MILWAUKEE -- The former Pick ’n Save grocery near Northridge Mall in Milwaukee could be sold to home improvement store chain Menard Inc. for eventual expansion of its neighboring store, TODAY'S TMJ4 partner the Milwaukee Business Journal reported Tuesday.
The Pick ’n Save at 8120 W. Brown Deer Road closed about three years ago, and in September 2016sold to Canadian real estate investor Jeet Pangli. Pangli had attempted to attract a new retailer to the building, and in November last year attempted to sell it through an online real estate auction.
It is among several big boxes along Brown Deer Road that retailers left behind after Northridge Mall closed. Businesses and city officials are trying to promote new development to bring those properties back to life.
Menard, in a May letter to city officials, said it may need to move out of the area if it can’t secure land for future expansion. Menard has operated a Brown Deer Road store next to the Pick ’n Save since 2005. The Menards store has performed well, and is undergoing a warehouse expansion and interior renovation, according to filings with the Milwaukee Board of Zoning Appeals.
According to the filing, the Menards isn’t yet ready to expand, and wants to temporarily use the building for self storage after buying it. That use could last for many years, and the self-storage would generate income to pay for the building’s taxes and maintenance until the Menards store expands.
“If we were not able to expand, we would be forced to shut down the store and relocate it to a larger piece of ground,” according to a May 22 letter from Menard to the city. “Buying the old Pick ’n Save building will allow Menard to control additional space and expand into that 9 acres over the life of the store to ensure that there is enough space.”
Menard needs Board of Zoning Appeals approval to operate that self-storage facility.
A long-range plan recently drafted for Brown Deer Road envisions Northridge Mall becoming a large light industrial facility for a single employer. Several new light industrial buildings, with more than 350,000 square feet, could be built in its surrounding parking lots.
The mall currently belongs to a Chinese investor group that city officials for years have pressured to redevelop the property.
