The Chinese investment group that owns Northridge Mall must find a new legal team if it wishes to continue fighting the City of Milwaukee’s effort to demolish and possibly seize the shuttered mall.

Attorneys from von Briesen & Roper withdrew from the case in May, citing an undisclosed failure by U.S. Black Spruce Enterprise Group to meet its contractual obligations under a 2019 agreement.

The issue, according to court records first reported by Sean Ryan, goes back to June 2020.

“Black Spruce has not, and has failed to provide assurances that it will in the future, substantially fulfill an obligation to von Briesen & Roper regarding its services,” wrote attorney Mark Foley in an affidavit.

A status conference is scheduled for June 30.

In April 2019, city officials gathered outside the mall to announce a plan to issue a raze order on the property, a potential precursor to acquiring the property. But Black Spruce has been fighting the issue.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge William Pocan ruled in the city’s favor in a 2020 trial, but Black Spruce appealed the ruling.

Then in March 2022, the Wisconsin Appeals Court sent the case back down to the circuit court. In a written decision, it said Pocan improperly ruled that the cost to repair the buildings should be based on what was needed to open them to the public, instead of more limited repairs to maintain the buildings as vacant. The mall has been closed since 2003.

The city has also had its own attorney turnover. Assistant city attorney Nicole Larsen was the original attorney on the case, but she left city employment, then returned earlier this year to become the assessment commissioner. Contract attorney Lynnette McNeely is now handling the case, but is also named in a complaint filed with the city’s inspector general regarding her hiring and relationship with special deputy attorney Celia Jackson.

State law allows a raze order to be issued when repair costs exceed 50% of the building’s value. The Department of Neighborhood Services estimates repairs would cost $6 million and the attached buildings are only assessed for $81,000.

Black Spruce acquired the approximately 900,000-square-foot complex for $6 million in 2008 and announced a plan to develop an Asian marketplace, but city officials have argued those plans have never progressed in any substantial fashion. DNS officials say the roof is failing, scrappers have illegally stripped many of the mechanical systems and the masonry is in disrepair.

A maintenance worker was killed by a high-voltage transformer in an electrical box at the mall in July 2019. The electrical box was previously damaged by scrappers said the Milwaukee Police Department. Area Alderwoman Chantia Lewis, in 2019, said a legally-filmed, 2017 video inspired a wave of vandalism and trespassing.

Should the city acquire the mall, it could merge the land from the mall with land freed up from demolishing the attached former Boston Store building.

Bill Penzey, owner of Penzey’s Spices, bought the former Boston Store building in 2013 and attempted to acquire the rest of the mall, with the support of the city, for a corporate headquarters and warehouse for his company. He wasn’t able to reach a deal on acquiring the mall and donated the Boston Store property to the city in 2018. The city also acquired the ring road that surrounds the mall.

The mall opened in 1972. Northridge failed for a number of reasons, including a lack of direct freeway access, chain bankruptcies, the cyclical nature of malls and a negative perception created following Jesse Anderson‘s murder of his wife in a mall parking lot and subsequent false claim that the couple was attacked by two Black males. The mall’s competitors, including Mayfair, Brookfield Square, Southridge and Bayshore, have all received substantial public subsidies to help finance updates in the years since Northridge closed.

Menards and Pick ‘n Save were brought in as new retail anchors after the mall closed, but Pick ‘n Save closed in 2015. Those buildings are not included in the Black Spruce property, nor are the outlet buildings. Menards is now pursuing redevelopment of the Pick ‘n Save property.

Northridge Mall – April 2019

Weekly Recap

Inside The Phillis Wheatley School Redevelopment

Nearly all of our Friday Photos columns explore a Milwaukee construction project from just beyond the construction fence, but this week we’re going inside.

The former Phillis Wheatley School at 2442 N. 20th St. will soon reopen as 42 apartments. It’s the latest former Milwaukee Public Schools building to be converted to affordable housing.

A new, four-story building, addressed as 1908 W. Meinecke Ave., will contain an additional 40 apartments. It’s being developed on what was a paved play area at the south end of the 3.8-acre site. Both portions of the project are expected to open in July.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson, County Executive David Crowley, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regional administrator Diane Shelley and Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority CEO Elmer Moore toured the development Thursday with Royal Capital Group development manager Terrell J. Walter and representatives of general contractor Greenfire Management Services‘ team.

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City Selling Harbor District Development Site

The Department of City Development is seeking someone to develop a vacant lot that sits at the gateway to Komatsu Mining‘s South Harbor Campus and UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences.

The rectangular 2.03-acre site is the last parcel available in the Freshwater Plaza development. Immediately to its north is a Cermak grocery store and access ramp to the Kinnickinnic River Trail. The Freshwater Plaza Apartments building, with a variety of retail tenants, is located to its west. To the northwest, a Sherwin Williams store and a planned bank branch site front S. 1st St. A large surface lot fills the middle of the site.

A request for proposals has an Aug. 11 due date, with a $1.9 million asking price. The site is addressed as 200 E. Greenfield Ave.

Wangard Partners, as of 2018, had proposed to develop a six-story, mixed-use building on the site with 45,000 square feet of commercial space and 76 apartments. But despite a zoning change being granted, those plans never progressed to construction. The original zoning package, created as part of the redevelopment of the Grede Foundries complex that filled the larger site, called for an office building on the now-listed parcel.

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Beverage Company Relocating To Walker’s Point

The brothers behind ZYN, a turmeric-infused beverage, are moving to redevelop a Walker’s Point warehouse for their company, SUR Natural Health Brands.

Brothers Asim and Qasim Khan, through SUR, purchased the 32,508-square-foot building at 913-919 W. Bruce St. in September for $440,000. A city building permit refers to the development as “Zyn HQ” and another indicates the Cream City brick building will see many of its filled-in windows reopened and its facade rehabilitated.

A rezoning request is now pending before the Common Council that would “facilitate a food and beverage-oriented development with both industrial and commercial uses.”

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City Funds Would Support Iron District Housing Project

The City of Milwaukee could subsidize a portion of the Iron District development proposed for the southwest corner of Downtown. But the currently proposed subsidy is not for the soccer stadium, concert venue or hotel, at least not yet.

Up to $1.8 million, plus interest, would support Bear Development‘s construction of a 99-unit affordable apartment building near N. 10th St. and W. Michigan St.

The Department of City Development structured the tax incremental financing district as a developer-financed deal, which places the risk on the developer. The city would return any increased property tax revenue and interest from the underlying property to the developer for a set period, often no more than 20 years, or until it reaches a set amount. The structure is effectively a property tax rebate. The strategy has been used citywide to plug financing gaps in affordable housing developments.

A public notice was issued Thursday that says the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee (RACM) board will review the proposal in the coming weeks. The Common Council would also need to approve the agreement. A Department of City Development spokesperson said the project documents were not yet available.

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Soccer Stadium Will Need Public Subsidy

The “Iron District” proposal to develop a complex of buildings near 6th and Michigan, including a 8000-seat soccer stadium, hotel, apartment complex and 3,500-capacity concert hall, comes with a catch: it will need some subsidy from the taxpayers.

“We are still working on the capital stack,” said S.R. Mills, CEO of the Bear Real Estate Group, which is a partner in the development project, in a conference call with Urban Milwaukee. But he confirmed that there would have to be some public funding. “It’s a heavy lift, just because of the costs involved and overall benefit.”

He estimated the total cost of the entire project at $160 million, with about one-quarter of that — $40 million — needed to finance the soccer stadium.

“It’s the linchpin of the project, the key to making this project work,” he noted. “But all the parts work together very well.”

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Royal Capital Plans $200 Million ‘Lifestyle Campus’

Royal Capital Group is planning its biggest project yet. Known as Cudahy Farms, the $200 million “lifestyle campus” development aims to redevelop a 51-acre former YMCA property near N. 91st St. and W. Brown Deer Rd.

The first phase would include 153 apartments for seniors and 224 apartments for families in largely two-story buildings. Future phases could include homes for sale. More than 1,100 units are eventually planned at the site, 9050-9100 N. Swan Rd. Some units could be subsidized through affordable housing programs.

“It’s a very intentional development using the existing site as a baseline for the design,” said Engberg Anderson Architects senior associate Tom Joy.

The existing, 40,000-square-foot YMCA building would be maintained as a healthy living center. It would include the YMCA’s early childhood program as well as a Black-owned dentist office and other wellness offerings. The playground and sports amenities at the site would be maintained. A network of sidewalks would connect all of the offerings.

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The Battle For Downtown Concert Venues

The first battle for a new concert venue in town is over and Live Nation lost. The national near monopoly musical chain, working with its affiliate FPC Live (run by Frank Productions), backed a plan to build two new concert facilities in the Third Ward on land owned by Milwaukee World Festival, the parent organization of Summerfest, back in December.

That generated lots of opposition, from local concert promoters like the Rave and the Pabst Theater Group, along with condo owners and other residents of the Third Ward. And on May 13, FPC Live announced it was backing off from the deal.

A new battle quickly commenced, with Pabst Theater Group’s leader Gary Witt announcing a new 3,500-capacity concert venue would be near 6th and Michigan, as Urban Milwaukee reported. The venue would actually be part of a huge complex built by a team that would include a soccer stadium to be developed by Jim Kacmarcik, the CEO of Kapco Metal Stamping, along with a hotel and apartment building.

But the timing of the announcement, just days before FPC Live was expected to announce it would build its new concert venues in Downtown, suggested Witt was attempting to upstage his competitor. And sure enough, just three days later FPC Live and the Milwaukee Bucks announced they would partner on two concert venues with 800- and 4,000-person capacities, as Urban Milwaukee reported. They would be built on land owned by the Bucks near 4th and State and next to Fiserv Forum — and just six blocks away from the facility Witt is planning.

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Milwaukee Households Face Rising Rents

Rent prices are up in the Milwaukee metro area, according to a recent report. A researcher says it’s worsening issues of inequality.

A report from the financial app Stessa found median rents in the Milwaukee-Waukesha area have gone up by around $100 since 2019.

And in an area like Milwaukee County, which is renter-majority, that can have a big impact.

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Marcus Center Starts Construction On Former Chestnut Grove

The Marcus Performing Arts Center is moving forward on its 2018 vision of reconfiguring its campus, 929 N. Water St.

Construction will begin this week on redeveloping the outdoor space along E. Kilbourn Ave. Plans call for reconfiguring the former chestnut tree grove space into an extension of the Peck Pavilion amphitheater. The removal of the Dan Kiley-designed grove created controversy as a group of individuals sought to save it by having it historically designated. Kiley is a renowned landscape designer.

The renovation work was to start in 2019, but the multi-phase project was delayed, and then reconfigured in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic left all of the complex’s venues dark.

“Our goal now is to focus on projects with the time and resources we have,” said Marcus Center CEO Kendra Whitlock Ingram in an interview.

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Genke Plans New Bay View Development

Developer Scott Genke of SG Property Development + Management is in the early phases of planning a new housing development at the southeast corner of Bay View.

Architect Josh Ehr of Studio Ehr Architects filed for preliminary review of a residential new construction permit Thursday for the property at 2501 E. Oklahoma Ave. near the street’s eastern terminus at S. Superior St. and the lakefront.

The description of the proposal originally said Genke was exploring building six duplexes on the property. But after Urban Milwaukee inquired with the developer and Department of Neighborhood Services, the description was modified to say “prelim.”

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