New hotel coming to Wauwatosa's Mayfair will be Wisconsin's first Marriott Renaissance

Tom Daykin
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Renaissance by Marriott hotel will be developed at a vacant office building at Mayfair mall, in Wauwatosa.

The hotel being created at a former office building at Wauwatosa's Mayfair mall will carry the Renaissance by Marriott brand — marking the first such hotel in Wisconsin.

Renaissance, a luxury brand, will help mark the project near the northeast corner of North Mayfair Road and West North Avenue, city officials announced Wednesday.

HKS Holdings LLC plans to convert and expand the empty 11-story, 150,000-square-foot office building into a 196-room hotel with 12 floors.

The Common Council previously approved the project, which will include $9 million in city cash to help finance it. Those funds will be repaid by the the hotel's property taxes.

HKS Holdings said last fall that the hotel would be the first of its kind in Wisconsin. The brand name was then not being disclosed.

The Renaissance will include a chef-driven destination restaurant. It also will feature a rooftop event space, with an outdoor terrace, to attract weddings and other events.

The hotel will target business travelers who want to be in Wauwatosa but are staying in such communities as Menomonee Falls, Brookfield and Waukesha, according to HKS Holdings.

The Renaissance will strengthen Mayfair and draw more visitors to Wauwatosa, said Mayor Kathleen Ehley.

Marriott operates 160 Renaissance hotels worldwide, including four in the Chicago area.

The announcement of the brand name comes one day after news that Bon-Ton Stores Inc. is being liquidated — a move that will shut down its Boston Store locations at Mayfair and other malls.

Mayfair operator GGP Inc. has declined comment on how the Mayfair Boston Store space will be redeveloped.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.