Gateway hotel gets warm welcome

Plans for a 62-unit hotel that will be a cornerstone of Mel’s Village in Saukville’s Northern Gateway on the village’s east side got a nod of approval Tuesday from the Plan Commission.

Cobblestone Hotel and Suites will build and operate the four-story hotel, which officials said will provide benefits to the entire area, not just the Gateway development being built by Ansay Development.

“I think it’ll be a boon to the local economy,” Village President Andy Hebein said Tuesday. “It gives lodging options to folks, particularly in the Gateway but also to the entire area.

“Then there’s the obvious — it will bring a good tax base to the village and help our local business owners by bringing more people to Saukville.”

Hebein said the hotel fits well with the rest of the Gateway development and is a welcome addition to the community.

That sentiment was reiterated by Village Administrator Dawn Wagner during the commission meeting.

“It’s going to be a nice addition to the Northern Gateway,” she said. “People have been waiting for it.

“It’s here, can you believe it?”

The hotel will be built at 535 Market St., kitty corner from the Gateway Sports Academy, and offer a mix of rooms, including standard guest rooms, suites and two-room extended stay accommodations.

Anna Jakubek, vice president of development for BriMark Builders and Cobblestone, said the hotel will have an indoor pool, flexible meeting and event space, fitness center, a patio with a fire pit that can be converted to a lounge and other amenities.

Local historic artwork will be incorporated into the hotel’s public spaces and rooms, she said.

“It adds a nice touch,” Jakubek said.

Jakubek said Cobblestone, which is headquartered in Neenah, is the only hotel franchise based in Wisconsin. It has more than 160 locations across 28 states, the closest being in Hartford.

The company, she said, was approached by Ansay Development about locating in the Gateway district.

It was an attractive idea, she said, noting that this area is underserved in terms of lodging.

Cobblestone’s niche, Jakubek said, is providing hotels in smaller communities, and the company aims to offer lodging for everyone from business travelers to vacationers and families attending sporting events at the Gateway Academy.

Work on the hotel is expected to begin by the end of the year, she said, and take 12 to 14 months to complete.

The cost of the project is estimated to be about $13 million, Jakubek said.

Ian McCain, Ansay’s vice president of development, noted the hotel is the second building to go up in what will become Mel’s Village on the south side of the Gateway development. The Gateway Sports Academy, which shares a building with Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin was the first.

“We’re very focused on our mission here,” he said.

Hebein praised the fact that Ansay has stuck to its vision for the development.

“This has been part of their vision all along,” he said, referring to the hotel. “They’re very deliberate in their planning.

“They’ve been phasing things in. It’s been a steady implementation of their plan.”

The Gateway project, which is being developed by Ansay and Three Leaf Development, is a unique project in that it is an integrated community for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, providing places where they can live and work.

In addition to the Gateway Sports Academy and the neighboring Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin on the south side of the development, the north side of the development is already home to The Daniels apartments, the Paape Family Farms subdivision, Anita’s Gardens senior living and American Orthodontics.

The Northern Gateway development is to include apartments and single-family houses, an office and commercial area, day care facility, green space and walking trails as well as a public plaza with a splash pad and other amenities to be operated by the village and Mel’s Charities, which is to move its offices there.