Board approves Mental Health Complex sale

The Milwaukee County Mental Health Board approved the sale of the Mental Health Complex and its land to members of the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center on Thursday.

The transaction is expected

to close by the end of March.

The deal comes as the county seeks to redesign its mental healthcare system and plans to outsource its inpatient care to Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services, which is building a psychiatric hospital in West Allis.

Two buildings at the complex, one focused on children’s adolescent treatment and the other a day hospital, are already vacant as part of a county effort to reduce its footprint.

The county’s Behavioral Health Division has set a goal to move all operations out of the remaining building by the end of 2022.

“The idea is to vacate underutilized, costly and inefficient buildings,” Aaron Hertzberg, Milwaukee County director of economic development, told board members. “We want to support the BHD vision, the Mental Health Board vision for a community-based service model.”

MRMC Land Bank, an entity comprised of Children’s Wisconsin, Froedtert Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin, is purchasing the roughly 40-acre property.

Bob Simi, Milwaukee Regional Medical Center executive director, said in a statement that they worked with the county to develop a transfer of land that will be “mutually beneficial for all entities.”

He said the transfer would relieve the county of long-term costs and liabilities associated with land ownership and allow campus members to “continue growing a healthy, vibrant medical campus that employs thousands and provides top-notch healthcare to this region.”

MRMC Land Bank will lease back operating facilities to the county for use by the Behavioral Health Division, and the agreement includes renewals to ensure that operations continue at the current location until the transition of services finishes.

No imminent plans exist for the property, Simi noted. Vacant buildings will be demolished.

Future use will support healthcare, health education and associated purposes. And the property will protect the regional medical center campus from future developments that don’t align with its designated purpose, he said.

The appraisal for the Behavioral Health Division’s land was $8.1 million, according to a presentation to board members.

The demolition cost for the entire complex, a responsibility that will fall with the buyer, was estimated at around $13.4 million.

Under the agreement, the buyer will be responsible for building bus rapid transit infrastructure, an expected investment of $4.5 million. The funds will be held in an escrow for future construction, depending on how the county moves forward on the project.

The county has also been working with the Medical College of Wisconsin to develop a Center for Forensic Science and Protective Medicine, which requires six acres of land.

The center will house the county’s Medical Examiner’s Office and Office of Emergency Management. It’ll also house MCW and other tenants.

The county will credit the sale price for the facility’s land as well as the transit infrastructure to the sale. That leaves the cash transaction value at around $2.4 million, depending on the credits.

The deal would also help support Wauwatosa’s Life Science District Master Plan, funded in part by Milwaukee County, which calls for a campus-like environment to support the growth of existing medical and research uses.