The 720,000-square-foot mall, which opened in 1988, has long been Lanesborough’s single largest taxpayer. In 2007, when the mall was near its peak, it generated $2.3 million in annual tax revenue. The money has helped subsidize the Police Department, schools and road maintenance. But these days, the mall is a mere remnant of its past glory.
Business had fallen off sharply by the mid-2010s. Big-box stores including JCPenney and Sears closed. And the movie theater went dark in 2019. Since then, the mall has been largely shut down, and what remains is in poor shape -- one of the main doors is covered with plywood after someone purportedly tried to drive a car through the entrance, and the roof needs to be replaced, at an estimated cost of $5 million.
Deciding what to do with the mall, however, has been a headache for town officials and the mall’s owners. As the mall sits unused, the town wants its owners, Boston-based JMJ Real Estate Holdings and its partners, to sell the property for redevelopment. But the owners have refused, and the standoff has no end in sight.
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