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MilwaukeeD
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Re: StayBridge Hotel & Suites
here is an article on the groundbreaking:
http://www.dailyreporter.com/item.cfm?recid=20043583&snippet=f
Ground's broken on Staybridge Suites
Sean Ryan , [email protected]
Posted January 19, 2007
Thursday’s groundbreaking for the $20 million Staybridge Suites Hotel in Milwaukee turned into a pep rally before the champagne was poured, with Mayor Tom Barrett declaring a renaissance for the second time this week.
“The Harley-Davidson Museum, Manpower, Pier Wisconsin and Discovery World, the Calatrava — there’s just a growing sense that there’s something happening,” Barrett said.
Barrett also proclaimed a Milwaukee renaissance on Tuesday during the commencement of the Pabst Brewery’s redevelopment. But on Thursday, it seemed every speaker at the podium shared his gusto.
“You’ve got to be excited; take those gloves off, let’s give these guys a round of applause,” Department of City Development Commission Rocky Marcoux said to the crowd standing in the 30-degree chill.
“It’s just another brick that’s building a wall of,” Marcoux continued, then paused, and reworked his metaphor. “It’s another brick in the incredible story on a road that’s paved with success.”
Doug Neilson, president of the Greater Milwaukee Convention and Visitors Bureau, joined in the cheerleading.
“This is a truly exciting moment for our organization,” he said. “This area is really transforming.”
Demand for rooms
The 12-story Staybridge Suites project — which includes 135 hotel rooms, 30 condominiums and retail space — is going up on a parking lot on North Water Street that’s been dormant since the 1970s. The site, on the southeast corner of North Water Street and East Juneau Avenue, is within two blocks of both Ruvin Development’s proposed 175-room hotel and RSC & Associates’ and Morgan Group Inc.’s Park East Square project, which calls for a luxury hotel. It is within five blocks of the Pabst Brewery, where another hotel project is anticipated.
Despite all the hotel action in the downtown area, Phil Hugh, president of project developer Development Opportunity Corp., said his market analysts saw plenty of demand for rooms.
“We’re in the center of it all,” he said. “We’re two or three blocks from (the Milwaukee School of Engineering), we’re two blocks from Manpower, we’re two blocks from the entertainment center.”
Neilson said the hotel — a four-star operation meant for extended stays — fills an empty niche in the downtown hotel market.
“They (the developers) see what Milwaukee is now and they also see what Milwaukee is in the future,” he said, mentioning the Potawatomi Bingo Casino expansion and Harley’s museum. “These types of projects are helping to make Milwaukee become a great destination.”
Fast approval
Hugh, whose company has offices in Chicago, Fort Meyers, Fla., and Pittsburgh, praised the city for approving his project within six months of receiving the proposal. His last groundbreaking, in Fort Meyers, was for a hotel that took two years to get approved, he said.
“There’s not many cities I have worked with that were as embracing as the city of Milwaukee,” he said. “The city of Milwaukee is phenomenal. The information, the education, the entire staff just helped us in every way we turned.”
The project site includes 9,200 square feet of vacant land that the city owned and sold to Development Opportunity Corp. for the project.
The building design, by Chicago architects Economou Partners, also includes a number of green-building elements.
“It’s going to do one of the things that I think is important to the city — it’s a green structure,” Barrett said.
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1/18/2007, 7:55 pm
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TheSkyking
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Re: StayBridge Hotel & Suites
Barrett? Isn't he a mayor somewhere, or something?
All I can say is he's very fortunate that so much development is occuring in Milwaukee while he's mayor...considering he's had virtually nothing to do with any of it. As they say, it's better to be lucky than good.
Not to throw water on this party, but, just how is MPS doing these days? And the wonderful youth of Milwaukee's Central City? Sorry, a bit off the subject - but a vital component of this city and its future!
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1/18/2007, 9:41 pm
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Jesse276
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Re: StayBridge Hotel & Suites
Your criticism is valid, but does any one person have the power to solve ALL of Milwaukee's ills. Barrett may not be phenominal, but he is keeping the momentum for this city moving while attempting to deal with many larger issues.
I'll be looking forward to Barrett presiding over many more groundbreakings, whether he himself made them happen or not.
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1/18/2007, 11:15 pm
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MilwaukeeD
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Re: StayBridge Hotel & Suites
quote: TheSkyking wrote:
Barrett? Isn't he a mayor somewhere, or something?
All I can say is he's very fortunate that so much development is occuring in Milwaukee while he's mayor...considering he's had virtually nothing to do with any of it. As they say, it's better to be lucky than good.
Not to throw water on this party, but, just how is MPS doing these days? And the wonderful youth of Milwaukee's Central City? Sorry, a bit off the subject - but a vital component of this city and its future!
i disagree. barrett has pushed forward all sorts of developments. he decided on the site for the harley museum so it could get going. he pushed for the Manpower TIF. He pushed for the PabstCity TIF and now the most recent version of it. He has brought companies like Palermo's to the Valley. He pushed for a TIF to redo the Amtrak station. And those are just a few of the major projects.
Certainly a lot of momentum was in his favor when he took office, but you have to give him some credit for these projects. Could more be done? Certainly.
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1/18/2007, 11:37 pm
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twoaday
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Re: StayBridge Hotel & Suites
The stage was set by Norquist for the development we are seeing today. BUT the Manpower deal would never of happened (in fact many of the TIFs). So yes Barrett didn't start the process but has in some ways helped.
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1/19/2007, 10:30 am
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exit320
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Re: StayBridge Hotel & Suites
quote: twoaday wrote:
The stage was set by Norquist for the development we are seeing today. BUT the Manpower deal would never of happened (in fact many of the TIFs). So yes Barrett didn't start the process but has in some ways helped.
Barrett has helped.. and as much as Norquist helped the city, he dropped the ball with GE. If only he would have worked harder at trying to get GE downtown, Ovation Tower would be built already and more people would be in the city.
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1/19/2007, 12:22 pm
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TheSkyking
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Re: StayBridge Hotel & Suites
Alright, alright. I'll give Barrett some credit, and concede that he can't do it all by himself. I will say this, as much as I'd like to see Milwaukee continue to develop its "brick and mortar" with respect to buildings, I truly believe that Milwaukee is headed for a major hurt if something isn't done to improve MPS -- and the plight that IS the Central City. Milwaukee MUST find Black leadership immediately! The kind of "leadership" we've seen from the likes of Jr. McGee (before that his pitiful father) and "He should be in jail" Holloway, is an absolute travesty. Therefore, Barrett's biggest focus should be on stabilizing the core of the city...IMHO.
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1/22/2007, 8:41 pm
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ClarkWGriswald
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Re: StayBridge Hotel & Suites
I think I want to buy this building a few drinks, and take her home with me tonight!
Every time I look at it, I like it more and more. Has there been any mention of estimated completion date?
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1/25/2007, 8:24 pm
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nevee1
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Re: StayBridge Hotel & Suites
I absolutely love the rendering of this building.Maybe its just me, but I'd stay there in a heartbeat
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2/2/2007, 7:06 pm
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NorthernILMike
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Re: StayBridge Hotel & Suites
This building is really well designed and should be bright at night simlar to the picture i would hope.
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2/3/2007, 6:54 pm
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