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Grand Avenue Mall Redesign Addresses Ongoing Issues

Earlier this week, the new owners of the Shops of Grand Avenue unveiled their plan to redesign the space in downtown Milwaukee. Plans include adding office space, a possible grocery store and moving restaurants and food stalls into the first floor. They hope the new plans will revitalize the urban mall, which has faced a laundry list of problems over the last decade.

"It speaks to some of the things that people have been asking for throughout these past ten years. One of the bigs ones was, 'Please open this up more to the street,'" says reporter Sean Ryan, who has been covering the Shops of Grand Avenue for the Milwaukee Business Journal. "Right now the mall is so inward facing. And if you're out on Wisconsin Avenue, there's not really much to draw you into it." 

The new developers have addressed some of these issues with plans to make larger entryways, and more outside spaces for people to engage with. They plan to move dining options from the third floor to the ground level to increase foot traffic. And developers are hoping to attract a grocery store to the mall, which could open it up to more consumers. 

"Destination retail like the TJ Maxx works there. People will go to the mall for that one store. A grocery is the same kind of concept," says Ryan. "A grocery, just by being a grocery and having a lot of people in the new apartment buildings around it, people will go to the mall just for grocery." 

Perhaps the biggest change is the plan to include non-retail spaces. The renderings show a completely redesigned second and third floor with large glass walls and plush couches. Developers are hoping the space will attract new businesses and the all-important millennial employees. 

"Companies are looking for ways to hire more millennials and that's one of the things that they're latching onto with this, as being a very unique office space in the downtown area, [and] one that could have that kind of appeal," says Ryan. 

Joy is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.