Eau Claire-based developer JCap Real Estate has refined plans to redevelop a downtown Madison block housing Essen Haus German restaurant with a hotel, housing, and parking, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The developer has been in talks with the city and neighbors and is proposing the fourth redevelopment plan for the block since 2000 — none of the prior three were realized.
The proposal would redevelop properties at 506, 510, 514, 516, and 518 E. Wilson Street and 134, 140, 148, and 150 S. Blair Street. Plans include a six-story, 100-room hotel along East Wilson Street and an eight-story residential building with 170 units — 39 at low cost — on South Blair Street.
The Hotel Ruby Marie at 524 E. Wilson Street and its Up North Bar would remain a separate structure and undergo a remodel; facades of the Come Back In and J.B. Drives Store Building on East Wilson Street would be preserved and incorporated into the hotel design. A promenade or “living street” would pass between the buildings.
Neighbors continue to voice concerns regarding traffic management, potential negative impacts to residential South Franklin Street, and more, but the new plans have seen a generally positive reception so far.
