Mall sees signs of progress
Building improvements, new stores are anticipatedWORTHINGTON — Less than two months after taking ownership of the Northland Mall in Worthington, the new owner was in town on Wednesday to meet with contractors and collect bids on work to revitalize the former K-Mart building.
By: Julie Buntjer, Worthington Daily Globe
- Northland Mall owner
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WORTHINGTON — Less than two months after taking ownership of the Northland Mall in Worthington, the new owner was in town on Wednesday to meet with contractors and collect bids on work to revitalize the former K-Mart building.
While a contract has yet to be signed with a new tenant for the 40,000-square-foot anchor store, Mike Kohan hopes to move forward with improvements to the building’s roof, replace the flooring and update the electrical system.
“In order for me to rent it, I really have to work on the roof first,” said Kohan. “That’s the most important part of the building.
“Being that the economy is so down, I’m hoping I will get some good pricing,” he added.
Several local contractors were at the former K-Mart building on Wednesday to take specifications and put together a bid for the work that needs to be done.
Kohan said he’d like to get the work done as soon as possible, but he is also looking for quality work and the least expensive way to get the repairs made.
As for the rest of the mall, Kohan said the building is in pretty good shape considering its age.
“The mall is not a new mall, obviously,” he said, adding that mall maintenance works day and night, if necessary, to take care of issues.
Kohan, a mall developer from Queens, N.Y., plans to remain in town through this morning, and has met with some potential new tenants during his brief visit to the community.
The mall is about 75 percent occupied, and Kohan said he continues to work with local individuals, as well as national tenants to fill the remaining spots. Aside from the former K-Mart building, the other store vacancies range from 3,000- to 5,000 square feet.
“The economy the way it is, it’s very hard to get national tenants,” he said. “Smaller national tenants are even harder to get — many of them are actually closing. Local tenants are what I’m focusing on.”
Kohan, who owns five malls, a few of which are located in the Midwest, said he feels like he’s a partner with the tenants who move into his malls.
“Their success will obviously be my success,” he said.
A key to that is bringing in tenants who are presentable and bring more traffic into the mall, he added.
Among the ideas he has to help fill the remaining vacancies in the Northland Mall are a restaurant, arcade and a sporting goods store.
“I’d like to see a bath and body shop because I have it in my other malls and they’re doing fantastic,” he added. “It’s everybody’s favorite, and I was pretty shocked not to see it in this mall. That will be my priority right now to try to go after them.”
While he works to fill the mall with shops, Kohan is also aware of the need to get people to visit the mall. His mall events coordinator is now working on a few projects for the Northland Mall.
“The most important thing in this mall is the events I’d like to put here,” said Kohan, adding that a baby tiger show has already been scheduled to come into the mall in August, and a couple of other shows are on tap as well.
“Events would help foot traffic into the mall and foot traffic will help sales for the merchants, and that’s my goal here,” Kohan said. “I’ll do whatever it takes for these guys to have sales and be happy and satisfied. With that, new tenants will follow.”
Tags: news, northlandmall, mikekohan, mike, kohan, worthington
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