DE PERE (NBC 26) — A new Cobblestone Hotel & Suites is coming to downtown De Pere in 2022. The city had a groundbreaking Thursday at the hotel's location at the corner of 5th street and Main Avenue.
De Pere mayor James Boyd says when Cobblestone Hotels approached the city about building a new hotel at the location, it seemed like a perfect fit.
"The city's always exploring for new businesses and new business ventures and when Cobblestone Hotels approached the city and had their eyes set on this site it just seemed like a perfect marriage for the city," Boyd said.
He says the opportunity came at a time when the city was already looking to accommodate more visitors with the Mulva Cultural Centercoming to the city.
"We know with the Mulva Cultural Center coming to De Pere it's going to be a huge attraction so we do need hotels and restaurants to accommodate what we think is going to be a big influx of people," Boyd said.
Cobblestone Hotels is the only hotel franchiser based out of Wisconsin, with 29 hotels throughout the state. President and CEO Brian Wogbernese says the new hotel coming to De Pere is one of the brand's main street prototypes.
"The building that's going up is a four flat roof. We call that our main street prototype," Wogbernese said. "We have several of them around the state. Most of them are in downtowns on mainstreets."
The hotel will also include an on-site Wissota Chophouse to give visitors a fine-dining experience. In addition to the hotel and the restaurant, the city of De Pere will also embark on a project to enhance the alley behind the hotel along the business corridor.
"We want things to look like they would look on the main street side of the west side of De Pere as they would on the alley side being that we have a two-one way configuration so we're always looking to enhance and beautify," Boyd said.
Boyd says the new hotel was the perfect opportunity to boost the city's tourism and attract more travelers.
"De Pere has four existing hotels, the surrounding area obviously has many more," Boyd said. "But based on the Green Bay Packers and all that this area has to offer we just thought there was a need for a hotel."
