Zoning board approves private college near Park East corridor

The city of Milwaukee’s Board of Zoning Appeals last week approved a special use permit for an Everest College campus in the Haymarket Square project.
Everest College is a private college owned and operated by Santa Ana, Calif.-based Corinthian Colleges Inc.,
The Everest College campus will be the anchor for the 5-acre, $16 million Haymarket Square redevelopment project at the northwest corner of 6th Street and McKinley Avenue along the Park East corridor in downtown Milwaukee. The college will occupy the entire first floor of the 2-story, 67,500-square-foot former Journal Sentinel garage building on the site.
Corinthian Colleges has about 93,000 students in about 90 schools in the U.S. and about 20 schools in Ontario.
Some city officials expressed concern about the company’s business practices. But college officials said they would provide a benefit to the community.
“We look forward to being part of the Milwaukee community and bringing another educational option to students,” said Mark Sullivan, president of the Everest College Milwaukee campus. “We are also pleased to bring additional jobs to the area, and we hope our presence will spark further downtown development. We look forward to reaching out to and working with all of our neighbors and community leaders to build positive relationships and live up to Everest’s role as a quality educational institution.”
The developer for the Haymarket Square project, Dan Druml, has been granted $11 million in tax exempt bonds by the city’s Redevelopment Authority.