Developers are proposing a seven-story, 156-room hotel in downtown Milwaukee’s Deer District, but some city officials don’t think that’s the “highest and best use” for the site.
The disagreement led to a standoff at Tuesday’s Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development (ZND) Committee meeting, with committee members ultimately voting to delay the development team’s rezoning request for the project, which was eyeing a late 2025 construction start.
Middleton-based North Central Group Hospitality (NCG) is proposing a hotel flagged by Moxy, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio, at the northwest corner of North Vel R. Phillips Avenue and West State Street on the former Bradley Center site.
Committee members criticized the hotel plans not for zoning issues, but for the proposed hotel’s size, and its lack of amenities like a full-service restaurant or bar.
They cited the city’s 2015 Deer District plan, which contemplated a hotel with 300 rooms at that site, and current zoning which allows for a building of between four and 20 stories, which ZND chair Ald. Bob Bauman said would be a better use of the prime downtown parcel.
NCG’s Andy Inman told the committee that there isn’t demand for a new, large hotel in downtown Milwaukee, a position echoed by Visit Milwaukee and hotel industry analysts, but said NCG feels the Moxy will complement Deer District’s entertainment venues at its medium scale.
“You’re walking a very delicate line between saying that Milwaukee is a dead market for hotels and Milwaukee is a great market for hotels precisely your size,” Bauman said to NCG representatives. “I appreciate that effort but you certainly do agree that market conditions for hospitality are fluid. Market could change, demand can change. In, say, three or four years, is certainly possible that demand for a much larger facility at this location.”
The meeting came after the city’s Legislative Reference Bureau, which conducts research for the Common Council, prepared a report that said NCG’s proposal is not the best use of the parcel, saying that, given the success of Deer District’s tax incremental financing district, the site could support a denser development.
“The Moxy Hotel, as proposed, clearly is not the highest and best use of the southern portion of (the block),” wrote Jeff Osterman, a legislative research supervisor. “A much larger, taller hotel or other structure could be built under current design standards and would provide more tax base for the city.”
Milwaukee’s Department of City Development recommended the committee approve the rezoning request despite the Legislative Reference Bureau’s stance.
“I’m not aware of any scenario where either our department or the council has rejected a proposal that’s found to meet those standards because of a belief that there’s some better hypothetical future project,” city planning director Sam Leichtling said. “That would be a significant departure from practice.”
Milwaukee Bucks real estate attorney Bruce Block said the committee “doesn’t have the right to mandate 20 stories,” but, in making the point, gave a lengthy background on where the proposal originated that started opening new legal questions, Bauman said.
As a result, the committee, advised by Milwaukee’s city attorney, opted to delay voting on the project.
Labor controversy at The Trade looms large
Tuesday’s meeting was slated to be a public hearing, during which dozens of representatives from the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization (MASH) and its allies had intended to speak, but didn’t get a chance to before the item was tabled.
Last year, workers at The Trade hotel, another NCG property also in Deer District, sought to unionize with MASH, but allege that NCG engaged in unfair labor practices, including scare tactics and intimidation. The National Labor Relations Board is investigating those charges.
Moxy’s opponents include several unions. The project is supported by trade unions, however.
City officials were careful not to tie the Moxy zoning deliberations to the labor dispute, as zoning decisions cannot legally be influenced by unrelated labor issues.
The committee will meet next on May 28.
