In a part of Milwaukee where development has often lagged, four major projects – ranging from affordable housing to emergency mental health services – within three blocks of each other are nearing construction or recently completed, marking nearly $100 million in investment.
Situated on a hill overlooking downtown Milwaukee near the high-visibility intersection of I-43 and West Fond du Lac Avenue, the area for many years was occupied by a sprawling surface parking lot.
In June, Milwaukee County opened the new Marcia P. Coggs Health and Human Services Center, a $32 million project at 1230 W. Cherry St., replacing the aging Coggs building a block away. The new 60,000-square-foot facility includes behavioral health support, child and family services, veteran’s assistance, housing and energy programs, youth wraparound services and an on-site food pantry.
Unlike its predecessor, a repurposed department store, the new building was designed around a central service desk, with departments coming to clients, according to Bill Robinson, president of Milwaukee-based Engberg Anderson, the architect on the project.
Next door, at 1525 N. 12th St., the $18 million Mental Health Emergency Center opened in 2022, offering 24/7 care and crisis stabilization.
A long-term vision
Ald. Russell Stamper, whose district encompasses the area, said the clustering of social service facilities in this central location was the result of a long-term vision for revitalization.
“My goal is to help people in every aspect and any service that they need,” Stamper said. “We’re building a mini neighborhood all for health, social services. So, to me, it’s a positive and that’s something my district desperately needs. …It took us a long time to get here, but we are here.”
Stamper said he sees these anchor developments as catalysts for broader economic renewal. Working with partners like Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, the city and county have already begun the development of 120 new homes on vacant lots in the nearby King Park and Midtown neighborhoods, which Stamper wants to see continue and also bring in more retail and restaurants to the area.
“That is a strategic area,” Stamper said. “We’re in it for the long run.”
As the new Coggs Center begins operations, the former Coggs building – a three-story, 212,000-square-foot facility originally built in 1910 as a Schuster’s department store – will get new life. Milwaukee County selected Oregon, Wisconsin-based Gorman & Co. to redevelop it into 62 affordable apartments and a 19,000-square-foot mental health clinic on the ground floor.
According to Ted Matkom, Wisconsin market president, Gorman expects to close on the project by the end of this year and wrap up construction by mid-2027.
A rendering of NeuVue, a mixed-use development planned for a vacant lot next to the new Coggs Center. Credit: Engberg Anderson Architects
Neu-Life project to add housing, workforce and creative space
Planned for a vacant lot next to the new Coggs Center is NeuVue, a six-story, 106,000-square-foot mixed-use development planned by local nonprofit Neu-Life Community Development. The building will rise directly next to the new Coggs Center, on land that Neu-Life has used as a garden.
The project will include three major components: housing, programming space and community space. The housing component will include 36 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment units that will be split availability for Neu-Life employees and other young professionals between ages 18 to 24.
About 64% of Neu-Life’s staff members have been through its youth programming, executive director Jody Rhodes said, and these hires are intentional. For many young people, including those working with Neu-Life, affordable housing is a need that the organization wants to address with NeuVue.
The building is to include a 2,600-square-foot commercial kitchen for its culinary arts program, a Notes for Notes recording studio, a 4,800-square-foot gymnasium with a basketball court,15,000 square feet of office and commercial space and a 9,500-square-foot event space and rooftop terrace.
With an estimated price tag of $16.2 million, Neu-Life has raised about half of that money. Keith Mardak and Mary Vandenberg, former executives of Hal Leonard Corp., recently committed a $3 million gift as a match challenge to accelerate fundraising, of which $2.5 million is remaining. If Neu-Life raises that money, construction will begin by the end of the year.
Engberg Anderson is also leading design of NeuVue, which draws on Neu-Life’s visual identity and the high-visibility nature of the site.
“It was very intentional that the aesthetic echoes the programming,” said principal Tim Wolosz. “So, the primary colors of the apertures are taken directly from Neu-Life’s brand identity. They knew, given the prominence of this site that you’re going to see it pretty prominently. The intent was that it self-promotes.”
For Neu-Life, which has been planning this project since around 2017, the new neighbors with the Coggs Center and MHEC bring an opportunity to enhance their services, leaders said.
“We can do what we should do as a community to strengthen the youth,” said Joann Harris-Comodore, CEO of Neu-Life. “When we bring these services together, we can do that. We can refer and collaborate with each other and provide the best possible service.”
Bringing more life to an under-invested part of the city was also a goal for Engberg Anderson.
“One thing we’re passionate about as a group is the rebuilding of Milwaukee and having a social impact in a positive way,” Wolosz said. “We do feel a commitment and obligation to improve and build the city that we founded the firm in.”
