BOARDMAN, Ohio – The new owner of Southern Park Mall has missed the deadline for paying its first-half real estate taxes totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, incurring a penalty as a result, data show.

Southern Park Mall Realty Holding LLC, a subsidiary of Kohan Retail Investment Group, based in Great Neck, N.Y., has yet to pay property taxes and penalties of $481,267.34 for the first half of 2024, according to Mahoning County Auditor records.

The taxes for that period were due March 7, 2025, according to the Mahoning County Treasurer’s office.

Auditor’s data show that Kohan Retail owes real estate taxes on two parcels at 7401 Market St. One is on 64 acres that includes most of the mall’s enclosed shopping area. Records show a payment of $389,031 was due March 7 but remains unpaid. However, because of penalties and special assessments, the tax bill is now $437,834.11 on that parcel.

Kohan owed another $39,484.74 on a second parcel that was to be paid March 7 and has not been paid. With penalties and assessments, that bill is now $43,433.23, records show. Data also show Kohan owes another $38,061.28 on five additional parcels it owns around the mall.

Dan Yemma, Mahoning County treasurer, said entities that pay their tax bills late are subject to a one-time 10% penalty. However, interest accrues throughout the year on any unpaid tax bills, he said.

Boardman Township Trustee Tom Costello said the company’s failure to meet its first tax deadline as the new mall owner is concerning.

“I’m disappointed that they have not paid them,” Costello said. Costello noted that he has placed a call to the mall’s manager to get an update but had not heard from him at press time.

The Business Journal has also reached out to Southern Park Mall and Kohan Retail via their media contact line. The company had not responded as of this posting.

Costello met with representatives of Kohan in March to discuss the direction of the mall under the new owners. Earlier that month, he expressed frustration because the company would not respond to inquiries, phone calls or emails requesting an update on the company’s ideas for the mall.

Kohan purchased Southern Park Mall in December for $24.1 million from Washington Prime Group.

According to auditor records, Washington Prime paid its property taxes on or before the due date over the past three years.

The purchase raised questions from some officials because the company has a checkered reputation when it comes to maintaining its properties and paying its taxes, according to past reports. 

“It raises a lot of concerns for me,” said Carol Rimedio-Righetti, Mahoning County commissioner.  “I don’t know what the situation is, but I’m hoping that it’s going to be taken care of.”

Questions About Kohan

Rimedio-Righetti voiced some concerns after Kohan purchased the mall because she had read past media reports that detailed the company’s properties in foreclosures, failing to pay utility bills and taxes and neglecting to maintain some of its retail sites.

“I had questions because I read about their history and I wasn’t happy with it,” she said.

Kohan owns 47 retail and mall properties across the United States, including the Mall at Robinson in Pittsburgh. All the taxes on that property are current, according to the Allegheny County Auditor.

Still, some of Kohan’s properties have been shut down or sold because of the company’s failure to pay electric bills, water bills or delinquent taxes, according to reports.

In January, the Town Center at Cobb in Georgia closed because Georgia Power had disconnected service because of delinquency, according to a local television report. In May 2024, another Kohan property, the Fairlane Towne Center in Dearborn, Mich., was delinquent on $1.2 million in property taxes, the Detroit Free Press reported.

In March 2024, the Kohan-owned Westwood Mall in Marquette, Mich., was delinquent on $320,000 in property taxes, according to a Michigan TV news station.

Tax Abatements

In 2020, Southern Park Mall was awarded incentives through Mahoning County’s Community Reinvestment Area program while it was still under the ownership of Washington Prime Group. The CRA awarded a 40% reduction in real estate taxes over 15 years in return for a $20 million investment and expansion at the complex. Washington Prime had also pledged to create between 100 and 200 jobs.

According to records from the county’s Tax Incentive Review Council, the actual investment in the project as of 2023 stood at $21,274,378.88, and 95 jobs were created. Moreover, the mall realized tax exemptions of $57,710.89 for the year because of the CRA. The mall paid a total of $980,243.14 in taxes in 2023, records show.

Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham, who also chairs the TIRC, said the county is examining whether the property incentives are transferrable to the new property owners. “I believe the abatements will be found transferrable,” he said.

At its most recent meeting in March, the TIRC recommended keeping the incentives in place for now. Any changes in the CRA would not come until tax year 2025, paid in 2026, Meacham said.

Still, Rimedio-Righetti said she hopes the situation could be rectified soon, since the mall has always been a major source of revenue for the county and its services.

“It’s a lot of money,” she said. “When you do this, you hurt school districts and everything else.”