The former Target store on Milwaukee’s northwest side has been sold to an Elkhorn-based manufacturer who is planning to convert the building to office and warehouse space.
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation sold the property at 8501 W. Brown Deer Road to the Alliance Development Corporation for $1.8 million, according to state records.
This summer, the Alliance Development Corp. submitted plans to the city of Milwaukee to rezone the property so it could be converted for its affiliate Midwest Refrigerated Services Inc. to expand into the space.
The new location will employ about 80 full-time employees and between 10 and 40 temporary employees, according to plans submitted to the city this summer.
Midwest Refrigerated Services operates 10 locations in three states. The company distributes and transports refrigerated and frozen food products. They are currently operating a warehouse and distribution center at 11225 W. County Line Road.
The former 118,461-square-foot Target store will be in addition to the County Line Road location. The property has been vacant since January 2016 when Target closed.
Midwest Refrigerated Services President Mike Pokel could not immediately be reached Wednesday.
Fox Point-based real estate firm General Capital Group announced plans in early 2017 to purchase the former Target store and redevelop it for industrial tenants but those plans fell through.
The Grainville neighborhood, where the property is located, has seen significant disinvestment since Northridge Mall closed in 2003. Several big box stores, in addition to Target, have closed and many have been converted to industrial uses.
In 2017, Menards Inc. purchased the vacant 60,968-square-foot Pick ‘n Save building on Brown Deer Road to expand its existing store at 8110 W. Brown Deer Rd.
The former Toys “R” Us property at 8825 N. 76th St., was sold in September 2017 to an affiliate of Engine & Transmission Exchange, 2727 S. 27th St., which is planning to open a location in the 172,380-square-foot building.
