AMHERST, N.Y. (WBEN) Amherst Town Supervisor Brian Kulpa tells WBEN the plan to breathe new life into the Boulevard Mall, considered prime commercial property in the town, has slowed due to some unforeseen problems.
"The problem is the way infrastructure comes into the mall," said Kulpa on WBEN Tuesday morning. "It's fed from the south, and moves up north. It travels through the mall, meaning, if you were to cut through the mall to build a road, you would be interrupting all of the service supply."
In addition, there is a problem with something called legacy leases.
Stores with legacy leases still hold lease rights to the mall, even if they've moved out. Sears is an example. "It's cheaper to pay the lease than to buy themselves out of the lease," said Kulpa. Sears left the mall in 2017.
Under terms of a legacy lease, tenants own not only their retail space, but sections of parking lots as well. That has prevented developers from moving forward.
"Our goal and the goal of developers is to talk to the existing stores that want to remain on site and figure out a plan to provide them with new infrastructure while they proceed with a street grid for the project," said Kulpa.
Under state law, the Town of Amherst is acting as an "Urban Renewal Agency," which allows them to temporarily take ownership of the site for the sake of "cleansing" some of the old leases. Ultimately, Kulpa said, developers will have to take control back.
"In the past, urban renewal was used to take neighborhoods and turn them into shopping centers. We're doing the opposite," added Kulpa. "We're taking a shopping center and turning it into a neighborhood."
Boulevard Mall encompasses 64 acres off Niagara Falls Boulevard between Maple Rd and Sheridan Drive.
Developer Doug Jemal has proposed a pedestrian and bike friendly development on the property that includes multi-story housing, retail, restaurant and recreational activity.
It's unclear how many tenants at the mall are interested in being part of the next development.
The project is till 5 to 10 years away, according to Kulpa.
