Grand Avenue Mall, Reuss Federal Plaza, Hyatt

MRC (MDC) was involved in front-end planning studies; supported construction of the Hyatt Regency (the first hotel built in downtown Milwaukee in several decades) through staff assistance and cash equity investment; optioned land for the Henry Reuss Federal Plaza (a federal office building); purchased other parcels; and undertook design of the $70 million Grand Avenue space (a retail development stretching over four-square blocks of downtown Milwaukee, which included two existing department stores) with its risk capital.

• To develop the hotel, the MRC made a cash equity investment in the project, while the city participated in landscaping and the construction of a skywalk.
• For the office building, the MRC optioned much of the land, and the city assembled a portion of the land.
• For the retail center, the MRC forged a coalition with the city and the Rouse Company—developer of the retail center—and developed the entire $70 million project.

It provided more than $16 million of the equity, purchased two of the buildings used in the redevelopment, acquired other land in the project area, and executed a lease of the retail space with the Rouse Company. Participants also included the federal government (the Reuss Building), Redevelopment Authority of City of Milwaukee (RACM), Northwestern Mutual and Wisconsin Energy amongst many others.