Milwaukee granted ownership of Northridge mall, demolition planned

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – The City of Milwaukee now owns the long-abandoned Northridge Mall and has plans to revitalize the area.

"This is big for the entire city," Mayor Cavalier Johnson said on Thursday, Jan. 25, after a county judge granted the city ownership of the former mall.

"The fact of the matter is that for the past 20-plus years, the former Northridge Mall has been a site of blight and not just a site of blight, it's been a danger. A danger to the people who enter the mall. A danger to our first responders."

While the property is under a raze order, the city took over the mall by tax foreclosure. The former property owners, Chinese-based Black Spruce, have 45 days to appeal the foreclosure.

Milwaukee County Judge Glenn Yamahiro signed the order while lamenting the area's deterioration.

"There was a point in time when there was bass in those lakes, believe it or not, and the clubhouse was kind of considered like a country club, with their plastic putting green that we trespassed onto," he said. "So, it's a shame."

Fifteen million dollars in American Rescue Plan Act funds sent by the state will foot the demolition bill and help pay for security. Johnson broke down the costs, explaining the demolition work is estimated to cost $9 million, site, stormwater, and utility work will cost $4 million, with the rest going toward miscellaneous costs.

Safety, Johnson said Thursday, is a top priority now that the city is in control because the site has had many fires over the years.

"This includes 24/7 personnel on the site. Full fencing around the permitter of the site as well and boarding up at the site too," Johnson explained.

There is also a focus on reviving the once-bustling area. Ninth District Alderwoman Larressa Taylor is ready to breathe life into the site.

"This area holds so many memories for people, and it's really wonderful that everywhere you go in the city, someone has some good memory about Northridge. Our job now is to really bring something back that is going to allow the city to begin to build those new memories," she said.

"It's real important that whatever goes there is going to be beneficial and I would really like to see something that is going to bring the community together and benefit the entire city."

Demolition is expected to begin in Spring, with the former Boston Store first on the chopping block. Johnson said he expects to advertise a bid for demolition in the Spring and is hopeful there will be a lot of appetite to develop the area.