A 650-room hotel would help downtown Milwaukee’s Baird Center better compete for conventions – and the best location would be either the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena or Miller High Life Theatre, a new study says.
The study includes renderings showing the theater replaced by a mixed-use development – while saying the arena is an important asset.
That project scenario includes the hotel, 150 apartments, 30,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and 15,000 square feet of activated green space.
That’s according to a study commissioned by the Wisconsin Center District, the public agency which owns all three venues in the 400 and 500 blocks of West Kilbourn Avenue.
“A new headquarters hotel is essential to maximize the investment in Baird Center, secure future business at risk of leaving Milwaukee, and remain competitive with other cities making significant convention district investments,” the study says.
The study, done by consulting firm Hunden Partners, ranks six potential hotel development sites – with the arena and theater tying for top rank.
But it also says the arena “is an important asset to the district and should continue to function as a key anchor to ensure the ability of the WCD to fulfill its mission.”
The study includes renderings showing a large development on the theater site.
Demolishing either the theater or arena require city approval.
The Common Council in December designated both the arena and theater as historic, so any exterior changes need Historic Preservation Commission approval. Commission rulings can be appealed to the council
The report is to be discussed at the Jan. 30 district board meeting.
Possible project sites include city-owned parking lot
Alderman Robert Bauman, who’s also a district board member, requested historic designation over concerns the study would recommend demolishing the arena and theater.
That possibility has drawn concerns from preservationists as well as representatives of the Milwaukee Admirals hockey team and UWM men’s basketball team – both hosted by the arena.
District President and CEO Marty Brooks opposed historic designation.
Brooks cited the district’s role in creating an economic impact by hosting conventions at Baird Center.
“Let’s not forsake progress for nostalgia,” he said at a November hearing.
Bauman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the question of whether to keep the theater is closer call compared to preserving the arena.
But Bauman also wants a closer look at vacant sites, including the city-owned parking lot just west of the new Vel R. Phillips Plaza, in the 400 block of West Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee is losing significant business to other convention destinations because it doesn’t have enough hotels, the study says.
The Baird Center’s $456 million expansion, completed in 2024, “is unable to realize its full potential,” the study says.
“The convention district is now meeting space heavy, hotel room light, and behind on hotel quality,” it says.
Milwaukee hotels which accommodate conventions are “much older than those of competitive markets,” the study says.
It doesn’t mention how the new hotel would be financed.
The theater, originally known as the Milwaukee Auditorium, opened in 1909, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
The theater had a two-year, $42 million renovation that was completed in 2003. Around $20 million in debt remains on the district’s books from that project − which included a $10 million cost overrun.
The need to pay off that debt before its 2034 due date would be “a minimal consideration” within the overall costs of a large redevelopment project on the theater and arena site, Brooks said, at a May district board meeting.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram,Bluesky, X and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New Milwaukee convention hotel could be at High Life Theatre site, study says
Reporting by Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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