Authorities investigate death at old Milwaukee Mall on city’s north side

Officials are investigating a death at the old Milwaukee Mall location at West Fond du Lac and North avenues.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office says it responded to the location for a death but was unable to release more information Tuesday night.

The site was once Milwaukee’s first Sears store in the 1920s and this intersection was part of a booming retail center on the north side. Sears would close the store in 1981 and soon the Fondy Mall opened there for less than a year. The location was then marketed as Milwaukee Mall, but it was more of a indoor flea market that eventually closed over a decade ago.

In recent years, developer Kalan Haywood Sr. has been pursing plans to create a mix of uses, including a craft brewery, events venue, art gallery, office space and housing on a 7-acre site. He borrowed $3.79 million from the City of Milwaukee for a stalled hotel project and received more time to repay the loan. The deadline was this month, according to prior media coverage.

The Milwaukee Police Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for information Tuesday night about the death investigation.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.