The City of Milwaukee could finally take control of the former Northridge Mall property by the end of this month through a tax foreclosure and begin demolition of the blighted property this summer.
Though subject to appeal, the pending foreclosure ruling could put an end to a more than four-year battle between the city and Northridge Mall’s owner, China-based U.S. Black Spruce Enterprise Group Inc.
“Hopefully, finally, we’re starting to see the beginning of the end,” Ald. Michael Murphy said at a Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee meeting Tuesday morning.
The city filed a property tax foreclosure action against Northridge Mall in October, which could result in a Milwaukee County Circuit Court decision on Jan. 25 and allow the city to take ownership of the property, according to assistant city attorney Hannah Jahn.
The mall, which closed in 2003, is facing a pending city raze order that Black Spruce has appealed to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, which hasn’t ruled on the case yet.
However, a tax foreclosure would allow the city to take control of the property due to its unpaid property taxes. At this point, the city would not accept a tax payment from U.S. Black Spruce to redeem the property, Jahn said, which the company has done in the past when the city has taken similar action.
“That’s kind of like checkmate,” Murphy said.
Still, a court decision in the city’s favor on Jan. 25 could be appealed by U.S. Black Spruce, but “there are no grounds that I think they would have a basis for appeal,” Jahn said.
Now, with a $15 million grant from the state to help pay for site demolition and remediation that the city received in December, the stage could be set for redevelopment of the 58-acre site.
“This has just been a huge sucking sound, a drain for the city in terms of human resources and financial resources,” Murphy said.
The city’s plan is to begin demolishing the former Northridge Boston Store, which the city already owns, by late January or early February, according to Benjamin Timm, project manager with the city’s Redevelopment Authority.
Demolition of the rest of the mall would follow this summer, with the site ready for new development by fall 2025, he said.
However, Ald. Bob Bauman questioned if the demolition plans were premature as Black Spruce still could appeal the foreclosure and the court could still rule against the city’s foreclosure, he said.
Further, the Court of Appeals could also rule in favor of Black Spruce’s appeal of the city’s raze order, Bauman said. City staff argued that there is no legal basis for the Court of Appeals to overturn the raze order.
