The Brown Deer Road retail corridor has suffered mightily since Northridge Mall closed in 2003.
Regional malls such as the former Northridge are traffic generators that attract large numbers of shoppers, which helps drive traffic to other retail stores nearby.
Since Northridge closed, several other major retailers have closed their stores along Brown Deer Road between North 60th and 91st streets including: Best Buy, Walmart, Lowe’s, Stein Garden’s and Gifts, Circuit City and Stein Mart.
“(Northridge) was a thriving regional mall 15 to 20 years ago,” said Peter Glaser, first vice president and a retail broker for CBRE Inc.’s Milwaukee office.
But after the mall closed, shoppers flocked to other areas. Brown Deer Road still has decent traffic of about 35,000 vehicles per day, Glaser said. But most of those people are just passing through the area.
“People aren’t going (to Brown Deer Road) to shop,” Glaser said. “There’s nothing to draw them there.”
Now Brookfield-based Penzeys Spices is working on plans to purchase and redevelop the former Northridge Mall, located northwest of Brown Deer Road and North 76th Street.
Plans are vague at this point, but Penzeys could use the former mall for production, storage, office space and for other uses to engage customers with the company and its products.
“It’s an evolving concept,” said Jeff Fleming, spokesman for the Department of City Development. “They are interested in exploring how Penzeys interacts with the public.”
Executives for Penzeys could not be reached for comment.
The company is not planning to move its existing headquarters to the former Northridge facility, Fleming said. The addition of the mall building would be an expansion for the company, which has not indicated how many people would work there.
The mall has been mostly vacant since its 2003 closing. Part of the complex is occupied by Menards and Pick ‘n Save stores, but the vast majority remains vacant.
Most of the former mall is owned by U.S. Toward Enterprise Group Inc., which had planned to create a shopping center for Chinese retailers. But that project never came together and Toward is facing a foreclosure suit for the property for money it owes to Wisconsin Energy Corp.
The deal with Penzeys is far from complete and another buyer could swoop in but, “we haven’t heard from anybody else interested in the (Northridge) property,” said Ald. Robert Puente, who represents that area of the city of Milwaukee.
The addition of Penzeys would fill a huge void on Brown Deer Road and would provide a boost of confidence and activity to the corridor. The company’s employees and visitors to the facility would provide more traffic to the area.
“I think it would be a shot in the arm, a boost for not only Brown Deer Road, but the whole area,” Puente said. “I think it will also spur interest from other companies in coming in there. I see nothing but a positive and a win-win for everyone involved. I’m praying for it. They have a good shot at it.”
The addition of Penzeys would help improve the area, commercial real estate professionals say.
“It’s one major step to revitalizing that area,” said Glaser. “It’s probably the first good thing to happen in that area in a long time.”
“I think it’s a fantastic use for that property, certainly, a wonderful opportunity to make use of a distressed property,” said John Kuhn, senior vice president and a retail broker for Milwaukee-based Siegel-Gallagher Inc.
However, the corridor is unlikely to be revitalized as a major regional retail destination. Its future likely includes a mix of neighborhood retail and other businesses, such as Penzeys.
“(Penzeys) is not going to impact that retail market significantly from what it is now,” Kuhn said. “It’s not a destination driver that will bring thousands of people to that area, nor is it going to create a housing boom there.”
Northridge Mall was always at a significant disadvantage to other malls in the area because it was built too far away from the freeways, unlike other local malls that were built closer to freeways, commercial real estate experts say.
“It should never have been built there,” Kuhn said.
The lack of proximity to a freeway or a traffic-generating regional mall means the Brown Deer Road corridor will remain a local retail corridor that serves nearby residents, Kuhn said. Despite the numerous closures, several smaller stores and numerous restaurants remain in business on Brown Deer Road near the former Northridge. A few regional retailers do remain in the area, as well, including Target, Menards and Toys R Us.
Further east, the Green Bay Road-Brown Deer Road area in Brown Deer Road has a stronger cluster of retailers than the Northridge area, with a lineup that includes: H.H. Gregg, Office Max, Old Navy and Kohl’s.
“I think it will still continue to be a retail corridor, but a community retail area,” Kuhn said.
Penzeys would not be the first major area company to locate on Brown Deer Road. Bank Mutual Corp., Badger Meter Inc., Rite-Hite and Traffic & Parking Control Co. Inc. (TAPCO) all have their corporate headquarters along the road, in the Village of Brown Deer.
“I would welcome any other type of business,” Puente said. n
