MILWAUKEE — A deal to sell a vacant mall on Milwaukee’s Far Northwest Side appears to be a no-go. 

What You Need To Know

  • A deal to purchase the Northridge Mall property has fallen through

  • Phoenix Investors plans to terminate its purchase agreement

  • The mall has sat vacant since 2003 

  • BID District director hopes for mixed use development in the future 

Northridge Mall has sat vacant for two decades, after closing in 2003. 

Milwaukee-based Phoenix Investors wanted to redevelop the property. However, Phoenix Investors terminated the purchase agreement, according to the company's founder and chairman Frank Crivello. 

Several past attempts to redevelop the mall have not worked out. After being prone to fires and vandalism in recent years, the City of Milwaukee has issued a raze order. It comes as the city is still locked in a protracted legal battle with a Chinese company that owns the mall. 

According to Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s office, in order for the Phoenix Investors deal to go through, the company wanted to city to reverse the raze order and forgive hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines against the mall. In a statement, a spokesman for the mayor’s office said it is something the city was not comfortable with. 

Given the rapidly deteriorating condition of the mall property, many may have welcomed the redevelopment. However, Mary Hoehne said she feels differently. She is the executive director of the Granville Business Improvement District.

Hoehne said she wants to look at the long-term goals for the site. She said she feels other future options would be more viable and valuable for the neighborhood. 

“I hope that nobody jumps to a quick fix. We need a long-term vision and I think the city thinks the same way I do on this,” said Hoehne. “We see this as a prime opportunity now, and God bless the Phoenix folks, but I want this to be so much more for the people that live here.” 

Hoehne said she feels a mixed-use development would be more beneficial in the long-run. In addition, she said she thinks the raze order is necessary in order to get rid of the existing structure for good. 

“We all have great memories but let’s start anew and put up some great housing, hotels, restaurants and shopping. That is what I look at, maybe some education out here. I would love to see MATC or nursing facility or something,” said Hoehne. 

Spectrum News reached out to Crivello. While he said he was unable to go into specifics, he did provide us a statement, which said, “Given Mayor Johnson’s position, we see no path forward and have terminated on the purchase agreement.” 

At this point, it is unclear what is next for the Northridge property, and no additional information about when the structure may be razed has been released. 

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