County Selects Developer To Buy Medical Examiner Building
But many questions remain regarding development of downtown property.
Milwaukee County Medical Examiner, 933 W. Highland Ave. Photo by Dave Reid.
Milwaukee County has selected developer Zuwena Cotton to purchase and redevelop the former Office of the Medical Examiner building downtown.
The Department of Administrative Services issued a notice of intent to award the property, 933 W. Highland Ave., to Cotton’s BBE Investments and Development.
The one-page notice, dated Aug. 5, does not reveal the proposed purchase price, development concept or anticipated timeline. Cotton did not respond to a request for comment.
The selection is not necessarily the final step in the process. Unsuccessful bidders may protest the county’s decision under its procurement ordinances. The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors does not need to approve the sale.
Cotton’s selection could give her control of much of the former St. Anthony Hospital complex. In 2024, Cotton purchased the neighboring St. Anthony’s Apartments, 1004 N. 10th St., for $1.7 million.
The apartment building and former medical examiner’s office were originally part of the same hospital complex, which opened in 1931. The buildings were divided in 1989, when Milwaukee County moved the medical examiner into the northern portion of the property along W. Highland Avenue.
St. Anthony’s Apartments opened in 2018 following the conversion of the former hospital’s southern portion into 63 apartments for people who had experienced homelessness.
Cotton acquired the apartment building out of receivership following a period of operational and financial turmoil. Its former operator, Chicago-based Heartland Housing, walked away from its portfolio in 2023. The building had faced falling rent collections, failed inspections, security problems and rising police calls.
Cotton said at the time of the acquisition that the property would continue providing supportive housing, with an increased focus on formerly incarcerated residents.
The former medical examiner property contains a one-story, approximately 58,000-square-foot building on a 1.07-acre parcel. The property is located across Highland Avenue from The Brewery District and a block north of the Milwaukee County Jail and criminal justice complex.
The county began marketing the property in March, seeking proposals that included high-density or affordable housing and demonstrated strong architectural design, financial feasibility, equity and inclusion, and consistency with the city’s Downtown Area Plan.
The solicitation was launched as the medical examiner prepared to move to the new Forensic Science and Protective Medicine Facility at the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center in Wauwatosa.
The four-story, 212,000-square-foot facility was developed jointly by Milwaukee County and the State of Wisconsin. It will house the medical examiner, the county’s Office of Emergency Management and the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Milwaukee Crime Laboratory.
The county is financing approximately $127 million of the $233 million facility through a combination of federal pandemic relief funding, cash and county-issued debt.
The Highland Avenue building was never designed specifically for medical examiner operations. The aging facility had long been viewed as inadequate for conducting autopsies, storing bodies and recruiting forensic pathologists.
Cotton is also pursuing a redevelopment on Historic Mitchell Street.
BBE plans to create 25 studio and one-bedroom apartments on the second floor of the historic commercial building at 1101-1113 W. Historic Mitchell St. The first floor would continue to house commercial and community-serving tenants, including Cesame Street Child Development Center and IMAN Community Health Center.
The $9.5 million project is expected to use historic preservation tax credits, state housing loans and a $480,000 developer-financed tax incremental financing subsidy from the city.
Cotton previously pursued larger affordable housing proposals for the property before scaling back the project because of rising construction costs and financing gaps. She has described the current plan as a “right-sized” approach.
Construction on the Mitchell Street project is expected to begin in September and be completed in late 2027.
The development team includes Que El-Amin of Scott Crawford Inc., Khalek Building Services and Continuum Architects + Planners.
Milwaukee County’s selection of BBE comes as it prepares to dispose of another major downtown property.
The county issued a request for proposals Aug. 1 for the Milwaukee Public Museum complex at 800 W. Wells St. The 3.7-acre site is expected to become available after the museum moves to the new Nature and Culture Museum of Wisconsin, under construction at 1310 N. 6th St.
Proposals for the museum property are due Oct. 12.
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