The city of Milwaukee’s Historic Preservation Commission this week voted to allow demolition of five buildings, but only if the facades of the buildings are preserved, for construction of a 200-room Marriott hotel southwest of Wisconsin Avenue and Milwaukee Street in downtown Milwaukee.
The decision by the commission creates a delay for the project and will send the developers back to the drawing board, said Evan Zeppos, spokesman for the development group for the project, Jackson Street Management LLC.
“This is bad news for the project, but we’re going to have to try to find a way to work with it,” Zeppos said. “We were not pleased (with the commission’s decision) by any means. But at the same time, we are going to try to find a way to work through these issues.”
Jackson Street Management, which includes Ed Carow and Mark Flaherty of Milwaukee-based hotel development firm Wave Development LLC, wants to build a 10-story Marriott hotel building wrapping around the Johnson Bank building located southwest of Wisconsin Avenue and Milwaukee Street in downtown Milwaukee. The $50 million project will not require any city subsidy, but the developers are seeking federal new markets tax credits for the project.
Previously the developers had indicated a willingness to restore the façade of the buildings along Wisconsin Avenue. However, the Historic Preservation Commission also wants the facades along Milwaukee Street to be preserved. The developer and its architect, Kahler Slater principal Doug Nysse, will try to see if a restoration of the Milwaukee Street façade can be incorporated into the project, Zeppos said.
The five buildings that would be torn down are more than 100 years old and are in a historic district. Some historic preservation advocates say demolition of those buildings should not be allowed.
“This is the last complete late 19th century and early 20th century block of buildings in downtown Milwaukee,” said city historic preservation officer Paul Jakubovich. “There aren’t any other buildings like this left downtown. They potentially could have an exceedingly great impact on the downtown area in a renovated state.”
However, the developers and the owners of the buildings say they have been altered dramatically over the years and no longer have architectural or historic significance. In addition, they say the buildings are not suitable to be restored for use as a hotel.
“What remains with the subject properties is nothing close to what was built in the 1860s,” said Michael Levine, one of the owners of most of the buildings that would be demolished. “The guts of the buildings are no longer the original structure.”
