MANITOWOC, WISCONSIN – (excerpt from the Herald Times Reporter): City leaders took a step towards acquiring the former Lakeshore Edgewater Plaza Mall, after recently ruling the site, which overlooks Lake Michigan, a blighted area.
The former Edgewater Plaza Mall was recognized and emphasized within the City’s recent 2023 Comprehensive Plan Update created by Vandewalle & Associates as a key catalytic development opportunity.
Mayor Justin Nickels said he’d like to see housing, retail, or commercial businesses – or a mix of development – at the abandoned site. Nickels told Streetwise he hopes that declaring the mall a blighted sight might nudge the owner into either selling the site or tearing down the building and redeveloping the site. The City has requested a purchase price and continues to look into options for the old mall site,
The Comprehensive Plan Update identified the site as a location that the City should actively redevelop to provide much needed new housing development and mixed-use opportunities, which would support workforce attraction for local companies and bring a blighted brownfield site back into productive use.
The next steps in the acquisition process include a full narrative appraisal of the site, done at the City’s expense, within 60 days.