Adams Hotel

Adams Hotel, an 11-room boutique conversion of a 1920 former auto dealership at 790 N. Jackson Street in Milwaukee, has been under development since 2020. A lawsuit over an adjacent parking lot halted construction for roughly three years before a 2024 settlement; an occupancy permit application was filed with the city in June 2026, though developer Van Buren Management has not confirmed an opening date.

The place

790 N. Jackson Street, overlooking Cathedral Square Park in Milwaukee's East Town, on a downtown corner most recently home to ground-floor bars including Whiskey Bar and Club Marilyn.

The concept

The building was constructed in 1920 as an automotive dealership and service garage, later remodeled into offices in 1959; it has never operated as a hotel before this project. Van Buren Management, led by Joel Lee, announced plans in 2020 to convert it into an 11-room boutique hotel with architecture firm RINKA, and construction, including partial demolition and gutting the structure to its core, ran through the end of that year. Work then stalled for several years amid a lawsuit filed by neighboring landowner Northwestern Mutual over a 49-year lease on an adjacent parking lot the project relies on; the two sides settled in 2024, with a Van Buren Management affiliate acquiring the parking lot in the process. Lee has said the firm plans to proceed, and may add a residential component on the parking-lot site. As of June 2026, an occupancy permit application for the 11-room hotel had been filed with the city's Department of Neighborhood Services, but no confirmed opening date has been announced.

Dining & wellness

NC: no restaurant, bar or spa has been announced for the property.