Northridge Mall’s Fate Hinges On Appeals Court Ruling, Second Attorney Quits

Northridge Mall in August 2022. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The future of the shuttered Northridge Mall awaits the ruling of a three-judge panel at the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge William Sosnay reiterated during a hearing Friday morning that he is prepared to rule once a decision comes down. The mall’s Chinese ownership group, U.S. Black Spruce Enterprise Group, is appealing Sosnay’s 2022 ruling that the city’s raze order for the approximately 900,000-square-foot complex is valid.

If the appeals court affirms Sosnay’s earlier ruling, the judge indicated he is poised to rule on the city’s request to take ownership of the property in lieu of the unpaid fines. “The court is not going to wait six months or a year,” said Sosnay, who has repeatedly pledged not to delay since inheriting the 2019 case in 2022.

The next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 29. “Should we get a decision before the 29th, my clerk will probably call you to see if we can address this sooner,” said Sosnay. An open raze order stands on the property, which requires Black Spruce to demolish the structure or gives the city the ability to step in to demolish it and place the cost, estimated at several million, on Black Spruce’s property tax bill. The city, citing an undisclosed source of funds to perform the work, has asked for title to the property instead of waiting to resolve the matter through property tax foreclosure.

The matter has taken on new urgency following Phoenix Investors‘ decision to walk away as a potential buyer in July, which ended its securing of the property. City inspector reports filed since then detail how doors are again being found open, half of the security fence is now missing and no security is on site. “Cameras, exterior security lights and No Trespassing signs have been removed,” says one report.

More than a half million dollars in unpaid contempt fines have been levied against Black Spruce for its failure to comply with a 2019 agreement to secure the 46.5-acre property. At least four fires took place at the mall in 2022.

But Phoenix’s withdrawal also simplifies the case, which has reverted back to a two-party conflict. Phoenix wanted the city to forgive delinquent property taxes and fines, drop the long-standing raze order and issue a zoning change to allow a “mega indoor warehouse storage facility,” said Department of City Development deputy commissioner Vanessa Koster at a June 20 court hearing. Its proposal would have maintained the approximately 900,000-square-foot mall structure, while the city has favored redeveloping the much larger property to create more jobs.

Sosnay did block one City of Milwaukee request Friday. He denied the city’s request for a protective order to block future open records requests, citing case law. But the judge admitted there was little else he could rule on while the October 2022 appeal was pending.

The mall, located near N. 76th Street and W. Brown Deer Road, closed in 2003 after 31 years of operation. A predecessor of Black Spruce acquired the property for $6 million in 2008. It has proposed creating an Asian marketplace, but those plans have never advanced.

For additional information on the mall’s history and the lawsuit’s twists and turns, see our earlier coverage.

Second Attorney Quits

The raze order case isn’t the only legal entanglement Black Spruce is engaged in. It also finds itself being sued by its former legal counsel, von Briesen & Roper. The law firm is seeking more than $153,000 for unpaid fees related to its earlier representation of the Chinese investment group. And now, Black Spruce’s attorney on that case is quitting.

Attorney Hsaio Mei Chou, of Middleton-based Chou & Lu Law, is petitioning the court to withdraw as Black Spruce’s attorney.

Mei Chou, in a court filing, argues Black Spruce has failed to meet its obligations under a client agreement. The provision cited by the attorney includes Black Spruce being required to “fully and accurately disclose all facts that may be relevant” and to be “reasonably available to attend meetings, depositions and other proceedings, to cooperate with the attorney’s requests and to provide the firm with necessary documents and other evidence within a reasonable amount of time.” In a public filing, Mei Chou argues that Black Spruce has “failed to fulfill its obligations” and cited a lack of cooperation.

A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 10. The legal fees case is now before Judge J. D. Watts following the retirement of Christopher Foley and judicial rotation.

Attornies Christopher M. Kloth, at the circuit court level, and Andrew J. Kramer of Hansen Reynolds, at the appeals court level, continue to represent Black Spruce in contesting the raze order. Sosnay has continually praised Kloth’s work despite the behavior of his client. “You’ve been nothing but professional in your representation here, and you have not misled the court in any way,” said Sosnay on Friday. “You’re hampered by the extent to which your client is responding to the order of the court. There will be a consequence [to Black Spruce] for that, I assure you.”

August 2022 Photos

April 2019 Photos