Historic Preservation Commission approves Pabst hotel project

The city of Milwaukee’s Historic Preservation Commission on Monday gave unanimous approval to Oregon, Wis.-based Gorman & Co.‘s $18.8 million plan to redevelop the former Brew House building and the Mill House building located northwest of West Juneau Avenue and North 10th Street in the former Pabst brewery complex in downtown Milwaukee into a 90-room extended stay, beer-themed hotel. The project will also have a restaurant and bar and a beer museum on 5,000 to 10,000 square feet of space on the first floor, with an outdoor dining area on the west side of the building.
The hotel will be called The Brewhouse, according to documents submitted to the city.
Gorman has an option to purchase the buildings from The Brewery Project LLC, which was formed by Zilber Ltd. founder Joseph Zilber, who died earlier this year. The Brewery Project is transforming the former brewery complex into a mixed-use urban neighborhood.
The project will be financed in part by $15 million in debt financing from Chinese investors through the federal government’s EB-5 program, which provides green cards and possible citizenship for foreigners that invest in project in the United States that create jobs.
Gorman hopes to begin construction of the project in February or March and complete it a year after that.