Milwaukee City Wire

A Milwaukee court judge has sided with the city in its ongoing battle to have the former Northridge Mall demolished and the land redeveloped.

Earlier this month, Judge William Sosnay ruled that the city’s raze orders for the three mall structures were reasonable and enforceable. At the same time, the U.S. Black Spruce Enterprise Group, the Chinese company that owns the property, was hit with a $109,000 fine on top of existing financial penalties. Over the last three years, Black Spruce has fought to block the city’s attempt to tear down the approximately 900,000-square-foot mall complex.

“Black Spruce is ordered that they immediately commence the process of razing the properties,” Sosnay said in rendering his ruling, UrbanMilwaukee reports. In addition to striking down a restraining order that blocked the 2019 orders from being enforced, Sosnay also declared the building a “public nuisance.”

As part of his ruling, Sosnay decided that prior fines, including a $2,000 per day penalty in place since Aug. 19 for not having the property secured, would be enforced. As of October 3, that fine totaled at least $93,000, with the judge setting a deadline for payment of October 31.

“I expect that those fines will be paid,” Sosnay said. “The court will not allow this to go on indefinitely. The court is very concerned with the safety hazards this presents.”

If the property owners do not demolish the building themselves, Urban Milwaukee reports, the city may be forced to find the millions of dollars it would require to complete the project themselves.

This year alone, Milwaukee Police indicate they have received 75 calls for service at the property, with city officials estimating that they have spent $16,000 on public safety expenses during the year, an amount Sosnay added to the fine.

Northridge Mall opened in 1972 and has suffered a period of long and well-pronounced struggles.