Milwaukee, WI

Downtown Milwaukee Hampton Inn now fully reopen ahead of busy summer

Published

2 years ago

April 15, 2024

Downtown Milwaukee Hampton Inn now fully reopen ahead of busy summer

The Hampton Inn & Suites hotel in downtown Milwaukee’s Westown neighborhood is back up and running, following its closure last year last year in the face of financial challenges.

In February, the 138-room hotel at 176 W. Wisconsin Ave. quietly began reopening in phases; as of last week, all of its rooms are available for booking, said Tiffany Avgoulas, the hotel’s new general manager.

The hotel shut down in May 2023 and was later acquired by its lender in a deed in lieu of foreclosure action. Then, in October, the property was purchased for $6 million by an affiliate of Lisle, Illinois-based E.M.A. Hospitality, the hotel’s new operator.

Over the past few months, all rooms have gotten a “full refresh,” including a deep cleaning and polishing as well as new TVs, linens and mattresses. New carpeting was recently installed in the hotel’s lobby area, said Avgoulas.

In addition, E.M.A. Hospitality hired an entirely new team for the hotel, now fully staffed at 24 employees. Avgoulas was brought on in December as director of fails — a position that oversees a property’s turnaround and reopening — and was promoted to GM just a couple weeks ago. She said the hiring effort has presented its challenges, but “we’re getting there slowly but surely.”

Capturing demand

With summer’s peak season right around the corner, the Hampton Inn is well-positioned to benefit from the influx of visitors expected from numerous large-scale events in coming months, including the 2024 Republican National Convention, which has the entire property booked during its July 15-18 run. Outside of that, the hotel is sold out from roughly mid-June through August, said Avgoulas.

“We have such a prime location, it’s great that we’re able to be this successful this early on (in the reopening),” she said.

Prior to its closure last year, the Hampton Inn’s sixth-floor ballroom was a popular spot for weddings and other events; it was previously operated by Clai Green, who owns two other event venues in the city. Currently, the space remains closed but the plan is to remodel and reopen it for event rentals sometime in the future, said Avgoulas, although the timeline is yet to be determined.

“We’re just focusing on our guests and the rooms and getting all of that fully squared away,” she added.

Troubling trend

The Hampton Inn & Suites is one of a few hotels in the city that have experienced financial difficulties in the past year — a sign of the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and following interest rate hikes on the hospitality industry.

Most recently, the Milwaukee Marriott Downtown at 625 N. Milwaukee St. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to restructure debt obligations.

In September, the 102-room Iron Horse Hotel in Walker’s Point was sent to auction to resolve its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In December, the hotel reached a deal with its lender to resolve its Chapter 11 bankruptcy and foreclosure.

In July, a foreclosure lawsuit was filed by Atlanta-based hospitality lender Access Point Financial LLC against the owner of the Cambria Hotel in downtown Milwaukee, an affiliate of Chicago-based Murphy Development Group. A $17.5 million foreclosure judgement was entered in November. In January, the hotel was acquired by its lender in a transaction valued at $11.1 million.

Hotel industry analysts like Greg Hanis have warned of this trend for months.

The Federal Reserve’s moves to raise interest rates to combat inflation have put pressure on hotel operators. Before the pandemic, many hoteliers signed five- to seven-year commercial loans with interest rates closer to 3%; those rates have risen to 8% or even 10%, Hanis told BizTimes last year.

“When you start adding on five, six, seven points of interest to a $10 million loan, it is a big hit,” Hanis said in August.

And even though summer 2024 is expected to bring visitors and tourism spending in numbers unlike anything this city has seen before, there could be more hotel foreclosures on the horizon.

“There are hotels right now that are operating, they’re doing fine, but they have this cloud in the background,” Hanis added.

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Milwaukee, WI

Truck drives in to Grace Coffee in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward overnight

Published

3 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Truck drives in to Grace Coffee in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward overnight

MILWAUKEE — A truck drove through the Grace Coffee Co. in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward on early Friday morning, the owners announced in a social media post.

Due to the extensive damage that was done, the coffee shop will be closed until further notice.

TMJ4

“We’re incredibly grateful no one was hurt, and we’ll keep you updated as we begin repairs,” the coffee shop said in the post.

TMJ4 reached out to the Milwaukee Police Department but have yet to hear back.

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Milwaukee, WI

MPS layoffs plan draws pushback as district works to close $46M gap

Published

15 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

MPS layoffs plan draws pushback as district works to close M gap

MPS cuts face backlash

Milwaukee Public Schools plans about 200 layoffs to close a $46 million budget gap, but union leaders say cuts could impact student safety while district leaders say no classroom teachers will be eliminated.

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee Public Schools is planning to cut roughly 200 positions next school year as the district works to close a multi-million-dollar budget gap — but there’s disagreement over which roles will be impacted.

What we know:

District leaders say the goal is to close a roughly $46 million shortfall, prompting changes that Superintendent Brenda Cassellius says are necessary.

Milwaukee Public Schools said about 201 staff members will be impacted. District leaders say no classroom teachers, counselors or social workers will be cut — something the teachers’ union disputes.

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The reductions stem from a previously approved plan to eliminate about 260 non-classroom roles. The final number dropped after retirements and existing vacancies. The Milwaukee Board of School Directors approved that plan on March 9.

What they’re saying:

“We have a $50 million deficit, we are for sure not going to be able to do business the same way that we’ve been able to do business,” Cassellius said. “Change is just hard. It’s just hard. And every single one of our employees is so important.”

But some educators say the cuts go too far.

“MTEA is setting up a distress signal. We are talking about our teachers, art teachers, music teachers, physical education teachers, counselors — things that the voters of referendum of Milwaukee actually voted for,” said Ingrid Walker-Henry, president of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association. “Staffing is being cut to the extent that they are concerned about student safety.”

Cassellius acknowledged the uncertainty and asked school leaders for patience.

“We just have to for sure know our budget situation, where we’re at with that after these cuts are made in order to make those decisions,” she said. “So I’m asking my principals, be patient with us.”

By the numbers:

The district outlined the 201 affected positions as:

70 central office roles
62 educators with a teaching license but not assigned to one classroom
59 assistant principals

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MPS says the savings will support new class size guidelines, including:

18 students per teacher in K3
20 students per teacher in K4
22 students per teacher in K5

Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS)

District leaders say no students will be asked to leave a school to meet class size guidelines. Officials say they are working with schools that may not have space or that require larger classes based on specific programs.

What’s next:

Milwaukee Public Schools plans to present its proposed 2026–27 budget to the Milwaukee Board of School Directors in May.

The Source: Information in this post was provided by Milwaukee Public Schools and prior FOX6 coverage.

Milwaukee Public SchoolsMilwaukeeEducationNews

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Milwaukee, WI

Brewers finally announce cable, satellite TV channels for broadcasts

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Brewers finally announce cable, satellite TV channels for broadcasts

Just before the pitch clock hits zero, the Milwaukee Brewers released a rundown of channels on cable and satellite for game broadcasts, mere hours before the 1:10 p.m. CT first pitch on Opening Day, Thursday, March 26.

The club said channels include 1263 on XFinity, 670 on DirecTV, 1743 on U-Verse, and 319 or 469 on Spectrum. The broadcasts are also listed as available on streaming service Fubo.

The Brewers are pointing fans to a channel-finding tool on their web site at Brewers.com/watch, though in the moments after the announcement, the channel finder was not yet locating details for Spectrum customers for Milwaukee-area zip codes. A club spokesperson said Major League Baseball was aware of the error and the games would indeed air on Spectrum in Milwaukee.

The built-in Spectrum guide still showed Channel 308 as the “BREW” offering in Milwaukee, with Brewers Live Pregame scheduled to begin at noon CT and baseball at 1 p.m. March 26.

With the February announcement of a switchover from FanDuel Sports Wisconsin to Major League Baseball productions in 2026, MLB negotiations have gone down to the wire with the various providers around Wisconsin. Several teams covered by Main Street Sports, which operated the FanDuel brand, have been in a similar boat this offseason.

Brewers fans aren’t alone in experiencing the late-arriving channel information. Maury Brown of Forbes has been keeping track of all the late-arriving channel announcements for teams around baseball, specifically those that were covered by the Main Street Sports. As of 7 a.m. March 26, the Royals, Rays, Tigers and Braves also still hadn’t released channel listings.

Streaming customers who used the FanDuel Sports Wisconsin app in previous years can use the new Brewers.TV option to once again watch games. The opener is also one of 10 games simulcast on over-the-air channels this season, including WITI-TV (Channel 6) in Milwaukee.

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