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Council approves detailed-plan development for Block 3 hotel in Deer District despite aldermanic objections
Summary
The Common Council approved ordinances to amend the Arena Master Plan and allow construction of a seven-story, 56-room hotel on Block 3 in the Deer District. Alderman Robert Bauman and others argued the project is underbuilt for the site and urged performance conditions that the city attorney said state law prohibits.
The Milwaukee Common Council approved two zoning ordinances (items 44 and 45) to advance a detailed plan development permitting a seven-story, 56-room hotel on Block 3 of the Arena Master Plan in the Deer District near Fiserv Forum.
The council recorded votes on the two items during separate roll calls. Item 44 passed with 12 ayes, 1 no, 1 excused and 1 abstention; item 45 passed with a similar tally (12 ayes, 1 no, 1 excused, 1 abstain). The zoning, neighborhoods and development committee's full report was later adopted by the council (14 ayes, 1 excused).
Why it matters: The site sits adjacent to major event and traffic generators downtown and is in Tax Incremental District (TID) 84. Alderman Robert Bauman argued the proposed hotel — described on the record as 56 rooms and a “minimum service” facility without rooftop bar or fine dining — represented an underuse of a premier downtown site and would generate less tax increment than a higher-density, mixed-use development.
Bauman urged performance safeguards, including a one-year commencement requirement, and tied the issue to the city's responsibility to maximize TID increment to support neighborhood projects paid for from downtown increment. He said the detailed plan did not meet standards in the city's downtown comprehensive plan to “support the planned redevelopment of the Deer District with high density mixed use development.”
Bauman told colleagues he had attempted to craft an amendment that would require construction to commence within one year but said he was told by city attorneys that state law (citing chapter 66) prevents imposing the proposed limit. “We can do better, we should do better, and we have an obligation to all our citizens,” Bauman said on the floor, urging members to oppose or abstain on the files.
Other council members and the zoning committee supported approval. After separate roll calls on items 44 and 45 the council adopted the full committee report and advanced the zoning changes needed for the detailed plan development.
Clarifying details: The record identifies the project as a seven-story hotel with 56 rooms on Block 3 of the Arena Master Plan (Deer District) adjacent to Fiserv Forum and the Baird Center. Committee discussion referenced Tax Incremental District 84 and recent TID amendments that have directed downtown-generated increment to neighborhood projects. The transcript records committee and council roll calls for items 44 and 45 and notes an abstention on both items by an alderman who said “Abstain.”
What comes next: With the ordinances adopted, the developer may proceed according to the detailed plan development approvals and permitting processes. Council discussion signaled some aldermen will monitor performance and incremental benefits to other TIDs; no binding one-year commencement condition was imposed on the record.
