Ramirez Family Foundation acquires Cardinal Stritch campus for $24M

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The campus of the former Cardinal Stritch University has been purchased by the Ramirez Family Foundation, according to a Wednesday, July 26 press release.

The deal, valued at $24 million, is aiming to provide the Foundation with a platform to expand educational access for underserved students in Milwaukee.

"The opportunity to be able to buy a facility that could provide education to well over 2,000 students at a peak, if we wanted to do that, was something I couldn't bypass as a businessperson," said Ramirez Family Foundation Chairman Augustin Ramirez.

Cardinal Stritch University, which ceased operations earlier this year, had placed its campus for sale, a decision approved by the University Board of Trustees and the Vatican.

The 43.5-acre campus in Milwaukee’s north suburbs encompasses 12 buildings that offer a combined 607,000 square feet of space.

Co-chairs of the Ramirez Family Foundation, Gus Ramirez and Becky Ramirez, expressed enthusiasm about the acquisition. The press release quoted them as saying, "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to acquire a unique property that will, in time, provide the Ramirez Family Foundation with a platform to make an even larger impact."

Augustin says while much of what they need to provide Christian Education is already there, work will still need to be done.

"Over the next 12 months, we've got some major demolition and refurbishment and construction to do, we're going to demolish all the dorms, graduate dorms, as well as undergraduate dorms," said Augustin.

He says they'll be replaced with track and field, as well as a soccer field.

While Augustin says this new-to-them facility will be focused more on primary education, they don't want to waste space like the nursing college that could support up to 500 students.

"It would be great if we could utilize that space for nursing school. I'm talking to a few people who may be interested, I put that probability as relatively low, 20% or less," said Augustin.

Foundation officials added that their specific plans for the campus will be determined after thorough consideration and consultation with educational leaders at St. Augustine Preparatory Academy, which the foundation has helped bolster financially.

"We don't know yet, whether it will be a north campus, or a completely separate school, we haven't decided yet," said Augustin. "Here, we want to have a more diversified student body."

More information about the foundation can be found by clicking here.