Cudahy to donate $2 million for UWM Innovation Park project

Milwaukee-area philanthropist Michael Cudahy has agreed to donate $2 million to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in the university’s efforts to purchase an 82-acre parcel on the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa.
UWM wants to develop a new engineering campus and a research park/business incubator on the parcel that is northeast of U.S. Highway 45 and Watertown Plank Road.
The university has also secured another $1 million donation for the project, from a Milwaukee-area foundation that it expects to finalize this week, said Theo Lipscomb, acting chair of the Milwaukee County Board’s Committee on Economic and Community Development and District 1 supervisor. The university did not name the donor.
UWM was granted another 30 day extension today on its planned land purchase by the committee. The university is set to pay $13.5 million for the parcel. It will pay $5 million upfront, $5 million one year later, and the balance the following year.
University officials told Milwaukee County officials they were confident they would be able to raise the $5 million in time to close UWM’s purchase in December.
“They were confident that they had a series of smaller, softer commitments that they believe they can convert into cash,” Lipscomb said.
The university and county have been in negotiations about the potential purchase for several years, and UWM has recently asked for extensions to raise the $5 million upfront cost for the property.