Things ended up going right down to the wire today, but The Orchards Mall appears to have dodged foreclosure by the Berrien County Treasurer by paying a portion of their delinquent taxes to avoid being taken over by the county.
Orchards Mall Manager Danielle Southerland euphorically posted a message to the Mall’s Facebook fan page this morning that the bill has been settled. Here’s her message:
From the desk of the Orchards Mall Manager, it is with the greatest joy I can announce the TAXES ARE PAID as of 10:00 am this morning. Now I hope that this is behind us all we can move forward and try to help one another and build this mall back up.
Berrien County Treasurer Bret Witkowski confirms that this morning he did receive $140,000 toward the $532,000 unpaid tax bill. That was sufficient to fully redeem the 2014 tax bill owed, and now owner Michael Kohan has until March 31st of 2018 to pay the balance, or at least for the 2015 tax bill to avoid foreclosure.
The unpaid balance at this point is $392,000, however the immediate pressure is off for Danielle Southerland who has been working to bring the property back to its glory years. Witkowski had pledged to those who lease space in the mall that they would be safe from eviction even if the taxes had gone unpaid and the building and property had undergone the foreclosure process, but that has been successfully averted, and Southerland continues to work diligently to return the lustre to the regional shopping center which has declined over the years as stores and shoppers departed.
The mall recently got excellent news when the JCPenney Company revealed a list of 138 stores nationwide that would be closing, and the Orchards Mall store was not on that list. Last week’s word regarding potential bankruptcy for Payless Shoes leaves that store currently in limbo. Some 400 to 500 stores in that chain’s line up may be closing, but the fate of stores in both the mall and in Niles remains unknown at this time.
Witkwoski says, “Our goal is never to be the owner of any property that we end up with due to foreclosure procedures. We simply want to collect taxes due and help property owners who are behind to get caught up so that they don’t lose their homes, businesses, or property.”
