Just in time for a fresh start for the new year, the owners of the Orchards Mall in Benton Township have paid their property taxes.
The owners of the Orchards Mall have a reputation of being years behind with their property taxes. Just today however, the owners have paid more than $350,000 to Berrien County to get current. The payment represents back taxes from 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Orchards Mall property management leader Mantu Bedi said financial liquidity and encouragement from Berrien County Commissioner Chokwe Pitchford led to the sizable property tax payment. Bedi said despite some resistance, ownership still has a vision for redevelopment that could include mixed-use commercial/residential, if Benton Township leaders agree that rezoning the area is an option.
Commissioner Pitchford has been working with the mall’s owner to redevelop the property. Pitchford says getting current on the taxes was a required first step.
“An understanding that what needed to be done first before any other plans could be submitted to the township, (before) anything could move forward, was that those taxes needed to be taken care of. As commissioner, as somebody that has taken this issue of the Orchards Mall kind of under my wing and something that I want to see done, we needed those taxes to be paid in full in the county, and they came through on their promise.”
Pitchford adds that next, he expects to work with mall owners and Benton Township officials to negotiate a plan for redeveloping the Orchards Mall location. The mall owners want a mix of residential and commercial, but the Township has been reluctant to rezone. Pitchford says today’s action demonstrates the Mall owner is serious about moving forward.
“If they didn’t have plans to develop that property, they would have just paid the smallest amount possible and kept it from going into foreclosure. To pay the entirety of all the taxes up till current shows me a willingness on behalf of the ownership to get something done here. And I have gotten commitments from them even today after those taxes were paid that they are all in and they’re ready to move forward.”
Berrien County Treasurer Shelly Weich confirms the taxes on Orchards are now current up through 2022. The taxes for 2023 are still outstanding but mall owners have reportedly agreed to bring those current within the next month.
