Waterbury mall owner seeks tax break
WATERBURY — The new owner of the Brass Mill Center mall has asked Mayor Neil O’Leary to reduce the taxes on the property.
Mike Kohan of Kohan Retail Properties Group met with O’Leary for about an hour Tuesday and said the taxes need to be reduced in order for his company to make necessary repairs to the mall, which is located at 495 Union St.
“Some capital improvements are needed with the HVAC system, the roof and part of the parking lot,” Kohan said during a brief phone interview on Wednesday with Hearst Connecticut Media. “And in order for us to invest in the property, we need the taxes to be reduced.”
Kohan declined to say how much of a tax reduction he is seeking from O’Leary or how much he expects the mall upgrades will cost. The mall’s former owner, a limited liability company affiliated with Chicagobased Brookfield Properties, paid $4.12 millon in real estate taxes on Brass Mill Center during the fiscal 2021-2022 tax year.
O’Leary wouldn’t comment on Kohan’s request during a phone interview with Hearst Connecticut Media on Wednesday.
“He told me that previous owners have let some of the mall infrastructure go,” O’Leary said after he met with Kohan on Tuesday. “He also told me his company is ready to make an investment in the mall.”
Kohan’s company, which claims to specialize in turning around distressed mall properties, paid $44.9 million in late April for Brass Mill Center and the adjacent Brass Mill Commons shopping center.
Kohan Retail Properties Group owns and operates 53 malls and shopping centers as well as two New York City hotels, The Shoreham and The Gallivant Times Square.
Kohan Retail Properties Group has purchased 13 malls and shopping centers in the past year, according to information on the company’s web site. The company didn’t disclose how much it paid for the malls it has acquired since June 2021.
Kohan said Tuesday’s meeting with the mayor “was very productive.”
O’Leary said he “felt pretty good about our discussion” after the meeting.
“I’m happy because we have a seat at the table in terms of the mall’s future,” he said. “All options have to be out there and we need to think out of the box.”
Two of the mall’s four anchor locations are vacant. Off-price retailer Burlington and JCPenney are Brass Mill Center’s remaining anchor stores.
O’Leary said Kohan wants to survey area resident and business leaders to see what to what they want at the mall. The mall’s future is important to the city, he said, “because it’s a highly visible property.”
Kohan said changes are coming to the mall “that people are going to take notice of, probably within the next two or three months.” But he declined to elaborate on what those changes might be.