Bay View Church Drops Housing Development Plan
But congregation still must grapple with having a larger-than-needed, aging facility.
Unity Lutheran Church, 1025 E. Oklahoma Ave. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Unity Lutheran Church has abandoned plans to pursue an apartment development on its Bay View property, months after the congregation began publicly exploring a major redevelopment of its aging campus.
The church, 1025 E. Oklahoma Ave., informed neighbors via a letter that its council had pulled a proposal that would have gone before congregation members for a vote Oct. 25.
“We hear you! Thank you for your feedback,” Pastor Kevan Penvose wrote in a Sept. 28 letter to neighbors. “Our church council decided to suspend their motion to our congregation members regarding the development proposal.”
“Unity will not be seeking proposals from any developers for building apartments,” he wrote. “The sanctuary wing of our building will remain a fixture in our neighborhood.”
The decision follows a series of meetings Unity held in September with neighbors and congregation members about the church’s future.
Urban Milwaukee first reported in April that Unity was exploring adding housing to its campus, which includes its sanctuary and an adjoining education wing at 1007-1025 E. Oklahoma Ave.
The proposal was part of a broader effort to improve the congregation’s long-term financial health and expand its ability to serve the neighborhood.
“Council has affirmed and directed the Development Committee to pursue a redevelopment that retains space for the warming center and, if feasible, some amount of housing,” Penvose wrote in the church’s spring newsletter. The church had also reopened discussions with the Bay View Community Center about a potential partnership.
Unity retained Derek Taylor, formerly of Three Leaf Partners and now managing partner of Granite Harbor Capital, as a redevelopment consultant.
The potential project could have resulted in a dramatic transformation of the property. In a fall 2025 newsletter, Penvose said both the education wing and sanctuary could be replaced to accommodate housing, parking and new church space.
That possibility is now off the table, at least as it relates to the sanctuary and an apartment development.
But Unity still faces the underlying issue that prompted the redevelopment discussion: what to do with its aging building.
In his letter, Penvose said the church is considering remodeling the education wing or demolishing it and constructing a new wing.
“Unity is still deciding how to meet the challenges of our aging building in a way that will serve our neighbors,” he wrote.
The congregation now intends to bring neighbors more formally into that discussion. Penvose said the church council expects to form a neighbor advisory board at its October meeting to help shape Unity’s strategic planning process.
“Many of you also expressed support for our mission and offered suggestions for improving our impact upon our neighborhood,” he wrote.
The church is inviting residents with professional expertise, ideas, community connections or other experience to seek a place on the advisory board.
Unity’s sanctuary opened in 1940, replacing an earlier chapel on the property. Its Late Gothic Revival architecture gives the building the appearance of being considerably older. The education wing to the west was added in the 1960s.
Any apartment project also likely would have required a zoning change. The property is zoned RT3, a residential district that does not permit the type of multifamily development Unity was considering.
One element the church previously said it intended to preserve through any redevelopment was its emergency warming center. Unity is authorized to shelter up to 60 people experiencing homelessness for up to 12 hours per day on the first floor of its education wing. The program operates as part of the Milwaukee County Continuum of Care network.
In April, Penvose said redevelopment could provide better space for the church’s food and clothing ministries, warming center and partnerships with other community organizations.
Though the apartment concept is dead, the Sept. 28 letter makes clear Unity’s broader planning process is not.
“We want to partner with you,” Penvose told neighbors. “Our neighbors have amazing talents, including a variety of professional skills, life experiences, ideas and networks.”
Individuals interested in participating are encouraged to either email kevan.penvose@unitymilwaukee.org or call 414-702-2346.
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