Menomonee Falls' Radisson Slated for 'Soft' Opening May 2

Day-to-day operations are starting up at the Radisson Hotel and newly hired employees are beginning to go about their tasks amidst construction crews working to finish the hotel by the first week in May.

Radisson Hotel General Manager Dan Gaab said tentative plans are to open the hotel at N88W14750 Main St. on May 2. Gaab said this would likely be a “soft” opening, but said the hotel will officially open “the first part of May.”

The hotel was originally slated to open Jan. 1, but construction delays have pushed back the earlier this year, and now to May. The Radisson and the Village of Menomonee Falls established a new opening date of May 2 in February.

“We’re on schedule to reach the new opening date that was changed in February,” Gaab said.

When Patch visited the hotel Friday, workers were installing tile flooring and carpeting in the main lobby. Furniture and fixtures had been installed on the top floor. Work still needs to be done in the banquet hall, meeting room and the RBG Bar and Grill. The furnishings, and even the flat panel televisions, have been installed in rooms on the top floor.

About 40 staff members, mostly management positions, have been hired and started working at the hotel last week. Employees are undergoing training, filing paperwork and completing other preliminary tasks. The RBG head chef placed his first kitchen orders last week.

“We are very pleased with the preliminary staff we have hired,” said Radisson Food and Beverage Director Patrick Horvei.

Horvei said the hotel plans to hire a total of 80 to 90 staff members to keep operations running at the hotel.

To kickstart the Radisson development, Lodging Investors of Menomonee Falls received a $17.7 million loan from the village. About $12.5 million went toward construction of the hotel. The remaining $5 million covered other expenses such as acquisition of the property, paying off the outstanding mortgage and demolition.

The $17.7 million was gained through a short-term bond issue. A second round of longer-term bonds will be issued in 2014 for a 10-year term. The 2014 date was picked because the hotel should be operationally stable by the time the new bonds are issued.