City of Milwaukee officials announced today that the first phase of demolition of the former Northridge Mall on the city’s far northwest side is nearing completion and the next phase is set to begin.
HM Brandt, Inc., the city’s demolition contractor, began exterior structural demolition of the former Boston Store at Northridge Mall on March 20, and is wrapping up the first phase of the work ahead of schedule, city officials said.
The city today will release a public bid for asbestos abatement and demolition of the remaining mall buildings.
The mall closed in 2003 and has sat mostly vacant since. The bulk of the property since 2008 had been owned by Chinese investment group U.S. Black Spruce Enterprise Group Inc., which never moved forward with plans to convert it into a trade mart for Asian companies to sell products.
In recent years the former mall has been the center of several arson cases and vandalism. City officials sought demolition for years. Nearly five years ago the city issued raze orders against three Northridge properties that contain approximately 800,000 square feet of buildings.
The city engaged in a protracted legal battle and finally gained control of the entire site in January.
The city took control of the former Boston Store site at Northridge in 2018, enabling it to start there with demolition in March. The Boston Store at Northridge was located on the south side of the mall next to a Menards store, which is located in a separate building.
In December, Gov. Tony Evers announced that his office was allocating $15 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars to be used demolition of the former Northridge Mall.
Demolition of the former Northridge Mall begins efforts by the city to attract new development to the site.
“My hope is the transformation of the former Northridge Mall sends a message to the business community that the West Brown Deer Road corridor is on the move,” said Alderwoman Larresa Taylor, who represents the area.
