The Holiday Inn Milwaukee Riverfront in Glendale has changed hands, sold out of foreclosure for $4.46 million to a Wisconsin-based hospitality firm, according to state records. The 160-room hotel sits at 4700 N. Port Washington Road along the Milwaukee River, a property that has cycled through names, owners and renovations over the past decade.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the buyer is Riverfront Hospitality LLC, which lists a Mount Pleasant address shared with a Days Inn. A separate account from biztimes.com puts the sale price at about $4.5 million, a figure close to but not identical to the $4.46 million cited in state records.
The deed was posted online by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue on October 28, the Journal Sentinel reports. The seller was GF Hotels & Resorts.
A Hotel That's Changed Names Before
This isn't the first time the riverfront property has traded hands under financial strain. CMH Milwaukee River LLC bought the hotel for $6.7 million from Green Lake-based MRI Partners, according to the Journal Sentinel. The hotel first opened in 1974 as the Milwaukee River Hilton.
The Hilton franchise expired, and the new owners planned a renovation and Holiday Inn conversion. The renovation cost around $8 million, per the Journal Sentinel, a figure that matches a separate account from onmilwaukee.com describing an $8 million renovation that overhauled the hotel's lobby, added a new riverfront bar, and updated all 160 guest rooms along with its ballroom and meeting spaces.
Milwaukee's Hotel Market Under Pressure
The sale lands amid broader strain across the Milwaukee hotel industry. Downtown occupancy stood at 61.6% as of October 2024, down more than 16% from the same period in 2019, according to biztimes.com's reporting on the local hotel market. Average room rates climbed 22% over that span to $178, but biztimes.com notes hotels saw only a 2% bump in revenue per available room, partly because rising expenses ate into the gains.
Industry analyst Greg Hanis told the outlet that high labor costs, inconsistent staffing, rising operational costs and debt refinancing have combined to put some properties underwater, unable to cover their own expenses. Milwaukee still lacked business travelers.
The Glendale sale isn't an isolated case. The Milwaukee Downtown Marriott filed for bankruptcy, the report notes, part of a wave of downtown hotels recently pushed into foreclosure or bankruptcy proceedings. Not every operator is retreating, though: Marcus Corp. has continued a $20 million renovation of The Pfister Hotel and announced a $40 million overhaul of the downtown Hilton Milwaukee.
A Proposed Change for the Glendale Hotel
Wisconsin International Academy proposed buying the Glendale hotel in a plan involving Chinese students, but the proposal was rejected, according to the Journal Sentinel.
