously partnered with Kahler Slater on the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel in the Historic Third Ward.
HKS is partnering with FirstPathway Partners on the project’s financing. Public documents from early 2021 revealed that the partners were pursuing $21.6 million in EB-5 financing for what was then a $48 million project. The EB-5 program, as of the 2019 regulations, allows foreign nationals to obtain a green card in exchange for a $900,000 investment that creates 10 permanent jobs in a “targeted employment area” where the census tract or those directly adjacent have an unemployment rate in excess of 150% of the national average.
The Tempo brand is one of the newest Hilton hotel flags. It is billed as an “elevated lifestyle brand” with approachable, upscale amenities that help guests relax and recharge.
The Republican House hotel stood on the site from 1884 to 1961. It was there in 1900 that baseball’s American League was created as a competitor to what was then the standalone National League. The two entities merged in 1903 to create Major League Baseball. A historical marker at the site tells the story. It is expected to be maintained on the property as a visible landmark.
The site is currently owned by an affiliate of J. Jeffers & Co., which led the redevelopment of the Journal Sentinel complex.
Renderings
March 2023 Renderings
December 2022 Renderings
Site Photo
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