Bank of America takes over ownership of Shops of Grand Avenue

Bank of America Corp. has acquired the Shops of Grand Avenue in downtown Milwaukee from New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. by acquiring a deed in lieu of foreclosure, according to a Milwaukee commercial real estate source.
The bank was Ashkenazy’s primary source of financing for the mall.
Bank if America has retained Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle to oversee the day-to-day management and leasing of the mall. The mall’s management, former employees of Ashkenazy, are now employees of Jones Lang LaSalle, said Brooke Houghton, spokeswoman for Jones Lang LaSalle.
“Our first priority is to review the existing operations and come up with the best ways to renew (the mall),” she said.
The 425,000-square-foot mall has struggled for years with a high vacancy rate and is currently approximately half empty.
The bank is expected to sell the property at a significant discount in an attempt to minimize its losses on the property, the source said.
The city has invested more than $40 million to subsidize the mall’s operations and is unable to provide any additional assistance for the mall’s operations, said Department ofr City Development commissioner Richard “Rocky” Marcoux. He said the city is committed to assisting other development near the mall that could help attract more potential customers for the mall to the neighborhood.
“We can invest in other real estate up and down Wisconsin Avenue that helps bring traffic to the (mall) buildings,” Marcoux said.
City officials hope the mall will be recast with a greater emphasis on street level retail and non-retail uses for upper floors and spaces off the street, Marcoux said.