Owners of shuttered Lakeside Mall agree to buy Macy's store, keep it open: report

STERLING HEIGHTS (WWJ) — Out of the Box Ventures, the new owners of the shuttered Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, have reportedly agreed to a move that will keep the Macy’s department store open as the property undergoes redevelopment.

Macy’s will remain open “for the foreseeable future” as the new owners prepare to begin implementing a reimagined vision for the site at Hall and Schoenherr Roads, according to a report from the Macomb Daily .

The announcement moves the mall — which closed for good at the end of June — one step closer to demolition.

Out of the Box Ventures is “in a sale-and-lease back agreement,” according to the report, meaning the three-level Macy’s anchor store will “continue to operate as normal.”

The report says the sale is supported by a $3 million state grant that was secured by State Rep. Nate Shannon (D-Sterling Heights) and passed on to Out of the Box to secure additional properties for the redevelopment.

Metro Detroiters said a rather sentimental goodbye to the mall this summer, nearly 50 years after Lakeside opened, as stores closed for good in preparation for the redevelopment, which will be a town-square style development featuring apartments, restaurants, a hotel, and new stores.

The planned Lakeside Town Center development has been compared to the Mall at Partridge Creek: another outdoor mall also located on Hall Road nearby, though Sterling Heights Mayor Mike Taylor told WWJ Newsradio 950s Greg Bowman this summer that the new Lakeside will in fact be quite different from Partridge Creek.

"I think Partridge Creek is unique and it's interesting in its own way, but really to me Partridge Creek is like a shopping mall without the roof," Taylor said.

"What we're gonna have in Lakeside is gonna feel more like on-street parking," he said. "You're gonna be able to drive up to the coffee shop, park on the street, you know, maybe pay a small parking fee and then walk to where you want to go. I think it's going to be a very different experience."

No timeline has been disclosed for when demolition efforts could begin.