Northland Mall sold for $1.8 million

• Mall exterior

Shoppers walk in and out of the main entrance to the Northland Mall Thursday afternoon. Mike Kohan of Queens, N.Y., announced he has purchased the mall for $1.8 million. (Brian Korthals/Daily Globe)
• Mall interior

A family walks through the center of Northland Mall as they shop Thursday afternoon in Worthington. (Brian Korthals/Daily Globe)

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Northland Mall has been sold for $1.8 million to mall developer Mike Kohan of Queens, N.Y.

The transfer of ownership from Developers Diversified Realty (DDR) to Kohan became official Dec. 31, 2008.

Kohan plans to entice local businesses into the mall with low rent, promotions and events to draw in shoppers.

“I’m reaching out to local merchants in town and we will help them,” Kohan said. “I will give them all the benefits, all the incentives that they ask for, for them to start, and hopefully we’re going to grow together.”

Initially, prior owners of the mall had asked for approximately $2.7 million for Northland Mall, and Kohan had offered only $1.6 million. After Peebles signed a lease agreement with the mall, Kohan increased his bid to $1.8 million, which was then accepted.

Kohan praised the renovations done by Peebles and paid for by DDR, noting how it brought attention and foot traffic to the mall.

“What I do with these kinds of malls… I go in and I try to revitalize it and try to bring tenants in,” Kohan said. “I would give incentives to local and national tenants to come into the mall… I consider them as my partners.”

Kohan owns other malls in small markets in Illinois and Iowa. He prefers the smaller market malls because they cost less per square foot and their tenants are often the only stores of their type within a large radius. As such, when national companies start to close stores, they do not start by closing stores in smaller markets, Kohan explained, but close stores where they have several outlets closer together.

“They cut down in bigger markets, because they have two to three stores in a 10-mile radius,” Kohan said. “In a small market, they can’t do it, because if they take J.C. Penney out of the mall, you’re not going to have another J.C. Penney within 200 miles. Small markets are kind of safe.”

Kohan is optimistic about the future of Northland Mall, but has no intention of taking the possibility of additional future tenants for granted.

“I solely rely on the in-place income from the malls. I’m not projecting anything,” he explained. “Projection would be my goal, but it’s not going to be on my ledger unless there’s an in-place tenant that pays that.”

Kohan plans to promote the businesses in the mall through advertising and offering events in the mall that help bring foot traffic and sales. Mall events help bring people in over the weekends and, when successful, can double the sales stores experience.

“That makes a tremendous amount of difference,” Kohan said. “I’m paying for the event, so they don’t have to go out of pocket — they just get the benefit of it.”

The mall’s new owner will visit it within the next two weeks. After that, he will develop a more detailed list of goals and strategies to make the property more desirable for tenants.

“It’s my pleasure to be in your town and have a mall. I will do my utmost to satisfy the shoppers’ needs in that town,” Kohan said.

Anyone with suggestions regarding the mall should e-mail Kohan at mikekohan100@gmail.com, and anyone interested in becoming a Northland Mall tenant should call him at (646) 824-8924.

Tags: news, northlandmall, worthington, mikekohan, mike, kohan