Although construction has not yet started on Madison’s soon-to-be renovated Edgewater Hotel, local union workers announced a partnership Monday to work closely with the city and private developers for job creation related to the redevelopment.

Steve Breitlow, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of South Central Wisconsin, announced at a press conference that Madison area trade workers will work with a private developer under a project labor agreement.

Breitlow called the agreement an unprecedented move because of the Edgewater’s status as a community development agreement.

He added the agreement could be a model for future development in Madison.

Hammes Co. President Bob Dunn told local union workers at a press conference Madison gives little emphasis to projects with potential economic development like the Edgewater.

Dunn also called the agreement a new form of partnership that aims to increase workforce development while maintaining safety and sustainability in the new Edgewater hotel.

“In the last few years, unemployment in this area has more then doubled,” Dunn said. “If ever there’s a time when we need to focus on economic development in our community, it’s right now.”

Dunn also cited Wisconsin’s tourism industry as an important motivation for the renovation, saying out-of-state tourism takes non-local money to increase the tax base.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz called the project an important economic step.

After almost all workers at the event raised their hands after being asked to do so if they or someone they knew was unemployed, Cieslewicz assured them jobs would be created and maintained because of the new project and the agreement.

He also said Ald. Bridget Maniaci, District 2, will likely face a tough challenge in April 2011’s election as a result of her controversial support of the Edgewater project.

Maniaci could face former Alder Brenda Konkel, who she defeated in a close 2009 election. When describing obstacles the project still faces, Cieslewicz downplayed opposition to the redevelopment as it nears commencement.

“We’ve got another little issue involving one of the neighbors who lives down the street,” Cieslewicz said.

Opposition to the project throughout its approval process extended beyond the neighborhood however; many Mansion Hill neighborhood residents criticized the project for being too tall and not consistent with the historic nature of the district.

Additionally, Madison Metropolitan School Board member Lucy Mathiak told the city council at the May meeting held to approve the Edgewater project that the Tax Increment Financing district would take money away from Madison schools, which she said were suffering a high poverty rate and declining financial assistance.

At Monday’s Board of Estimates meeting later that evening, city officials voted to change the TIF district, one of the last hurdles Cieslewicz said was remaining in the project before construction begins.

The TIF resolution passed in a 4-3 vote, which required a tiebreak from Cieslewicz, who serves as the board’s chair.

– Ashley Toy contributed to this report