Jackson Street Management to develop new Milwaukee hotel

According to BizTimes, Jackson Street Management, the group of hotel development investors that are building the 204-room Marriott Hotel under construction downtown and developed the 160-room Aloft hotel in the Park East corridor downtown, are planning to build another hotel in Milwaukee.

The group includes Wave Development principal Ed Carow, and wants to purchase a portion of the Park East corridor that once included the Sydney Hih complex, and using it to build a 110-room hotel. The proposal was given legs after the area's previously developed Aloft hotel proved successful. “The success of the Aloft has been extremely strong,” said spokesman Evan Zeppos. “The market has responded very well to that product. (Occupancy rates are) very high, very strong.”

According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, preliminary discussions with Milwaukee County are for an Element extended-stay hotel. The Milwaukee County Board could approve land sale negotiations with Jackson Street during a meeting on Thursday. Milwaukee County Supervisor Patricia Jursik told the Milwaukee Business Journal that the developers have proposed using Midwestern Disaster Area bonds as part of the project financing. According to Jursik, this creates a tighter timeline because the disaster bond program is set to expire at the end of the year.

Greg Hanis, president of Hospitality Marketers, a local industry consulting firm, told Equities.com that the new build is the latest in a series of new hotels in the downtown area, and is the result of increased demand from business and leisure travelers. "The question is, can downtown support all these new hotel rooms, and how fast will they be absorbed?" Hanis said.

Reported by:  HotelManagement.net