State Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, on Tuesday issued a request for an audit of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority’s (WHEDA) allocation of $43.5 million Midwest Disaster Area bonds for Jackson Street Management LLC’s $54 million, 204-room Marriott hotel development, which is currently under construction southwest of Wisconsin Avenue and Milwaukee Street in downtown Milwaukee.
“It appears in this matter that we are subsidizing a project which may not have required public assistance and thereby, limiting the use of Midwest Disaster Area bonds in projects with demonstrable need,” Taylor said. “As stewards of the state’s fiscal resources, I believe that we cannot ignore this possible misallocation of bonds.”
