Penzeys Spices owner gives former department store to Milwaukee for redevelopment

The owner of Penzeys Spices is transferring the ownership of the former Northridge Mall Boston Store to the city of Milwaukee, a step that a city official says will allow the property to be turned into industrial space.

In a statement, Alderwoman Chantia Lewis said the city will most likely begin marketing the former department store and parking for redevelopment early next year. The site could eventually become home to three light-industrial buildings, having about 300,000 square feet among them.

The former mall makes up part of the Granville area on Milwaukee’s northwest side. City officials’ plans for redeveloping that area call for converting the mall into light industrial space and developing a public plaza with stores and restaurants near the northwest corner of West Brown Deer Road and North 76th Street.

“We have been building toward a future of revitalization in Granville that picked up steam with the great work of the charette earlier this year, and this move allows us to pivot in a new direction and one that can be the catalyst in bringing in some key initial projects and growth,” Lewis said in a statement. “It’s very exciting.”