Construction Moving Along at St. Rita Square in Milwaukee

Apartments aren’t the only thing planned. In exchange for acquiring the site for $1, Tarantino’s firm will construct a new church and sell it back to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for $1. The new church, designed to reflect the long-gone Blessed Virgin of Pompeii church in the Historic Third Ward, will be utilized by the Three Holy Women parish led by Reverend Tim Kitzke.

While facade installation is months away, Ald. Nik Kovac isn’t pleased with how the developer attempted to “value engineer” the building. The project is subject to a Detailed Planned Development zoning package, requiring legislative approval for even minor design changes to the building’s exterior.

“This was a whole lot worse. They really tried to value engineer this thing. To allow what I would argue was a bait and switch,” Kovac said at a City Plan Commission hearing in early December, referencing how Tarantino had tried to modify the project. “Had I known that I probably would have taken a different stance on this building.”

Kovac was specifically taking issue with the developer’s attempt to substantially increase the use of EIFS, an acronym for exterior insulation finishing system. The material, derided as “styrofoam,” is commonly associated with big box stores and fast food restaurants. EIFS is both cheaper and lighter than other options, and generally discouraged by the Department of City Development because of concerns about how it ages.

full article at Urban Milwaukee

JS: Milwaukee's St. Rita Church to be torn down, replaced with senior housing development, new worship space

An east side Milwaukee church would be demolished and replaced with a new building that would provide senior housing, as well as worship space, under terms of a new proposal.

St. Rita Catholic Church, 1601 N. Cass St., would be purchased by developer James Tarantino, according to a $20 million proposal announced Monday.

Tarantino, who operates Tarantino & Co. and Capri Senior Communities, plans to develop St. Rita's Square, a six-story building that would feature 103 apartments for older people, according to a statement from the firm.

The development also would provide a new church, to be connected by a walkway to the apartment building. Three Holy Women Parish, which includes St. Rita, would buy the church for $1, according to the statement.

The new St. Rita church "will blend that church’s rich history with that of its predecessor, the Blessed Virgin of Pompeii, which served as the religious, social and cultural center of Milwaukee’s Italian-American community until it was demolished to make way for freeway construction in 1967," according to the statement.

continue at JS

That's a pretty interesting idea, to do some kind of combo building project and then put a chapel in.