A high-end hotel slated for the Deer District in downtown Milwaukee has received its first city approval.
The nine-story Marriott Autograph Hotel with 205 rooms is proposed at 420 W. Juneau Ave., north of the Fiserv Forum.
It was unanimously approved by the Planning Commission on Monday, with a review pending before the Joint Council’s Zoning, Neighborhood and Development Committee.
Madison-based North Central Group LLC plans to operate the Marriott Autograph on land, which is leased from Milwaukee Bucks.
The now vacant block is part of the former Park East strip that Milwaukee County made available to the basketball club as part of the public-private funding package for the Fiserv Forum. The arena parking structure and the Five Fifty Ultra Lofts are located to the west of the hotel grounds.
Although part of the Marriott Autograph collection, the hotel’s actual name has not yet been disclosed.
Each Marriott Autograph hotel has its own brand, said Andy Inman, vice president of development at North Central.
He told the Plan Commission that the hotel’s name will pay homage to Milwaukee’s roots as a fur trading post – a possible clue Solomon Juneau, one of the city’s first founders.
The development will include a two-story restaurant and lounge on West Juneau and North Phillips Avenues and street-level retail space on Juneau and Fifth Streets.
Both areas are designed to activate the street, with the hotel’s main entrance in the middle of the block, said project architect Josh Wilcox of GBA Architecture and Design.
There will be a second hotel and bar on the ninth floor, both indoor and outdoor, Wilcox said.
Construction work is scheduled to begin in autumn. The hotel is expected to be completed in late 2022 or early 2023.
According to Inman, there will be around 100 hotel and restaurant jobs, with over 100 construction jobs involved in the project.
North Central plans to rent booths in the Fiserv Forum parking structure for hotel guests and plans to have a parking structure north of the hotel when that block continues to develop, Inman said.
The Marriott Autograph is one of a number of new downtown hotels proposed. Everyone is hoping for an opening after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the travel industry disappear.
Other planned hotels include a 102-room Marriott Tribute Portfolio proposed for the former Harri Hoffmann Co. building and adjacent vacant lot at 125-129 N. Water St., and a 155-room Tempo by Hilton for the northwest corner of North King Drive and West Kilbourn Avenue.
Stephanie Bloomingdale, chair of the Plan Commission, said she appreciated North Central’s continued investment despite the impact of the pandemic on the hotel industry.
“It is really very encouraging to see this really incredible project that you are presenting,” she said.
Tom Daykin can be emailed to tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
