Apartments? Offices? Nope. This major Milwaukee development award goes to a central city school

The winner of a Milwaukee area commercial real estate group's top development award for 2018 isn't an upscale apartment building or a flashy new office project.

Instead, it's a renovated, expanded school located in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. 

The school, Cross Trainers Academy, is operated by the Milwaukee Rescue Mission at 1530 W. Center St.

The academy, part of the voucher-based Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, opened in 2006 at the mission's main campus, 830 N. 19th St. The mission provides shelters, meals, child care and other services.

The school started with students in kindergarten, first and second grades before expanding through eighth grade, and moving in 2015 to the Center Street campus. 

That relocation gave Cross Trainers Academy room to add high school grades — an important part of its mission of serving low-income children, especially those who are homeless, said Patrick Vanderburgh, Milwaukee Rescue Mission president.

By including a high school, Cross Trainers Academy can better equip students for the challenge of going to college and obtaining family-supporting jobs, he said.

"That's the grand mission for the school," Vanderburgh said.

The academy's high school formed a partnership with Milwaukee Area Technical College.

Students in this year's senior class — the academy's first — are attending MATC courses in the morning and taking academy classes in the afternoon, Vanderburgh said.

Cross Trainers Academy's students, ranging from kindergarten to high school, are in a building that totals about 100,000 square feet.

That compares with 40,000 square feet before the campus was remodeled and expanded to accommodate up to 550 students, Vanderburgh said.

The school has about 350 students, up from 150 when the academy moved to the Center Street campus in 2015, he said. 

School sees rapid growth

Milwaukee Rescue Mission that year bought two buildings, which were constructed in 2003 and 2007 for the Academy of Learning and Leadership, a charter school. One of those buildings was attached to the LaVarnway Boys & Girls Club branch, 2739 N. 15th St.

The Academy of Learning and Leadership, an independent charter school, grew rapidly to over 400 students in 2007. But it had some of the lowest test scores in the city, and closed after losing its city charter in 2010.

Despite the charter school's failure, its buildings were well-constructed and properly maintained, Vanderburgh said.

The redevelopment of the vacant campus to accommodate Cross Trainers Academy first involved a 2017 addition to one of the buildings.

That created space for more vocational classes, Vanderburgh said.

But most of the work started in late May, just after the past school year ended, and was completed in time for the current school year.

"It was really pedal-to-the-metal all summer," Vanderburgh said. 

That work included constructing a large connector between the two buildings. There were also extensive renovations.

The result was new classrooms, new administrative space, a new gymnasium and a new student commons/lunch room.

Vanderburgh praised the project's architect, Plunkett Raysich Architects LLP, and the general contractor, Catalyst Construction LLC.

"Their work was outstanding," he said.

'Put together our puzzle'

The Cross Trainers Academy expansion project included buying five vacant lots from the city on the block bordered by West Center, West Hadley, North 15th and North 16th streets.

The city-owned properties, combined with several other parcels bought from private owners, were used to "put together our puzzle" by creating parking lots and outdoor play areas for the academy's campus, Vanderburgh said.

Meanwhile, the academy agreed with the Boys and Girls Club to take ownership of the LaVarnway space and lease it back to the club for five years, he said.

That gives club executives flexibility to consider whether to continue operating the aging LaVarnway facility, Vanderburgh said.

Including property acquisition costs, the Cross Trainers Academy project budget totaled $19 million.

Milwaukee Rescue Mission financed the development in part with $6 million in capital reserves.

"We have a considerable amount of skin in the game," Vanderburgh said.

Around $4 million was raised through federal New Markets Tax Credits, which help finance developments in poor neighborhoods.

The remaining $9 million was raised through donations, Vanderburgh said. That campaign is still raising the final $1.4 million, he said.

The Cross Trainers Academy project was recently named the development deal of the year in the Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin's 2018 Deal of the Year Awards.

The contest judges were impressed with how the real estate brokers involved in the project worked with Milwaukee Rescue Mission to expand services in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods, said Tracy Johnson, association president and chief executive officer.

The brokers named in the award were Kevin Riordan, Nathan Powers and Kristian Sydow, all of Cushman & Wakefield/Boerke Co.

The runner-up in the competition's development category was Arrabelle apartments, which are under construction in Cedarburg. 

Vantage on the Park, the conversion of downtown Milwaukee's former Park East Hotel into apartments, was a finalist.

Also nominated was A. O. Smith Corp.'s research and development center, which recently opened on the city's northwest side.

Meanwhile, Cross Trainers Academy continues its growth — part of the Milwaukee Rescue Mission's 125-year history.

"From day one, we've been serving children," Vanderburgh said.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.