Community members joined several Madison alders and Hammes Co. President Bob Dunn at the MATC Downtown Education Center Thursday night to discuss the proposed redevelopment of the Edgewater Hotel before the Common Council votes on the proposal Feb. 23.
""There is a way to develop the Edgewater in a manner appropriate to its surroundings,"" Adam Plotkin, president of Capitol Neighborhoods Inc., said. ""We just haven't seen it yet.""
Hammes Co., the proposed project's developer, then unveiled a redrawn exterior of the building and elaborated on the contested tower height in the historic Mansion Hills neighborhood.
Dunn said the East tower addition has been cut to eight floors. He also spoke about a proposed public space that he compared to being used in the same size and manner as the Memorial Union Terrace.
Opposition to the plan included concerns over the public's access to the waterfront and the implications of the multi-million dollar project.
In response to those issues, the plan now provides for a new stairway to the water's edge, replacing the existing staircase Dunn characterized as dangerous.
He also projected the city would recoup their investment in the project within the next decade.
Hammes Co. also favors removing the 1970s-era addition to the hotel that blocked the lake view from Langdon Street and Wisconsin Avenue.
Dunn said the height from ground level has been cut from 70 to 50 feet to accommodate a future view from the street, but Plotkin said ""one would have to be about 18 feet tall to see as much lake as purported in the [artistic] rendering.""
A question-and-answer session after Dunn's presentation allowed community members to submit questions for an immediate response.
The redevelopment proposal has prompted heated discussion at various city meetings, but the general atmosphere remained calm after moderator Karl van Lith's urged civil behavior at the outset.
When asked about a private citizen's ability to host a catered function on the terrace, Dunn appeared serious before answering with a jovial ""yes.""
