COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The former Sears building at the Northgate Mall will be torn down, with demolition beginning on Tuesday morning.
The building has sat empty since Sears vacated it in 2018.
Colerain Township, in partnership with the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority, purchased the former Sears building in September 2023 with the hopes of using the $2.2 million investment as leverage to bring a mixed-use development to the 60-acre site.
The township says when it acquired the building, it was in serious disrepair.
"Before it was left vacant, the building had a history of disrepair including faulty HVAC, reoccurring leaks in the ceiling and other problems that made renovation far more expensive than demolition," reads an announcement from a Colerain spokesperson.
The demolition announcement says the township's purchase of the former Sears building allowed it to have a seat at the table with other mall owners, which allowed them to more effectively collaborate on what to do with the entire space.
The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority also obtained resources from the Ohio Department of Development to abate any environmental hazards in the building during demolition, so the area can more successfully be re-developed.
Built in 1972, the 1.1 million square foot mall was already threatened before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic accelerated its demise. Since then, it's changed ownership multiple times.
