A vacant office building in West Allis will be torn down to make way for a new 24,000-square-foot community-based residential facility, according to development plans filed with the city.
On Wednesday evening, the West Allis Plan Commission is expected to consider plans for the new facility that would replace the existing two-story office building at 8410 W. Cleveland Ave. The development plans, filed by Caledonia-based Midwest Commercial Funding LLC, call for a three-story building that will have 42-48 beds.
The building’s exterior will consist of modular brick, manufactured wood siding and dark bronze anodized framed windows. Also included will be a wrap-around patio deck for residents.
While the site is currently paved from sidewalk to sidewalk, the development would add a landscape area on the south side of the site along South 84th Street and West Cleveland Avenue.
The project is expected to cost between $4.2 million and $4.5 million.
The new CBRF will be operated by Brookfield-based Platinum Communities, according to a city staff report. The facility will offer traditional assisted-living services to elderly people who are no longer able to safely care for themselves on their own, said Matt Teresinski, co-owner and director of growth and innovation at Platinum Communities.
“West Allis is a community we are very familiar with as the owners of Platinum Communities actually grew up just down the street from where the new (CBRF) community will be built,” Teresinski said in an email. “We see a growing need in the area for a community that offers these services.”
He also noted the site’s proximity to McCarty Park, Aurora West Allis Medical Center and Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center as further reason to locate a CBRF there.
The facility will employ about 30 workers, who will provide resident care 24 hours a day.
City staff recommended the project be approved by Common Council with certain conditions. Necessary approvals include a special use permit as well as site, landscaping and architectural plans.
The proposal comes months after the same development group submitted plans with the city of Milwaukee for a separate senior community on the city’s Lower East Side. That project involves the redevelopment of a vacant six-story office building on North Farwell Avenue into a 65-bed facility.
Beyond that, Platinum Communities owns and operates six other senior living communities in the state. Teresinski said his company is always looking for opportunities to grow, but did not specify other locations where it may potentially expand.
