The Board of Zoning Appeals on Thursday approved plans for a $60 million private K-12 school to be constructed on Milwaukee’s south side.
The school, St. Augustin Preparatory Academy, is the philanthropic project of Gus Ramirez, executive chairman of Waukesha-based HUSCO International Inc., and his foundation, the Ramirez Family Foundation.
BOZA approved space for the 250,000-square-foot school, to be located at South 6th Street and West Harrison Avenue, but did not approve outside athletic fields on the property.
Ramirez has a very “ambitious” design for the outside athletic fields, he said, that will require some properties to be rezoned and some streets vacated.
To accommodate the athletic fields, Ramirez has a contract to purchase a piece of property covering more than two acres from Bird Ladd & Equipment Co. Inc. The property is contiguous to the property that will hold the school, according to Ramirez, and will be part of the soccer fields and potentially green space and parking. The transaction will close in December. Ramirez declined to comment on the purchase price.
After success with BOZA, Ramirez will seek approval from the Public Works Committee at the end of September and, if successful there, will then seek approval from the Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee by the end of the year.
Ramirez anticipates breaking ground in February 2016 to start foundation work on the school project. The real construction work will get underway in April or May, with a goal to open in 2017.
Ramirez said he was “excited” to win the support of BOZA but added that he also fully expected it. He turned to BOZA after the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee declined to review his proposal earlier this year.
“This was absolutely the best way,” Ramirez said of his decision to turn to BOZA.
His project has been met with criticism from some neighborhood constituents who worry that the school will pull students and dollars from Milwaukee Public Schools.
Alderman Tony Zielinski, of Milwaukee’s 14th district, has long insisted that the best use for the school property would be an indoor soccer facility to cater to area youth and deter them from troublesome activities.
Of BOZA’s approval for Ramirez’s plans, he said he respects the democratic process and the way the school proponents carried themselves – with “honor and integrity.”
Even after receiving criticism, Ramirez said he has always been confident that his school plans would become a reality.
“We have always been extremely confident,” he said. “We didn’t get to be the company we are by shying away from challenges.”
