Lakeside eulogy
A short history and a few last minute views of Lakeside Mall in suburban Detroit, set to close forever.
As of this writing, Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights. MI will be forever sealed to the public, by the close of this weekend. In its place will rise a community grid, mixed use development dubbed “Lakeside Town Center”, a faux downtown for a suburban city that doesn’t currently have one. One community center, to replace another. Upon the mall’s opening 48 years ago, that was its purpose. To unite the community of Sterling Heights together, as a central gathering place. However, in the changing face of consumer spending and social norms, the old must be replaced with the new. At least the art sculptures will remain…
The project was first announced in 2022, by current owners Out of the Box Ventures, a subsidiary of Lionheart Capital of Miami, FL. Out of the Box purchased Lakeside Mall from Spinoso Real Estate in 2019, with plans to initially find ways to bring the declining mall back to life, with offices and other uses to supplement the mall. The Covid-19 pandemic put those plans to a halt, shut the mall down for months due to state mandated lockdowns, and when the dust settled and the doors reopened, it was clear its life as a functioning shopping mall was at an end. Partnering with the city, they embarked on a plan to rejuvenate the area and help keep Sterling Heights, a very well-to-do area, vibrant.
Lakeside Mall opened March 7th, 1976, a joint venture by Sears’ Homart Development and Taubman Centers, headed up by namesake A. Alfred Taubman. Located along Hall Road (20 Mile Road) in Sterling Heights, the center boasted 1.5 million square feet of space. Lakeside opened the same day as its sister mall and fellow Taubman creation, Fairlane Town Center, 45 minutes away in Dearborn. Both malls featured standard Taubman design cues such as marble floors, geometric space age architecture throughout, and sculpture laden anchor courts with conversational seating pits. A large fountain and stage were the centerpieces of the dual central atrium. An ice rink and movie theater rounded out the proceedings.
Anchors at the onset were Sears, JCPenney, Crowley’s, and Hudson’s. Lord and Taylor added on in 1978. Homart would sell its share of the property to Rodamco in 1988. By the close of the 90s, Crowley’s would go out of business and be converted to a secondary Hudson’s branch, and a food court would be added on the upper level adjacent to Sears, replacing the shuttered ice arena. Rodamco purchased the remaining partnership from Taubman in 2000. Both Hudson’s stores would convert to Marshall Field’s in 2001, and the following year would see the mall sold to the Rouse Company, after their purchase of a third of Rodamco’s portfolio.
By 2006, Marshall Field’s was changed over to the Macy’s nameplate. The following year, the start of Lakeside’s downward spiral occurred when The Mall at Partridge Creek opened a few miles east. This center, developed by Lakeside’s own Taubman Centers, was an open air mall, featuring high end stores as well as Nordstrom and (at the time) Parisian.
Lakeside’s ownership tried to spruce things up with the addition of Jeepers, and other big ticket stores, but to no avail. General Growth Properties, who by this time bought out The Rouse Company, planned a remodel of the mall to freshen up its aging look. They were only successful in realigning and remodeling one of the side hallways out to the parking lot before running out of steam and money.
2017 saw the mall enter foreclosure. General Growth defaulted on their $144 million loan, and management was taken over by Spinoso Real Estate. 2018 saw the closure of Sears, followed by Lord and Taylor the following year. As mentioned, since Covid-19, the mall has suffered continuously, and as of the close of the month, will be shut for good.
We are sad to lose the mall, but understand that this is ultimately what is best for Sterling Heights moving forward. In the meantime, we’ll be sure to pour out another Orange Julius for another fallen titan of retail. And you can still visit Fairlane, for now.



Lakeside Mall ~ March 7th, 1976 - June 30th, 2024
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