The Daily Reporter – WI Construction News & Bids Wisconsin's Construction Authority
The new hotel tower to be built for the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee will go up under a project–labor agreement.
The Milwaukee Building & Construction Trades Council announced this week that it has entered into a project-labor agreement, also known as a PLA, with the Forest County Potawatomi and Gilbane Building Company for the construction of the new tower. Gilbane Building Co.’s Milwaukee office and Greenfire Management Services, a Milwaukee-based construction-management company owned by the Potawatomi Business Development Corp., are overseeing the project.
Potawatomi Hotel & Casino plans to expand the hotel at its Milwaukee property with the construction of a second tower.
PLAs direct construction work to union companies in return for promises to not use strikes or other disruptions to slow a project’s progress. PLA proponents generally argue that the agreements help ensure large jobs are delivered on time and under budget.
Opponents, in contrast, contend that a PLA will prevent certain companies — often non-union contractors — from bidding. Less competition could drive up project costs because contractors will have fewer rivals whose bids must be undercut to win the contract.
The construction of a second hotel tower at the Potawatomi Casino site will add 119 new hotel rooms on top of an existing four-story structure.
The total number of rooms at the hotel will increase to 500. The 180,000-square-foot addition will also have a spa, a new pastry kitchen and additional meeting space, all of which will be placed in a four-level infill area.
