Look inside Milwaukee's Northridge Mall; new investors eye property
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee's Northridge Mall opened in 1972 and closed in 2003. Twenty years after its closure, the mall sits abandoned. Now, FOX6 News is getting a new look inside.
"It hasn’t gotten better as time has progressed," said Judge William Sosnay.
The story remains the same. What's going to happen to the old Northridge Mall?
"We believe that this is a property that can be revitalized. It doesn’t have to be torn down," said Buddy Julius, Phoenix Investors consultant.
Phoenix Investors say it is in the process of buying the property from owners Black Spruce.
FOX6 News cameras were allowed inside the mall in 2011. The mall looked untouched.
With help from FOX6's Gino Salomone, we got a tour inside the mall. It looks a lot different.
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"We take distressed properties, and we rehabilitate them," Julius said.
Phoenix Investors says it has added fencing, security cameras, and 24-hour security patrol. The company says that helped deter people from going inside the property and shared a video with FOX6.
The Milwaukee-based real estate firm has redeveloped other properties.
"Midtown is a perfect example of a project that we’ve already done. The Briggs property that we’re doing. JCPenney’s (in Wauwatosa) which two million square feet is, and we were able to revitalize that," Julius said.
FOX6 News asked about the vision for the Northridge property.
"Jobs, in that 400-500 job level, bringing it into light industrial that is in a manufacturing space. It’s not pigeonholed to one entity. That will be determined by who wants to move into the space," Julius said.
In court documents, the City of Milwaukee said not only does it "not support lifting the raze order," the city has "significant reservations" about Phoenix Investors' proposed use.
The document also says:
We recognize Phoenix Investors’ long-standing business of converting vacant former commercial buildings for warehousing, distribution and storage. However, the City will not support a development at the Northridge Mall location anchored by industrial storage, with ancillary light industrial at this time. As you are aware, industrial storage is a not a permitted use pursuant to the zoning district applicable to the Properties. We would be remiss to recommend support for your proposed zoning change, given that industrial storage does not promote meaningful job growth. It is not compatible with the community’s redevelopment goals based on past, public visioning sessions.
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"It’s a matter of whether we get the opportunity to revitalize this," Julius said.
That will eventually be decided in court. City officials and the mall owners are back in court on April 14.