Seeds of Health Planning Secondary School in the former Journal Sentinel office complex

Milwaukee Charter School System Health Seeds Inc. plans to open a high school in part of the old Milwaukee Sentinel building downtown, according to city records. The building is located at 918 N. Vel R. Phillips Ave. It is part of the former Journal Sentinel complex located southeast of West State Street and North Vel R. Phillips Avenue. Milwaukee Developer J.Jeffers & Co. converts vacant office buildings into housing and commercial uses. The school will be located on the first through fourth floors in the south portion of the approximately 73,750 square foot building at 918 N. Vel R. Phillips Ave., according to permit records. The secondary school project represents approximately 35,900 square feet. It would include classrooms, meeting space, commercial areas, a commercial kitchen and other educational rooms such as business premises or workshops. Construction drawings show commercial offices, a staging area for 104 people, the kitchen and a classroom on the first floor. The upper floors are mainly made up of classrooms and offices. Seeds of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In addition to building permits, the project requires a certificate of adequacy for proposed changes to the exterior of the historic building. This application is scheduled for a public hearing on Monday, April 12. Construction is underway on other parts of the Jeffers’ Journal Square project. Job started in november on the $29.1 million conversion of the 1962 building addition into 195 beds of affordable housing for Milwaukee Area Technical College students. Josh Jeffers, President and CEO of Jeffers & Co., said Seeds of Health High School will fit in well with MATC student housing. “It’s really going to be a beautiful ecosystem that we put in place on this redevelopment block,” he said. Affiliates of Jeffers & Co. bought the three Journal Sentinel buildings in the fall of 2019. The newspaper has since moved from the largely vacant buildings to another downtown office space. According to its website, Seeds of Health operates its schools through partnership and charter agreements with Milwaukee Public Schools and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the WIC program through the Department of Health. and Family Services. It has a primary school and a few high schools Pitches through the city.