Sterling Heights Lakeside Mall End Date Now Official
The end date for Lakeside Mall is set, and this time, it’s for real. Lakeside’s owner plans to announce Wednesday that it will permanently close the shopping mall on July 1.
Built in the late 1970s, the 110-acre site could see groundbreaking by late 2025 for a $1 billion-plus redevelopment plan: Lakeside Town Center, a town-square-type project with apartments, new retail, restaurants, offices, a hotel, and public recreation space.
Future Lakeside Development
The Mall Has Two Stores Left Behind To Start A New
Macy’s and J.C. Penney department stores at the mall are to stay open and help anchor the future development. The former Sears and Lord & Taylor stores also will remain standing. That is the plan for now. As you know, things change each day.
How Lakeside Mall Started In Sterling Heights
The Year was 1976, when America was celebrating its bicentennial. News around the neighborhood was that the most excellent mall ever had been finished. Back then, my pals in the area went to the Macomb Mall or Oakland Mall, and they did so for years! Holidays like Easter and Christmas brought many memories to those malls. Then, a new concept of an even greater mall with all your favorite stores in one place was built.
Lakeside Mall was in Sterling Heights, Michigan, off M-59 and Schoenherr Road. It had two levels and a movie theater. An ice rink that later became a hydro-tube water slide was also there. There was a food court, a glass elevator, and plenty more. Plus, it also had that new mall smell!
Fast Forward To 2024, Progress Is Underway
The Macomb Daily reported that Sterling Heights’ city council voted to accept a $3 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to help acquire properties around the mall area and redevelop them.
Lakeside Town Center would be built in phases and, as currently proposed, eventually include:
- 2,219 housing units (including 750 independent and assisted living units).
- Nearly 180,000 square feet of retail and food and beverage spaces.
- 120-room hotel.
- 70,000 square feet of office space.
The Mall Memories Will Always Be Remembered
patreon.com/northernfilms does an awesome job with this short film capturing the heart and times of the once-great Lakeside Mall
The Fountain and Glass Elevator
When I first went to the mall with friends, we took a bus that left the Macomb Mall from out front. You better not dare ever miss the last bus, as it would mean you’d be making a call to Mom and Dad that wouldn’t go over well.
Ad for HYDROTUBE that was two stories high
It was the cool thing to do—go to the mall—a local hangout where you met all your friends from school and made even more friends from other schools all over. I loved the record stores—they had three or four back then, some of which included Harmony House, Music Stop, and more. We went ice skating at one time. There was a two-story Hydro-tube indoor water slide. And all the fun with Movies at Midnight.
Midnight Movie Memories at Lakeside Mall-Screamin Scott
