MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee officials recently attempted to buy the former Northridge Mall, but discussions didn't reach beyond a price being offered to the city, according to our partners at the Milwaukee Business Journal.
Executive Director of U.S. Black Spruce Enterprise Group Inc., Li Yang, said she has been seeking buyers for the property. City opposition resulted in the last suitor, Phoenix Investors, backing out from its contract to purchase the vacant building in July. U.S. Black Spruce purchased the vacant mall in 2008. BizJournal reports that Milwaukee officials and U.S. Black Spruce have been in a legal dispute since 2019 when the city issued a demolition order against the mall. However, U.S. Black Spruce argued the building can be repurposed.
According to Yang, city officials contacted the company in September to see if the company would consider a sale. BizJournal reports U.S. Black Spruce offered to sell the property under the same financial terms it agreed to with Phoenix Investors.
Yang told BizJournal, “I told him (U.S. Black Spruce's legal counsel Chris Kloth) that we were open to negotiations in selling the property to the city and, whoever the buyer was, we expected the buyer to at least meet the Phoenix’s terms. In my opinion, if the city could offer the same terms as Phoenix, then we would definitely prefer to sell to the city since it would be a much faster deal, and all the problems around this property would end.”
Phoenix Investors offered $3 million on condition the city would forgive the property's $1.1 million in outstanding taxes and nearly $448,000 in court fines. BizJournal estimates the fines are likely higher now. Since Phoenix Investors backed out, Yang says she has been “looking for and talking to other potential buyers.”
A Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge who oversees the Northridge case ordered U.S. Black Spruce to implement security at the abandoned property. The lack of security resulted in court fines and criticism from city officials. That concern continued last week after the Milwaukee Fire Department responded to yet another fire inside the former mall.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson shared on X, a social media site known formerly as Twitter, on Friday stating, "Reasonable folks can disagree about what ultimately happens there, but after all of this time, we should at least seek out what could be, instead of settling for something just because it was the first out of the gate to be announced."
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