UPDATED: Berkshire Mall Sold To Ohio Investment Firm
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. - The sale of the Berkshire Mall was recorded with the Registry of Deeds Thursday.
The sale price was recorded at $1 million, some $2.5 million less than Kohan had purchased it.
Original Post: Wednesday, July 10 at 5:02 p.m.
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — A potential sale may be pending at the closed Berkshire Mall.
Recently, a new entity paid all of the town's taxes. Durga Property Holdings, Inc. out of Cincinnati apparently paid the taxes owed to the town. However, there is no record of a deed exchange in the Northern Berkshire Registry of Deeds just yet so it is unclear exactly what Durga's involvement actually is but local officials say the company identified themselves as the"new owner."
Durga also owns the Orchards Mall in Michigan, which the company bought from the Berkshire Mall's current owner Kohan Retail Investment Group, along with a handful of other developments throughout the country.
Vijaya Kumar Vemulapalli is listed as the head of the company in the paperwork filed with the Ohio Secretary of State's Office.
The Berkshire Mall was closed earlier in the year after facing significant issues with back taxes and utilities. The mall is currently owned by Kohan Retail Investment Group, which bought the property in 2016 for $3.5 million. Before that, it was owned by Strategic Asset Services and before that Pyramid Companies.
Kohan had purchased it right after both Macy's and Best Buy left the 700,000 square-foot facilities and the loss of stores continued. Eventually, the mall closed its doors for good, with only Regal Cinemas and Target, both of which own their buildings, still operating.
The mall's website was shut down and Kohan removed the mall from the list of properties its website.
Searches for Durga has turned up little but according to the Herald Palladium in Michigan, Velmulapalli has had "mixed results" with development. He had particularly been successful with the development of a couple of hotel resorts.
Rumors of the sale, or pending sale, have circulated around town and little is actually known. However, the payment of the taxes has come at a great relief to town officials.
