Hyatt Place planned at former Pabst brewery complex

A Deerfield, Ill.-based developer is proposing a 150-room Hyatt Place hotel at The Brewery complex in downtown Milwaukee.

The six-story hotel, to be called Hyatt Place at The Brewery, would be built at 821 W. Winnebago St. on the east portion of what is known as Block 1 of the complex. The site is about a block west of where the new arena is being built for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Janko Group LLC submitted plans to the city, which will be reviewed by the Plan Commission in October.

The Brewery is a mixed-use neighborhood, created by the redevelopment of the former Pabst brewery complex. The redevelopment project has been led by Zilber Ltd.

Dan McCarthy, director of office leasing and development for Zilber Property Group, said Zilber is selling the land to Janko Group and referred all questions about the project to Greg Spanos, managing director of Janko Group. Spanos could not immediately be reached for comment.

The plans for the hotel call for a large landscaped plaza area at the southeast corner of the site, adjacent to the roundabout where Winnebago Street and Juneau Avenue meet. The plaza includes walking paths and a gathering space for hotel guests and the public.

The terraced plaza also includes a prominent location for the historic Pabst Veteran’s Monument; this monument will be placed here and rededicated.

This would be the second hotel at The Brewery. Gorman & Co. opened The Brewhouse Inn & Suites and the attached restaurant, Jackson’s Blue Ribbon Pub, in April 2013.

If approved, the 150-room Hyatt would add to the growing number of hotel rooms in the downtown Milwaukee market.

With the opening of the 158-room Kimpton Journeyman Hotel on June 29 and the 150-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott at the corner of Fourth and Wells streets on July 5, 730 hotel rooms have been added to downtown Milwaukee since 2012, not counting Potawatomi Hotel & Casino’s 381-room hotel.

A 200-room Westin Hotel is currently being built just west of the 833 East Michigan building and Bear Development recently began work to convert the Button Block building at 500 N. Water St. into a 94-room Homewood Suites by Hilton hotel.

Choice Hotels International Inc. purchased a parking lot at 503-521 N. Plankinton Ave. in January, and is planning a Cambria Hotels & Suites on the property, which is typically about 110 rooms.

This summer, Missouri-based Drury Southwest Inc. purchased the First Financial Centre, 700 N. Water St. and is considering converting the 14-story office building into a 200-room hotel.