Hotel proposed for historic downtown block

A developer is working on plans for a hotel development for the block of historic buildings southeast of Wisconsin Avenue and Broadway in downtown Milwaukee, according to Ald. Robert Bauman, who represents the downtown area and spoke with representatives for the developers.
Bauman said he was informed that Chinese investors want to invest in the project. Preliminary plans call for a 6 to 8-story building with fewer than 100 hotel rooms, Bauman said.
However, the project includes plans to demolish several historic buildings on the block, an idea that Bauman strongly opposes.
“There’s going to be a lot of push-back and opposition to any plan that calls for tearing down those historic buildings,” he said.
A representative for the developer and investors in the project could not be reached for comment.
The historic buildings are owned by Milwaukee attorneys, and developers, Robert and Michael Levine.
“At this point I really have no comment about any hotel,” Michael Levine said. “I have no involvement in any hotel development. I’m an office developer, not a hotel developer. At this point in time there is really no story.”
The Levines have proposed an office building development for the block, but the project has been delayed until they can attract tenants. Bauman has also been a vocal opponent of that project, which also calls for demolishing several historic buildings.
“They are bound and determined to find a project to demolish those buildings,” Bauman said.
Bauman says the historic buildings should be restored, just as some other historic structures have been downtown.
“These are great buildings,” he said.