By Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

HILTON OFFER FALLS THROUGH: A recent offer to buy the Milwaukee River Hilton Inn, 4700 N. Port Washington Road, Glendale, fell through, said Charles Sullivan, general manager.

Sullivan declined to identify the prospective buyer, and wouldn't provide any details on the offer. The 163-room hotel is owned by a partnership led by James Grisebaum, a Houston investor.

The Hilton news surfaced just after an unrelated deal by Sampson Investments to sell the 510-room Grand Milwaukee Hotel, 4747 S. Howell Ave., fell apart.

Construction of the Midwest Express Center convention facility is spurring increased interest in the Milwaukee hotel market, Sullivan said.

In other hotel news, Town of Brookfield officials this week granted conceptual approval for a 136-room extended stay hotel that would be developed by Atlanta-based Homestead Village Inc. on six acres south of Blue Mound Road and west of Brookfield Road.

Also, the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort in Oconomowoc plans to drop the Holiday Inn franchise and return to using its former name: Olympia Resort and Spa. Attempts to sell the resort to Marcus Corp. fell through earlier this year.

Visit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.onwis.com

(c) 1997, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News.