A dilapidated mall in Essex County could be seized by the township through eminent domain next year if no progress is made on its redevelopment, a township official said recently.
In October, the Livingston Township Council passed an ordinance designating Livingston Mall a condemnation area in need of redevelopment, following a study authorized earlier in the year.
The township isn’t looking to get involved in the redevelopment through eminent domain, but officials may do so “if there’s absolutely no progress (and) it appears that it’s at a standstill,” the township manager, Barry Lewis Jr., recently told NJ Advance Media.
The mall — which has multiple vacancies — is still currently operating, but its ownership is fractured, complicating its immediate future, Lewis said.
It is owned by Kohan Retail Investment Group and Transformco. Neither company responded to a request for comment. The mall was previously owned by Simon Properties, Lewis said.
Macy’s is an anchor tenant in the mall. In response to a request for comment, the company sent a statement saying some stores will be closed, but it’s undecided which locations will be closed.
“Over the next three years, we intend to close approximately 150 Macy’s stores while further investing in our 350 go-forward fleet,” the company said. “We expect to close roughly 65 locations this year, after the holidays, in line with our typical cadence.”
“A final decision on specific locations has yet to be made,” the company said.
Lewis said township officials have had sporadic meetings with the stakeholders involved, but the challenge is getting everyone to the table to discuss the site’s development. Kohan Retail Investment Group, in particular, has been an obstacle in moving forward, he said.
“They haven’t shown up a couple of times,” he said. “They showed up once completely uninformed as to what was going on about New Jersey redevelopment.”
“Our understanding is that Macy’s and Transformco folks are sort of in communication with each other and cooperating and understand how critical the Kohan piece is to the overall plan,” he added.
Officials will likely hold public meetings in the future to hear from residents on what they’d like to see in the mall’s place, but it must be realistic and economically viable, Lewis said.
People have posted empty photos of the mall on social media, including users on Reddit. One user said both the air conditioning and escalators were not working this past summer, and the property had overgrown grass and potholes.
Another anchor tenant, Sears, shuttered its location in the mall in 2020.
Stories by Brianna Kudisch
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