The owners of Orchards Mall have thirty days to come forward with a redevelopment plan – otherwise they risk losing one of their last public supporters.
Orchards Mall looks abandoned. The parking lot is riddled with craters, trash and mounds of brush are piled against the loading docks. Hundreds – if not thousands – of seagulls have taken up roost.
Human traffic inside the mall is practically non-existent and the owners have a long history of being behind on their property taxes.
Berrien County Commissioner Chokwe Pitchford says he’s talking with the owners, and he’s confident they’re working on a plan.
What that plan might include is unclear.
“Whether it’s housing, or a banquet hall, or a reduced mall footprint, they’re putting together proposals and I’ll see those,” said Pitchford. “If they’re coming to the table in good faith, we would be remiss for us to not also come to the table in good faith.”
Chokwe added that it must be, “…a proposal on paper that comes with an investment from Bedi and Associates that is real – a financial investment of 20 to 30 million dollars where they say this is how much we’re willing to put it.”
Pitchford said any plan will require investment from the owners, agreement from the local governments, and economic development monies from the state.
Whether all that can come together is what Chokwe says he’s willing to test.
