Michigan’s Lakeside Mall closes Sunday. What to know about its $1B remake

Developer Out of the Box Ventures bought the mall and also bought into the city’s vision for its redevelopment, and the company is now leading the plan to remake the property.

Here is what to know about Lakeside as the renovation plan launches on Monday:

1. History

Michigan helped to create the enclosed mall in the 1950s when JL Hudson opened a department store to anchor Southfield’s now-closed Northland Mall. 

Michigan-based Taubman Co. embraced mall development across southeast Michigan, opening Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor in 1973. It followed with Fairlane Mall in Dearborn and Lakeside, both opening in 1976.

Like Fairlane, Lakeside’s look was fresh and interesting in a 1970s way: multiple levels and walkways; skylights; sculptures; a glass elevator at center court, next to sunken and sculptured seating. 

Circa 1976 postcard of Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights I recently acquired.#SterlingHeights pic.twitter.com/4eXRn8luX6

— Michigan’s Past (@MichiganHist) July 12, 2021

Rather than being built in an inner-ring suburb, Lakeside was located in central Macomb County on M-59 — or 20 Mile Road — helping propel growth in the area. 

A decade ago, city officials recognized the mall’s role as an economic driver, as well as the limitations of the property, and began studying how to reimagine the space. At that time, owner General Growth Properties could not afford upgrades, and the company defaulted on its loan on the mall in  2016. 

Remaking the mall building would involve multiple owners, the city discovered, since anchor stores are separately owned. It also has limited uses, given the configuration. 

Many years went into planning what could work for the mall property, City Manager Mark Vanderpool told Bridge Michigan in spring. Officials and their consultant looked at factors that could balance the uses in the property and create demand to be there.

Eventually, they determined that a variety of housing, a “Main Street” design and more density could make the property viable for an owner and the city.

The effort is “very complicated,” Vanderpool said then. “But it’s so important. As a city, we could have sat on the sidelines and let market forces prevail.”

2. The plan

The  $1 billion remaking of the property will include 2,800 apartments, a park, walking trails connecting the rest of the city and about a 90% reduction in store space. 

But forget about the “moat” of parking spaces that surround Lakeside.