The city of Greenfield purchased the mostly vacant Spring Mall property on Tuesday for redevelopment.
Located at 4200 S. 76th St., the 24-acre property consists of parking lots and two mostly vacant retail buildings. It sold for $3.7 million.
“The city is excited about the opportunity to control the fate of this eyesore of a property that sits at the city’s northern gateway along one of our busiest commercial corridors,” said Kristi Porter, community development manager. “The site has sat underutilized for far too long.”
Plans are in early stages, but the city hopes to demolish the vacant building at the north end of the property, previously home to a Pick ‘n Save and TJ Maxx, and someday sell the entire site for redevelopment.
“All of this will take time and negotiations, especially in the challenging economic state that is today,” Porter said.
The only business remaining on the Spring Mall property, Meyer’s Restaurant and Bar in the southern building, will remain a tenant.
The property was purchased from New York real estate firm Brixmor Property Group, state records show.
In September, Milwaukee-based Cobalt Partners LLC proposed a mixed-used redevelopment of the property with about 370 apartments and townhomes. At the time, Bixmore had selected Cobalt out of five others to be the future owner and developer of the property, city documents say.
Cobalt had an option to purchase the property, but that contract fell through, according to Porter.
Cobalt, which has other large development projects in Greenfield including 84South and Loomis Crossing, did not respond to a request for comment.
