Hammes Co.’s odyssey searching for approval to redevelop Madison’s Edgewater Hotel came to an end in the early hours of Wednesday morning when the City Council voted to approve plans to redevelop the hotel.

After over a year of planning, changes in design and resilient opposition to the plan from residents of the Mansion Hill neighborhood, the council’s decision came as a major victory for Hammes.

The council voted on five proposals ranging from the adoption of a resolution to change the zoning of the hotel to a Planned Unit Development, to approve the Plan Commission’s recommendation of the project to assisting the project’s funding through a Tax Increment Finance district.

As currently approved, the new Edgewater will include a renovation of the old hotel tower and a new tower on the opposite side of a terrace which would be open for public use. Hammes Co. President Bob Dunn and other Hammes developers have repeatedly stated they hope the new terrace will rise to the same civic prominence as Monona Terrace or the Memorial Union Terrace.

Members of the council began hearing public debate on the plan when the meeting began at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday until Wednesday morning. There were 78 area residents registered to comment on the project.

Council members debated the proposal until 7:30 a.m. this morning, forcing Ald. Julia Kerr, District 13, to return home to wake her daughter for Wednesday’s school bus.

Dunn presented his final arguments in support of the redevelopment to the council in the early evening. He urged the council to vote with the best interests of the city in mind.

“If you read the language, what rises to the surface is that these 3 ordinances ultimately talk about community, economic development, growth and the future,” Hammes told the council. “I have not done a project that will have the positive impact this one will have for Madison over the next several decades.”

Former Green Bay Packers CEO and Hammes Co. customer Bob Harlan was also present at the meeting to share his positive experiences with Hammes in the redevelopment of Lambeau Field.

Gene Devitt, a Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc. member who has vehemently voiced his opposition to the project in the past, said the proposal could create noise issues in addition to violating the city’s zoning code and creating a disruption to the neighborhood’s historic character.

Fred Mohs, another vocal opponent to the proposal, said the city could deny the project and restart the process with another developer in the future.

“A rundown hotel is not something that’s totally a big emergency around here,” Mohs said.

Comment on the project was not limited to a debate between Dunn and Mansion Hill residents opposed to the project. University of Wisconsin Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities and Planning Management Alan Fish told the council UW supports the project and the visitors it could attract to the campus.

Fish said the public access combined with the hotel access and its ability to engage the Lake Mendota lakefront were primary reasons for UW’s support. Steve Lawrence, a recent UW graduate and Langdon St. resident who said he denied requests to go out to bars Tuesday night in order to testify, said he strongly supported the project.

Lawrence said the Edgewater could rank among iconic city landmarks such as the Capitol and greatly improve the Madison skyline.

“One of my favorite things about this city is its public spaces,” Lawrence said. “These are the spaces that define us as a city and really define who we are.”

Hammes Co.’s recently controversial request for a Tax Increment Financing district to help fund the redevelopment hit a speed bump near the end of public comment when Madison residents ranging from hotel managers to school board members voiced their opposition to the city contributing $16 million in taxpayer funds to the project.

Board of Education member Lucy Mathiak said the current state of statewide and federal education funding has caused a budget crunch in the Madison public schools, some of which have poverty rates of over 90 percent, she said.

Mathiak said the TIF would have implications for the entire city of Madison and would affect city-wide tax funding for the district which has been a victim of the statewide and federal cuts.

More schoolchildren are coming to school hungry or with a greater need for health services, and the Edgewater TIF would prevent city money from funding public schools, Mathiak said.

“The issue in this case is that we are in a situation where well over two decades of decisions at the state and federal level have eroded financial support of public education,” Mathiak told the council. “By keeping the TIF open, residual funds will not go to the schools, they’ll go to Edgewater instead.”

The TIF proposal passed with twelve votes, but the city will soon consider a major amendment to the TIF proposed by Ald. Brian Solomon, District 10.

The amendment would set goals for living wages for minority and limited income trade workers. Solomon urged the council to pass his amendment with the TIF because of the positive social benefits he said it would have added to the proposal.

“If we pass this today [our constituents] will all feel ten times better,” Solomon said. “The reason they don’t want to give $16 million is because they don’t think there’s enough public benefit to justify what they call a handout”.

However, the council decided to file Solomon’s amendment for further development at future council meetings.