GREENDALE — Greendale has big plans for a now vacant property at Southridge Mall, and it could mean a significant change in population for the community of just 14,000 people. The Village is moving forward with a plan to turn the old Boston Store into a mixed use development featuring 790 apartment units.
While Greendale is best known for its historic downtown, with small shops and restaurants, the sprawling Southridge property on the north side of the Village is a critical piece. “It’s a big percentage of our tax base,” explained Village President Jason Cyborowski. “It’s very critical the Village continues to work on it.”
The mall itself is in foreclosure, but Greendale owns the Boston Store property, having bought it for $3.3 million when Bon-Ton went under. The Village has been selling off the remaining store fixtures piece by piece, but the building is otherwise empty.
“The plan is to tear it down and do a redevelopment in three phases,” Cyborowski said. “It's going to end up being 790 apartment units, close to that. Roughly 50-60,000 square feet of commercial space, and it could even be more commercial space. There are people reaching out to the developer already asking if they can go into the new site, which is very exciting.”
Still early in the planning and approval process, Cyborwoski knows the primary concern from Greendale residents will be the impact adding so many new neighbors will have on schools. “We’ve run the numbers… we’re still good,” he said. “We do open enrollment. We wouldn’t be able to do as much open enrollment, because we would need more room for students from those apartments.”
The Village Planning Commission will still need to approve the project, and it will require additional sign off from other parties involved with the Southridge property.
Meanwhile, the Village is also looking for other proposals for out-lots at Southridge, including hoping to add a hotel in the future.
