Onondaga County started the process of foreclosure this week on the Great Northern Mall. The county claimed in a lawsuit that the owner of the mall owes over $5 million in taxes. These taxes were supposed to be paid in monthly installments to Onondaga County, per a 2020 agreement between the county and the mall’s owners. However, between the months of October 2021 and February 2022, these payments were not made.
County Executive Ryan McMahon said in a press conference today that he is hoping the current owner will sell the property to a local developer instead of the county taking over through court action. However, the possibility of that happening cannot be ruled out.
“We want to get paid,” McMahon said. “We’re not going to enter into another tax agreement with them. If they can’t pay us, we’ll take the property.”
McMahon said he has no issue holding the owners of the Great Northern Mall accountable for their tax payment inaction.
“If they [the mall owners] weren't investing anywhere else you'd be more sympathetic,” McMahon said, “but they're still investing, they're still a prominent group, they're just not investing here."
McMahon said current mall tenants won’t be affected by foreclosure, which comes after a multi-day power outage at the mall. McMahon said the outage was due to an unpaid national grid bill. Power has since been restored.
“They [the mall owners] made a large payment,” McMahon said. That's how it [the power] got turned on. And so that's good. There's tenants there that need to be treated better.”