LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The town's biggest headline in 2025 was the Berkshire Mall. 

There wasn't much news about the shuttered property since owners, JMJ Holdings, announced that they were pivoting from cannabis cultivation to senior living in 2023.  The Select Board ordered them to pay unsettled taxes in late 2024, and lawsuits transpired. 

JMJ and the Baker Hill Road District remain in a standoff over unpaid taxes for the Route 7/8 Connector Road.  JMJ argues that they are being under-represented and over-taxed by the independent municipal district and want it dissolved, while the BHRD wants to take the mall back. 

The Berkshire Mall closed more than five years ago and has sat vacant since.

Its current owners are planning an assisted living, mixed-use build, and secured Integritus Healthcare as a partner.  First, the decrepit mall must be taken down. 

In May, JMJ reported that the project was entering the design process for a nine-figure overhaul of the property into 420 to 450 units of senior housing, and it was confirmed that town taxes were paid, totaling $293,380. 

The holdings company filed a lawsuit against the BHRD, which had filed a December 2024 lawsuit seeking $545,000 for taxes due in May 2024.  JMJ said the property is charged six times more taxes than other Lanesborough businesses. 

In August, JMJ announced that it is partnering with a local health-care company, Integritus Healthcare, to bolster its plans for hundreds of senior housing units.