US: A 135-room Staybridge Suites hotel is being proposed for a vacant site on N. Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
The site is near the Milwaukee County Research Park and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Complex.
According to plans filed with the city, the proposed extended-stay hotel would “provide much-needed hotel accommodations for the businesses in the vicinity, particularly (the) medical complex, and residents of Wauwatosa and surrounding cities”.
The four-storey hotel will include a swimming pool, health club, 1,200-square-foot conference room and an extensive lobby area. It would employ about 20 people.
The applicant for the proposed hotel is an affiliate of the Walia Group. Brother Ajit “Jay” and Harjeet “Rick” Walia own several Milwaukee-area gas stations and previously owned the Park East Hotel near downtown Milwaukee before selling the building in September 2017. That building was redeveloped into apartments.
Also planned at the site is a separate 2,000-square-foot restaurant, which will be owned and operated by the Walia Group.
Jay Walia said he was interested in building the hotel at this site because of its proximity to both the medical complex and nearby shopping destinations, such as the Mayfair Mall. He added that he feels optimistic the project will be well-received based on feedback from preliminary meetings with the city as well as a neighbourhood meeting held in January.
The proposal is set to be considered by the city’s Plan commission on March 11. If the plans are approved, the developer expects to complete permitting and begin construction by this spring, with construction set to be finished in the autumn 2020.
