City fights Menard plan for new self-storage units
Retailer wants structures at Northridge area store
Faced with illegal dumping on a parking lot it owns near Milwaukee’s former Northridge Mall, executives at home improvement retailer Menard Inc. thought they found a good solution.
By building self-storage units on the parking lot’s perimeter, while storing vehicles in the middle, the site would be sealed off from dumping while also generating revenue.
But city officials are fighting that proposal.
They say Menard’s plans run counter to the type of developments they’ve been seeking for the area — which has seen few commercial projects since Northridge closed nearly 20 years ago.
A decision on whether Menard can proceed with its $3 million project is pending before the Milwaukee Board of Zoning Appeals. The board could issue a ruling at its June 30 meeting.
‘The future versus now’
The conflict pits Menard’s eagerness to promptly solve a problem that could hurt its neighboring store with City Hall’s long-term plans to redevelop the Northridge area.
“This is a balancing act,” said Roy Evans, zoning board chair. “The future versus now.”
Added board member Eric Lowenberg, “There’s a lot to think about. This is a complicated balancing act.”
Evans and Lowenberg spoke at a June 2 board meeting — one of two hearings the board has held on the issue. The first hearing was on May 5.
Eau Claire-based Menard has operated a store at 8110 W. Brown Deer Road since 2005.
It was part of the first phase of redeveloping the former Northridge Mall, which saw its last store close in 2003.
The Menard’s store and a neighboring Pick ‘n Save supermarket were built in space created after Northridge’s former Sears store was razed.
Then-Mayor Tom Barrett and other city officials said it was the beginning of a big redevelopment of the former mall and its parking lots, which cover around 100 acres west of North 76th Street and north of West Brown Deer Road.
Northridge sold to China-based group
A China-based investors group bought Northridge in 2008 and announced plans to redevelop it as a trade mart to sell clothes, toys, furniture and other consumer goods made
The project to add the 246 self-storage units to the 3-acre parking lot needs a special-use permit and variances from the zoning board.
in Asia to U.S.-based retailers.
But no work has been done at the site, and the city in 2019 issued a condemnation order on the dilapidated property.
That could result in the city acquiring Northridge, demolishing the mall and selling its land for new development, which could include light industrial projects.
But that was dealt a big setback in March, when the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled the condemnation order may not have followed reasonable standards required by law. That lawsuit is pending in court.
Meanwhile, the mall’s closing led to several other nearby retailers shutting down.
Some of those former stores, including a Target, Walmart and Toys ‘R Us, were redeveloped into light industrial buildings.
The Pick ‘n Save closed in 2014. Menard bought the building in 2017 for $1 million and obtained zoning board approval to convert the former supermarket into a self-storage center.
Plan calls for commercial development
The city’s 2007 master plan for Milwaukee’s far northwest side and other area plans call for creating jobs, redeveloping commercial corridors and revitalizing the Northridge site, said Ed Richardson, of the Department of City Development.
Self-storage centers, which use a lot of space and create few jobs, are “in conflict with these goals,” Richardson said at the zoning board’s May hearing.
Department officials supported converting the former Pick ‘n Save to a selfstorage center only because it was seen as a temporary use before the building underwent another redevelopment — perhaps to expand the neighboring Menard store, Richardson said.
The department, part of Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s administration, opposes allowing Menard to add 246 self-storage units to the building’s 3-acre parking lot. That project needs a special-use permit and variances from the zoning board.
“This is an area we’re trying very hard to develop and we want to get some other uses out there,” Richardson said at the June hearing.
Also opposed is Ald. Chantia Lewis, whose district includes the Northridge area. She views additional storage units as “a detriment to the community,” according to an email sent to the zoning board by Lewis’ legislative assistant.
Supporting the project is the Granville Advisory Committee, a city panel that advises the Common Council on developments on the far northwest side.
Menard’s representatives told the zoning board they understood the Department of City Development’s position.
But, they’re tired of waiting for more development in the Northridge area.
“We would love nothing more than retail around us,” Nick Brenner, Menard corporate counsel and real estate representative, said at the May hearing.
“We’re by ourselves. We’re on an island and we don’t usually do that. We don’t like it,” he said.
However, Brenner said, “This (city) plan has been in place for over a decade and the area’s only gotten worse.”
Brenner and Tyler Edwards, another Menard real estate representative, said the outdoor storage units would help stop people from dumping junk, including abandoned cars, on the building’s parking lot.
Edwards told board members at the June hearing that he stopped at the parking lot earlier that day.
Tire changing and stump dumping
There were four semi-trailer trucks parked there, including one that was having its tires changed, he said. None had Menard’s permission to be there.
Also, someone had dumped 15 to 20 tree stumps in the parking lot, Edwards said.
Such things happen daily, he said. “And, quite frankly, we’re sick and tired of dealing with that,” Edwards said.
The neighboring Menard store draws thousands of customers every day, he said.
“They pass by this site,” Edwards said. “We do not want it looking bad.”
The planned investment in the storage project would total $3 million, according to the company.
Menard added more landscaping to the plans in response to concerns raised by Mary Hoehne, executive director of the Granville Business Improvement District.
Hoehne’s group is redeveloping a former Joann Fabrics store, at 8633 W. Brown Deer Road, into The Granville Connection, a community hub featuring seven food vendors, including a coffee shop, as well as a stage for weekend music performances.
That development, which ran into construction delays tied to supply chain problems, is to open this fall.
But Hoehne agreed with Menard’s representatives that nothing has happened for several years at the Northridge site.
And, regarding the planned storage facility, Hoehne said, “It’s better than nothing.”
“We would love nothing more than retail around us. We’re by ourselves. We’re on an island and we don’t usually do that. We don’t like it.” Nick Brenner Menard corporate counsel and real estate representative