Cost of buying, reworking former Cardinal Stritch campus for St. Augustine jumps to $100 million

From the Article:

In what will now amount to a total $100 million investment, St. Augustine Preparatory Academy said Tuesday that it will demolish several buildings on the former Cardinal Stritch University campus and construct new buildings as it plans a fall 2026 opening of a north campus for the K4-12 Christian school.

The investment amount includes the $24 million price for acquiring the property, the school said in a press release. The 43.5-acre site in Glendale and Fox Point became available last spring after Cardinal Stritch announced that it would discontinue operations following its commencement ceremony in May.

The investment is twice the $50 million that was initially planned to rework the campus.

The school will be known as Aug Prep North and is expected to open in fall 2026 with just over 300 students in grades K4-6th and 9th. It will grow to serve 1,000-plus students in grades K4-12.

A second phase — beyond the $100 million investment — is envisioned for the future, which would eventually build capacity to reach 2,000-plus students.

St. Augustine Prep was founded by Gus and Becky Ramirez and has quickly grown to become one of the top-rated K4-12 schools in Wisconsin, according to the press release. The Ramirez family and Husco International, a lead benefactor of Aug Prep, have committed $75 million in the first phase at Aug Prep North. A fundraising campaign, initially targeting $15 million, has been increased to $25 million, with over $5.5 million already raised.