Politicians Get Close Look at Coggs Center Construction

Engberg Anderson partner Bill Robison explains details about the new Coggs Center to Mayor Cavalier Johnson, County Board Chair Marcelia Nicholson, Congresswoman Gwen Moore and County Executive David Crowley. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A group of city, state and federal politicians put Milwaukee County’s “No Wrong Door” policy to a physical test Friday afternoon.

Led by County Executive David Crowley, officials got a hard hat tour of the new Coggs Center, which is being designed from the ground up to embody the county’s No Wrong Door strategy of linking residents with the services they need.

The $42 million project, 1230 W. Cherry St., is being funded with $32.3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, the genesis of Friday’s tour with Tom Perez, senior advisor to President Joe Biden and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

“We’re making sure that every person that walks in here, that we treat them with dignity and we treat them with respect, that we wrap services around them no matter if it’s a child, no matter if it’s an older adult, no matter if it’s an individual with disabilities, this will be the place that we will deliver health and human services,” said Department of Health and Human Services Director Shakita LaGrant-McClain.

Perez praised city and county officials for being good stewards of the ARPA funds, which were distributed directly to cities and counties and offered substantial flexibility. “It was a relationship of trust,” said Perez. And it was one praised by Crowley, Board Chair Marcelia Nicholson, Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Congresswoman Gwen Moore.

In addition to the Coggs Center, which will replace the existing facility that is located in an oversized former department store a block south, the county and city are investing resources in building 120 homes in the surrounding area primarily for owner occupants. The former Coggs Center is to be redeveloped as a 65-unit affordable apartment complex.

NourishMKE, formerly Friedens Food Pantries, will relocate its food pantry from the existing building to an 8,000-square-foot space in the new four-story, 60,000-square-foot building.  Executive Director Valerie MacMillan said it would be the first time the organization gets to occupy a purpose-built space in a new building, with county officials highlighting the alignment of features like loading docks and staff space.

“This project is more than a new building,” said Nicholson. “This investment proves our commitment to the King Park neighborhood.”

“This effort represents an unprecedented economic development opportunity right here in the King Park neighborhood,” said Crowley.

“So many things about this project are in 100% alignment with the values and goals of the Biden-Harris administration,” said Perez. He praised the county for having a deliberate focus on equity, for using data to locate the facility and others close to those that need them and for contracting requirements that require local workers and union labor. “The president, vice president and I, as your former labor secretary [2013-2017], firmly believe that when unions succeed, America succeeds, and when unions succeed, the middle class succeeds. We are in the throes right now of an unprecedented scale and scope of investment in the greater Milwaukee area. “And the reason we feel so confident at the White House about our investments is the people behind us and the community leaders who’ve been engaged.”

The event, one of several Perez has made in Milwaukee in recent months, also served as a not-so-subtle campaign stop. Perez never appeared to commit a political act that would violate the Hatch Act, but he did mention Biden or Harris dozens of times and noted how Harris provided the deciding vote on adopting the Inflation Reduction Act, which is funding several Milwaukee area projects.

“Today’s project is just another example of the long lasting improvements that this administration, this, these leaders in Washington, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris have provided to our community,” said Johnson.

The new building will retain the name of the current structure, the Marcia P. Coggs Human Services Center. A solar array on its roof will provide much of its power.

Coggs was a legislative trailblazer. In 1977, Coggs became the first African American woman elected to the Wisconsin State Legislature. Later she became the first African American to serve on the Joint Committee on Finance, the Legislature’s most powerful committee. She passed away in 2003 at the age of 75.

Moore, who decades ago lived near the site, praised her late friend and mentor. “When I first got elected to the State Legislature, I had no money and Marcia Coggs drove me back and forth to Madison,” said Moore. “This is such an honor and tribute to her legacy because all she cared about was human services and giving back to the most vulnerable in our community.”

The new building was set in motion in large part by a decision made by the State of Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services relocated in 2022 to leased space several miles northwest at 6055 N. 64th St., depriving the county of revenue to sustain the building. The state, which used the space to provide FoodShare and BadgerCare benefits, said it was relocating to be closer to program users. A 2021 county administration report concluded that the county should sell the Coggs Center, as it was becoming a financial liability due to deferred maintenance and the then-looming loss of the state agency.

The building was a department store until 1961, when it was purchased by the county for its Department of Welfare. It was renamed after Marcia P. Coggs in 2003.

There have already been other changes to the cluster of county-owned lots at W. Vliet and N. 12th streets. In 2022, the northern tip of the Coggs Center property, previously used for parking, was redeveloped into a home for the Milwaukee County Mental Health Emergency Center.

The new Coggs Center is being designed by Engberg Anderson Architects. JP Cullen is the leading general contractor.

The new building is expected to open in spring 2025. You can monitor the progress on the construction live cam.

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Rendering

Vliet Street Coggs Center

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