Syracuse, N.Y. – A Syracuse group that planned an ambitious redevelopment of ShoppingTown Mall in DeWitt has pulled out of the project, putting the future of the shuttered shopping center in doubt.
The Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency disclosed Thursday that OHB Redev LLC has withdrawn as developer of the mall, which closed during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and was acquired by the county.
OHB, a joint venture led by developers Ryan Benz and Andrew Breuer, reached a deal with Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon in 2021 to buy the mall from the county for $8 million and turn it into a $400 million, 65-acre community with parks and walking paths, multiple forms of housing and lots of retail and entertainment attractions.
But the project ran into trouble when the developers and the county were unable to negotiate a purchase of two privately held portions of the mall -- the former Macy’s and Sears department stores.
The county’s Industrial Development Agency filed an eminent domain action against the owner of the former Macy’s store, an offshoot of Benderson Development, in September. McMahon told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard at the time that he has cut a deal with the owner of the Sears store to acquire that property.
In a statement Thursday, Benz and Breuer said they were “stepping out of the driver’s seat” to focus on multiple residential and mixed-use projects throughout the region. However, they said they remain committed to the success of the ShoppingTown site and “hope to remain engaged as the county positions the site for turnkey development partners.”
“We have dedicated a tremendous amount of time, energy and financial resources to the vision for a re-purposed ShoppingTown, and we are honored to have played a role in advancing many of the entitlement milestones that will bring the redevelopment to fruition,” they said.
Their withdrawal comes three weeks after McMahon said his vision for ShoppingTown had changed.
The county executive said he would now like to see high-tech research and development and light manufacturing, along with OHB Redev’s District East project, at the 65-acre property off Erie Boulevard East.
The change, he said, was prompted by Micron Technology’s decision to build a massive semiconductor manufacturing complex in nearby Clay, a project that could drive major changes in the Central New York economy.
McMahon said Thursday that he negotiated OHB Redev’s withdrawal from the project, in a deal that includes a payment the county will make to the developers to compensate them for their help preparing the eminent domain case. He did not disclose the amount of the payment.
“It wasn’t like they walked away,” he said. “This is what I wanted.”
McMahon said the county will issue a new request for development proposals, seeking developers interested in building a project along the lines of his expanded vision for the site.
“They helped us get to where we are,” he said of OHB Redev. “But this is what we need. The project and the opportunity is at a different scale now and, so, getting a fresh look in the marketplace with total site control is in our interest.”
The county’s industrial development agency voted Thursday to authorize its executive director, Robert Petrovich, to negotiate a deal with the county that would make the agency the new developer of the shuttered mall.
Instead of the county selling the mall to OHB Redev, it would sell it to the development agency, Petrovich said after the meeting.
The industrial development agency is county government’s main economic development arm. However, its main role is to offer financial incentives, primarily tax breaks, to private developers and does not build anything itself. That’s why a new private development team will be sought.
