Milwaukee County officials are looking for a new location for the County Medical Examiner’s Office. If the office is moved, the county would likely sell the current office at 933 W. Highland Ave. in downtown Milwaukee. Relocating the office would enable the county to take advantage of the rising value of the downtown property, which is in a prime location, said County Supervisor Paul Cesarz, who is leading the search for a new site.
"The current building is in need of renovation and does not have enough space to meet the medical examiner’s needs," Cesarz said. "I’m looking to relocate this office to a new site, perhaps on or near the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa. A new facility or location would likely provide lower costs per square
foot."
The coroner’s building is located on the south side of Highland Avenue, just across the street from the former Pabst brewery, which is being redeveloped by Joseph Zilber, founder of Zilber Ltd., into a mixed-use urban neighborhood of residences, stores, restaurants and office space. "We would be interested (in buying the current coroner’s office site)," said Mike Mervis, Zilber’s assistant. "Everything that surrounds the Pabst is of interest." Whomever buys the medical examiner’s property is probably going to wait until the Pabst brewery redevelopment is complete before redeveloping the site, Mervis said.
"I think it has potential when and if the Pabst is fully developed," Mervis said. "It has potential five, six or seven years from now. If anybody purchases it, it would be something they would want to hold and wait until the Pabst develops. It would be a significant holding investment."
The county board recently passed a resolution that directs the Economic Development Division of the Department of Administrative Services to conduct a search and work with the medical examiner to review all potential locations, including existing county-owned buildings.
The county is looking for about 50,000 square feet of space for the new medical examiner’s office, said county board spokesman Harold Mester. County officials will review all potential locations for the office, but would prefer a county-owned building because then they will not have to buy a building, he said. Selling the current medical examiner’s building would provide revenue for the county to find and improve a new space.
County officials are interested in moving the office to the County Grounds because that location could enable the office to pursue laboratory service contracts with other governmental agencies. "Moving the office could provide a more central location with easier access to the state Department of Justice Crime Lab and the Medical College of Wisconsin," said Supervisor Gerry Broderick.
The county is still in the process of selling, piece by piece, the land it owns in the Park East Freeway corridor. The county is issuing requests for proposals (RFPs) for each block of land it owns in the corridor and selling the property to developers. The county board adopted the Park East Redevelopment Compact (PERC) for the process of selling that land. The PERC requires developers to pay union-scale wages for construction projects on the county-owned land in the Park East corridor. In addition, the PERC indicates that developers that hire local employees, provide job training or create green space would be more likely to be selected.
Some developers have criticized the PERC, saying it will discourage development. So far, construction has yet to begin on any of the county owned properties in the Park East corridor.
Since the current medical examiner’s office also is a prime piece of downtown real estate, located about four blocks from the Park East corridor, county supervisors may decide to require similar community benefits from developers who want to purchase the medical examiner’s office site. "I know there are several board members that would push for that," Mester said. "I wouldn’t be surprised. I think there’s a good likelihood of that."
