Northridge Mall Completely Demolished

Northridge Mall demolition. Photo from the Department of City Development/Veit.

There she goes.

The final standing piece of the former Northridge Mall has fallen.

Late last week, under the cover of darkness, a crew from demolition contractor Veit dropped the standing piece of the structure. The approximately 900,000-square-foot complex is no more.

“The portion of the mall that came down on Sept. 17 was the entrance to the movie theater and the atrium. This was one of the most technically challenging aspects of the demolition project. The work was done after hours to ensure maximum safety for customers and employees at Menards. The Menard’s store is built right up to the property line and was approximately eight feet from the old mall,” said Department of City Development real estate development specialist Benji Timm in a statement.

Veit will now shift to moving soil to prepare the 58-acre site near N. 76th Street and W. Brown Deed Road for redevelopment. The sprawling property currently has substantial grade changes, designed to provide direct access to different levels of the now-demolished structure.

The Department of City Development, in a statement, said it anticipates listing the first portions for sale in the spring of 2026. The city is branding the future redevelopment, for which a plan is still being developed, as “Granville Station.”

The Menard’s store was constructed after the mall closed in 2003, replacing a shuttered Sears department store, and continues to operate independently of the mall. A grocery store built alongside the Menard’s store is now used as a Menard’s self-storage facility.

Demolition work on the former Boston Store anchor building, which the city acquired before securing the rest of the complex, was completed in early 2024 by HM Brandt. After the city took possession of the remainder of the mall in January 2024 via property tax foreclosure, Veit won a competitive request for proposals to demolish the remaining structure. Interior environmental abatement work began in the summer, with demolition visible to the exterior by last fall. By late May, much of the structure had been razed.

Two elevator tower structures from the mall’s central atrium were required to be saved by Viet for future reuse.

Governor Tony Evers allocated $15 million from the state’s American Rescue Plan Act grant to cover the cost of demolition and redevelopment planning.

As of November, 80% of the materials recovered to date had been recycled. The Brickyard in Bay View is purchasing the bricks for resale.

The mall was originally built in 1972, a sister project to Southridge Mall in Greenfield.

A predecessor of China-based U.S. Black Spruce Enterprise Group purchased the property for $6 million in 2008, five years after the mall closed. But Black Spruce never advanced its plans for an Asian marketplace beyond conceptual drawings. It engaged in a protracted court battle with the city to block demolition of the buildings.

Photos

May 2025 Photos

12►

May 2024 Interior Photos

1234...678►

Property Map

Map of ownership of area around Northridge Mall. Image prepared by Department of City Development.

Existing members must be signed in to see the interactive map. Sign in.