Details Revealed for Downtown Property Redevelopment
Medical Examiner building would be demolished under proposal.
Milwaukee County Medical Examiner, 933 W. Highland Ave. Photo by Dave Reid.
A seven-story, 154-unit apartment building is proposed for the former Milwaukee County Medical Examiner property downtown, revealing the first details of a redevelopment plan selected by county officials last week.
Developers Zuwena Cotton and Que El-Amin are proposing a $45.6 million development called The Imara for the 1.07-acre property at 933 W. Highland Ave.
The project would replace the one-story, approximately 58,000-square-foot medical examiner building with apartments ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, according to Milwaukee County.
The apartments would target households earning between 60% and 100% of the Milwaukee-area median income, a range that covers the top end of low-income housing tax credits and the low end of the city’s workforce housing subsidy focus.
The development would also include 122 parking spaces and ground-floor commercial and community space. Planned amenities include a courtyard with an outdoor kitchen, patio and dog park.
Cotton’s BBE Investments and Development and El-Amin’s Scott Crawford Inc. are partnering on the proposal.
The developers have offered $500,000 for the county-owned property. Milwaukee County will now negotiate an option to purchase the site with the development team, a process expected to take several weeks.
The Department of Administrative Services issued a notice of intent to award the property to BBE on Aug. 5, but the one-page notice did not disclose the purchase offer or details of the proposed development.
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 has not responded to Urban Milwaukee’s request for comment.
The project would substantially expand Cotton’s holdings.
In 2024, Cotton purchased the neighboring St. Anthony’s Apartments, 1004 N. 10th St., for $1.7 million. The property is now known as Historic 10th Street Residences.
The apartment building and former medical examiner’s office were originally part of the same St. Anthony Hospital complex, which opened in 1931. The properties were divided in 1989, when Milwaukee County moved the medical examiner into the northern portion of the complex along W. Highland Avenue.
The southern portion was eventually converted into 63 apartments for people who had experienced homelessness, opening as St. Anthony’s Apartments in 2018.
Cotton acquired that 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 Milwaukee property had faced falling rent collections, failed inspections, security concerns and rising police calls.
Cotton said at the time of the acquisition that it would continue providing supportive housing, with an increased emphasis on formerly incarcerated residents.
The proposed Imara development would sit across Highland Avenue from The Brewery District and a block north of the Milwaukee County Jail and criminal justice complex.
Milwaukee 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 leave the aging Highland Avenue facility for 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 and had long been considered inadequate for conducting autopsies, storing bodies and recruiting forensic pathologists.
The Imara would mark another collaboration between Cotton and El-Amin.
The pair are also part of the development team pursuing a $9.5 million 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.
Cotton previously pursued larger affordable housing proposals for the Mitchell Street 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. Its development team also includes Khalek Building Services and Continuum Architects + Planners.
El-Amin’s Scott Crawford Inc. is separately involved in the planned conversion of a building at 419 W. Vliet St. into a 60-room TRYP by Wyndham hotel. He was also a partner on The Community Within The Corridor development and several other affordable housing developments.
Milwaukee County’s effort to sell the medical examiner property 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.
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