Address: 8110 W. Brown Deer Road
Buyer: City of Milwaukee
Seller: William Penzey
Closing date: End of year
Sale price: $0
The owner of Penzeys Spices is planning to transfer ownership by year-end of the former Northridge Mall Boston Store building on Milwaukee’s far northwest side to the city for future redevelopment.
The gift will allow the city to move forward with long-awaited plans to redevelop the site and its surrounding land. The property includes the former 153,000-square-foot department store, parking lot and ring road surrounding the store.
It could be redeveloped into two to three industrial buildings, a sit-down family restaurant and a community commons area, depending on what the market calls for, said Rocky Marcoux, commissioner for the Department of City Development.
Northridge Mall was closed in 2003. Penzey attempted to buy the mall property out of foreclosure in 2013 from China-based U.S. Black Spruce Enterprise Group Inc. He intended to move the corporate offices of Penzeys Spices from the Town of Brookfield and revitalize the long-vacant mall into a center for food retail, warehousing and distribution. But, unable to acquire the entire mall, his plans for the site never moved forward.
