COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A metro Atlanta mall that shut down for a day over unpaid power bills turned the lights back on Wednesday. Now, one of the store owners tells Channel 2 Action News that he wants to take action against the mall.
Shane Starr, who owns Starrcade inside the mall, said he has hired a lawyer to investigate the property owner. He also hopes to band together with other business owners at some point to file a class action lawsuit against the owner.
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“We’re trying to get compensated for the unfair usage of our rent. There are line items for utilities which I’ve been paying for a year and a half since we signed our lease here. To find out that we pay month after month after month and then he turns around and their group turns around and doesn’t pay their utility bills, it makes you ask where the money is actually going?” Starr told Channel 2′s Michele Newell.
Kohan Retail Investment Group owns Town Center at Cobb. Utility companies in other states confirmed with Newell that the same company has run into similar problems in Kansas, Ohio and Iowa.
“Towne West Square was disconnected for nonpayment 7 times in the past 12 months. The mall has been owned by Kohan Retail Investment Group during these shutoffs,” said Courtney Lewis, who is the Senior Communications Manger of Media for Energy.
“I can confirm Ohio Edison had notified Chapel Hill Mall at least twice that electric service was in danger of disconnection because of nonpayment before the mall ultimately closed,” said Hannah Catlett, Advanced Communications Representative.
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According to the Cobb County Tax Commissioner’s Office, there are currently three tax liens against the property owner for 2024, with more than $1,000,000 in back taxes that were due in October of 2024.
The Cobb County tax commissioners officers says it reached out to the owner multiple times before officially filing the tax liens and reached out multiple times this year.
The office said it’s last resort is a tax sale which could happen in May if the back taxes aren’t paid. Between now and May the County tax commissioner said there will be a series of steps her office takes leading to the tax sale, if the owner fails to pay what is owed.
“I hate that this guy did this, but at the same time I still really want to see this mall succeed,” said Starr.
“We care about this mall and we are here a lot and to find out that somebody is trying to make a profit off not caring about it really upset us. We’re here today to kind of give what money we can as young adults who don’t make a lot to the small businesses,” said Ezra Morrison.
Channel 2 Action News first told you Tuesday about the Town Center at Cobb posting signs on the main entrances that it would be closed.
The mall’s owner claimed a maintenance issue resulted in the closure and that it would be resolved in two hours. However, Channel 2 Action News learned that the mall had “highly delinquent” Georgia Power bills.
Georgia Power officials told Newell that they have been working with Town Center for several months to resolve the payments and disconnecting service at the mall was a “last resort.”
The anchor stores, Belk, Macy’s and JCPenney, were able to stay open since they paid their own bills and have separate entrances.
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