The Trade is welcoming its first guests today as downtown Milwaukee’s newest full-service hotel and the go-to lodging destination for visiting NBA and college basketball teams.
Located at 420 W. Juneau Ave., directly north of Fiserv Forum, the 205-room, nine-story Marriott Autograph Collection hotel was “shaped” by the city of Milwaukee and its industrial history, said Andy Inman, chief development officer at NCG Hospitality, which operates the hotel under Madison-based parent company and developer North Central Group.
“As you approached today, you saw those materials, the grit that formed the city of Milwaukee, the masonry, the metals, the wood, the timber. All of those elements you see here reflected throughout The Trade,” Inman said. “… We allowed the city of Milwaukee to talk to us in the creation of the brand of The Trade hotel and shape the building and what it looks like today and what our guests are going to experience – that grit of the city and the gentle touch of Midwestern hospitality.”
The hotel features three restaurant concepts: Craft on the ground floor, Solomon’s on the second floor and Il Cervo, an Italian concept on the top floor, operated by Madison-based Food Fight Restaurant Group. The space features an open kitchen with a bar, dining room, lounge, outdoor terrace and a private indoor-outdoor patio with views of the downtown skyline.
In addition, The Trade has 9,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space and ground floor retail space. Designed with athletes in mind, rooms on the “VIP” forth floor feature taller hallways and doorways, eight-foot tall shower heads and a private lounge room for teams to gather during their stay. There’s also a two-story presidential suite with its own private access, located on a portion of the building’s eight and ninth floors. The building also has more than a dozen junior suites.
The hotel’s debut marks the first full-service hotel that has opened in downtown Milwaukee in more than four years, said Peggy Williams-Smith, president and CEO of VISIT Milwaukee.
“That signifies growth for our city and for tourism and all the good things that tourism brings with it,” she said. “When teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, North Central Group and the City of Milwaukee come together, amazing things happen and that’s something that helps us continue to be noticed on a national stage.”
