Lutheran Living Services is planning an expansion of its Lutheran Home facility in Wauwatosa that includes replacing eight homes along West Meinecke Avenue with 72 memory care units.
The proposed project would add a one-story “connector building” to the existing Lutheran Home building at 7500 W. North Ave.
The building would be attached to a two-story, 48-unit memory care building at the corner of West Meinecke Avenue and North 74th Street and a one-story, 24-unit memory care building bordered by Meinecke and the existing parking lot along West Wauwatosa Avenue, according to plans submitted to the city.
Additional parking is also proposed. The project would add 1.5 acres to Lutheran Home’s 6.9 acre site.
Lutheran Living Services owns the residential properties, located at 7529 through 7421 W. Meinecke Ave. between North Wauwatosa Avenue and North 74th Street, and currently uses the homes for rental income.
The company has been purchasing the properties as they have become available since 1990, said Renee Bowerman, Lutheran Living Services spokesperson.
If the project moves forward, the renters would have to be relocated and the homes would be demolished.
The city plan commission will review the proposal on Dec. 11. Lutheran Living Services would like to begin construction in summer 2018.
Lutheran Home currently has 40 rooms dedicated to memory care assisted living and a lengthy waiting list of people who would like rooms, according to plans submitted to the city.
“With the new project, all (memory care) residents will be a part of the new community that is designed specifically for this population,” the plan states.
Lutheran Living Services operates two facilities in Wauwatosa, the Lutheran Home campus and Harwood Place, 8220 Harwood Ave., which is primarily for independent living. The company has more than 500 employees.
Lutheran Living Services completed a $750,000 renovation project at Lutheran Home in 2015 that included complete demolition and renovation of the chapel area and Hardt Hall, which is used as a main floor multi-purpose and activity area.
