Milwaukee Council Approves Upscale Brady Street Hotel, First For East Side
As published by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
An 11-story, 130-room hotel planned for the corner of East Brady Street and North Farwell Avenue received unanimous backing Tuesday from the Milwaukee Common Council. What is now a half-empty, two-story retail building at 1709-1723 N. Farwell Ave. would be transformed into the new hotel by Klein Development Inc. in a partnership with Brady Street restaurant and tavern operator Jeno Cataldo. Construction could begin this year on the hotel that would be the first on Milwaukee’s east side.
Ald. Jonathan Brostoff, whose district includes the planned development, celebrated Tuesday’s council vote to change the site’s zoning so the hotel could be built. “This is a huge win for daytime commerce on Brady Street, and it’s a huge win for pedestrian and bike safety,” he told the Journal Sentinel. “Any time you can take a half-vacant, fairly dilapidated site and add to the tax base while doing something special with it, like bringing hotel rooms to the east side, that’s a big win for Milwaukee.”
Klein Development and Cataldo may also build a parking structure across the street on the east side of North Farwell Avenue, between East Royall Place and Zaffiro’s Pizza and Bar. Vacant lots currently occupy that space.
The council also backed a plan to spend up to $15.75 million to build a downtown plaza dedicated to civil rights pioneer Vel Phillips. The 30,000-square-foot plaza would include 2,900 square feet for food and beverage retail space, a garden, an area for farmers’ markets, food trucks and other community events, an information kiosk, and a station for Milwaukee County’s East-West Bus Rapid Transit line.