Berkshire Mall Sale Falls Through; Talks Still on the Table
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Potential Berkshire Mall buyer Cypress Equities has pulled out of the deal to turn the former mall into a shopping center.
Current mall owner JMJ RE Holdings had a purchase-and-sale agreement with the Dallas shopping center developer since May.
In August, Cypress's managing director, Scott Harrington, presented the company's hopes on developing the defunct property. The company aimed to attract top national brands while incorporating green spaces, murals by local artists, and more. At the time, Harrington said two large tenants had already expressed interest.
Last week, Cypress Equities pulled out of the current contract, but did not say it was completely done with the mall.
Harrington said in an email Wednesday that the company's due diligence discovered four primary challenges in developing the project.
• There is not enough service/pressure to the property to support redevelopment project without constructing costly water tanks.
• The current septic system and former treatment facility is not acceptable for a project of the scale and magnitude proposed.
• There is existing asbestos and bad soil from the treatment system that needs to be remediated off site.
• And, "Baker Hill Road District, as it is currently constructed, the District assessments and governance will not work for our project."
"All these challenges must be resolved before we proceed with the project. We hope to continue our conversations with the various stakeholders to find solutions," he said.
The road district, established back in the 1980s when the mall was built to oversee the Connector Road and assess for certain town services, has been a sticking point for JMJ and prior mall owners. They've pushed for its dissolution along with reducing assessments on the vacant property.
Earlier this week, Tim Grogan, development consultant for JMJ RE Holdings said in a statement through email that Cypress had terminated the contract because of the costs of the Baker Hill Road District, now renamed the Baker Hill Business District.
"Cypress has terminated the existing contract citing the extraordinary costs of the Baker Hill Road District under its current structure. While they did back out of the current contract, they have expressed interest in still purchasing the property if the issues with the Baker Hill Road District are resolved," he wrote. "These issues include moderating its operating budget, addressing the disproportionate past due assessments, altering its organizational structure, and being able to leverage the District to cover various infrastructure costs. All these issues would need to be addressed before they would be willing to move forward."
Last month, Jay Jones of JMJ said a key obstacle to the sale remained unresolved: the lawsuit between JMJ and the district over property taxes. He said the purchase-and-sale agreement with Cypress had a deadline, and argued that the transaction could not close without an agreement.
"You have to have a settlement in order to have Cypress receive the property with a clean title, and I don't know what in the world everyone is discussing moving forward for when that's the biggest issue and the biggest hurdle," Jones said in the October meeting.
JMJ Holdings filed a countersuit last year against the district, which had filed a December 2024 lawsuit seeking $545,000 for taxes due in May 2024.
"The town, even if it wanted to, could not settle that lawsuit. The only way we could do it would be to dissolve the Baker Hill Road District through a special act and ask the Legislature to forgive those taxes," said Jeff Blake of the town's counsel, KP Law.
Jones said if the district continues taxing as it has been, the sale of the mall will not go through.
Also in October, Blake said the town was working to help with financing needs as Cypress has alluded it doesn't want the district to be dissolved if it can help as a business district.
State Rep. John Barrett III said in a phone call Wednesday that the sale of the mall is too important to let go and he wants to try and get everyone to continue talks.
"My intent is to get everybody to the table, sit down, see if we can't work this out over the next couple of weeks, and like I say, this is too important of a project to fail."
Barrett said he strongly believes everyone will come to the table as it is important to the town, emphasizing he is very impressed with Cypress Equities and its track record.
He said that state Sen. Paul Mark has been briefed on the project as well as working with the state.
Last month, the town had asked Mark and Barrett to help by supporting state Department of Transportation taking over the Connector Road, funding for a connection to Pittsfield's wastewater treatment plant, and a connection to the town's water main.
"We want to do everything we possibly can to try to make this project happen," Barrett said.
Select Board Chair Deborah Maynard said the Select Board will be discussing the topic at Monday's meeting.
Tags: Berkshire Mall,
