Home Industries Real Estate Near northwest side hotel plans scrapped, replaced with new mixed-use proposal

Near northwest side hotel plans scrapped, replaced with new mixed-use proposal

2100 W. North Ave., Milwaukee. Image from LoopNet.

Almost five years after an initial proposal to redevelop the former Sears building on Milwaukee’s near northwest side, developer Kalan Haywood is back again with a completely new proposal for the site, and a new development team. Haywood of Milwaukee-based Haywood Group LLC initially proposed an 80-room boutique hotel, called the Ikon Hotel, with a

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Hunter covers commercial and residential real estate for BizTimes. He previously wrote for the Waukesha Freeman and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. A graduate of UW-Milwaukee, with a degree in journalism and urban studies, he was news editor of the UWM Post. He has received awards from the Milwaukee Press Club and Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Hunter likes cooking, gardening and 2000s girly pop.
Almost five years after an initial proposal to redevelop the former Sears building on Milwaukee's near northwest side, developer Kalan Haywood is back again with a completely new proposal for the site, and a new development team. Haywood of Milwaukee-based Haywood Group LLC initially proposed an 80-room boutique hotel, called the Ikon Hotel, with a restaurant and bar in the vacant space at 2100 W. North Ave. with a new conference center next door. Now, partnering with Milwaukee-based F Street Development and Milwaukee architecture firm Rinka, Haywood is planning a mixed-use development for the site that would include an art gallery, craft brewery, events venue, office space, retail space and housing on the 7-acre site. "This is not groundhog day,” Haywood told the city's Redevelopment Authority board on Thursday. “This is us back again, this is a real thing that we’re still trying to figure out. The world has kept changing on us.” In 2019, the city created a tax incremental financing district to provide a $4 million predevelopment loan to Haywood. Since then, about $3.85 million has been spent on acquisition, demo and other holding costs. Haywood was to begin repaying that loan in September, but the Redevelopment Authority extended the deadline for the third time on Thursday — this time to March 2025. Details of the new proposal Currently all one continuous parcel, the new development plan calls for reconnecting a city street through the site's vacant portion, diving the parcel in two. The vacant western part of the site, would be developed with about 50 market-rate townhomes. "As we're looking at how to make the site work, we also try to keep in mind how do we create increment," Haywood said. "(The housing component) helps us get into the ground. Our intent is to move pretty quickly on figuring out the housing component." The site's three-story former Sears building, built in 1927 in the Art Deco style, will no longer be converted into a hotel, but the project's architects say they still want to make the building a point of interest for neighbors and visitors. The first floor would be divided into several spaces: The second floor would include about 40,000 square feet of office space, including a coworking space and the third floor would have "efficiency" apartments. The board's unanimous vote to extend the loan came after member Bill Schwartz asked that a "realistic analysis" be created about the project's feasibility. Haywood cited the pandemic and increases in construction costs, inflation and interest rates as reasons for the project's previous delays. "We do have some momentum," Haywood said. "We're excited to bring our financing background, our investor platform to the site," said Nick Jung, director of development with F Street. Commissioner of City Development Lafayette Crump said he is excited about the project, calling the area a very important destination in Milwaukee.

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