HotelRED returns with revised expansion plan

HotelRED is not giving up on its plans for expansion.

Four months after a proposed four-story addition was denied by the city’s Plan Commission, the owners of the 48-room, four-story hotel at 1501 Monroe St. want to add two floors of rooms and create a 5,420-square-foot rooftop lounge with two outdoor seating areas that offer sweeping views of the neighborhood, Camp Randall and the UW Field House.

The hotel’s previous plan was opposed by many in the neighborhood and by the city over concerns of the building’s height. The new plan is 19 feet shorter on the back side of the hotel and 12 feet shorter on the front compared with the proposal submitted in November. The latest plan — designed by Strang, a Madison-based architecture, engineering, interior design and planning firm — also creates a new look for the property and improves the facade, said Jason Ilstrup, the hotel’s general manager.

“It really gives it a new cornerstone on the front side of the building. (Strang architects) really focused on making it a nice, soft good look,” Ilstrup said. “I think we have a chance to succeed because we listened to the neighborhood. I think we have a good shot.”

The proposal will be reviewed Tuesday by the city’s Urban Design Commission and was the focus of a meeting of the Vilas Neighborhood Association on June 15. It was attended by representatives from the hotel, the neighborhood association’s board and 11 residents from the neighborhood, said Craig Stanley, president of the VNA, who described the response as “mixed.”

Stanley said he likes the new proposal and said height accompanies projects where density is desired by residents and urban planners.

“I do not have a problem with the plan,” Stanley said. “It’s a nice improvement, and HotelRED has been a great neighborhood amenity. I personally fully support what they’re trying to do.”

When the Plan Commission unanimously rejected the four-story addition in March, members had concern over the height of the building, which is across the street from the 110-foot-tall Field House. Neighborhood residents who spoke out against the plan said it would loom over the area and that the scale of the project didn’t fit with the rest of the neighborhood, which includes single-family and rental homes immediately behind HotelRED.

The new plan would add two 9,630-square-foot floors. The additional 40 hotel rooms would raise the room count to 87 because a second-floor hotel room would be converted to a fitness center that is being moved from the first floor to make way for more office space, Ilstrup said. The exterior also gets an upgrade, with a point added to the building where Regent and Monroe streets converge.

“It really puts an accent on the corner and improves the look of the building,” said Peter Tan, an architect with Strang.

Ald. Sara Eskrich, who represents the neighborhood, could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.

The rooftop addition would include a 1,500- to 2,000-square-foot indoor lounge with a small bar and limited food service. The rooftop would also include two separate outdoor spaces. One 1,160-square-foot balcony for up to 78 people would face the Field House and open up from the lounge, while a 960-square-foot space for up to 64 people would provide views of Regent Street to the east.

“As a result, they will not diminish the uses, values and enjoyment of other properties in the neighborhood,” the hotel wrote in its application to the city. “With this project, HotelRED is reinvesting in the neighborhood.”

Source:  Madison.com