Rebecca Carballo

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Two competing hotel proposals tied to a possible expansion of Milwaukee’s downtown convention center were presented at a Wisconsin Center District board meeting on Friday.

Jackson Street Holdings LLC presented its proposed project, Nexus. It would create three hotels with more than 500 rooms, and expanded meeting and exhibit space to be operated by the Wisconsin Center convention facility.

Marcus Corp.’s rival project proposal, eMbarKE, is a 276-room expansion of the nearby Hilton Milwaukee City Center. It would expand the Hilton, 509 W. Wisconsin Ave., to 1,005 rooms and create an apartment high-rise.

Both plans are proposed for a city-owned parking lot at W. Wisconsin Ave. and N. 4th St. City officials have not yet made a decision on which proposal might be recommended for approval to the Common Council.

Joesph Khairallah, president of Marcus Hotels & Resorts Inc., said many conventions are going to Milwaukee’s peer cities such as Columbus, Ohio, and Pittsburgh because they have 1,000-room hotels.

He said creating such a hotel in downtown Milwaukee will make life easier for meeting planners.

“They don’t want their people all over town. They want their people under one roof,” Khairallah told board members of the Wisconsin Center District, the agency that operates the convention center.

Martin Matson, board member and city comptroller, noted the similarities of the two plans – the expansion of hotel and meeting space and the tie to a proposed expansion of the downtown street car system.

However, there was one difference that stood out to him.

“One proposal expects the Wisconsin Center to pay for a portion, and Marcus doesn’t,” Matson said. “That’s a major distinction.”

The Nexus project would finance the three hotels, but would seek funding from the district for meeting and exhibit space. The total cost would be nearly $280 million. The amount of funding needed from the district has not yet been determined. Jackson Street Holdings will provide an estimate if the city chooses its proposal, said Douglas Nysse, a Nexus project consultant.

Marcus executives say their Hilton expansion plan also depends on a convention center expansion. However, Marcus' proposal calls for that expansion to occur north of the Wisconsin Center, on district property, and not at the city-owned parking lot.

The board will revisit the two competing proposals again during a meeting in March.