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There could be a new owner for the closed Berkshire Mall soon.

UPDATED: Berkshire Mall Sold To Ohio Investment Firm

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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LANESBOROUGH, Mass. - The sale of the Berkshire Mall was recorded with the Registry of Deeds Thursday.
 
The sale price was recorded at $1 million, some $2.5 million less than Kohan had purchased it. 
 

Original Post: Wednesday, July 10 at 5:02 p.m.

 
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — A potential sale may be pending at the closed Berkshire Mall.
 
Recently, a new entity paid all of the town's taxes. Durga Property Holdings, Inc. out of Cincinnati apparently paid the taxes owed to the town. However, there is no record of a deed exchange in the Northern Berkshire Registry of Deeds just yet so it is unclear exactly what Durga's involvement actually is but local officials say the company identified themselves as the"new owner." 
 
Durga also owns the Orchards Mall in Michigan, which the company bought from the Berkshire Mall's current owner Kohan Retail Investment Group, along with a handful of other developments throughout the country.
 
Vijaya Kumar Vemulapalli is listed as the head of the company in the paperwork filed with the Ohio Secretary of State's Office. 
 
The Berkshire Mall was closed earlier in the year after facing significant issues with back taxes and utilities. The mall is currently owned by Kohan Retail Investment Group, which bought the property in 2016 for $3.5 million. Before that, it was owned by Strategic Asset Services and before that Pyramid Companies. 
 
Kohan had purchased it right after both Macy's and Best Buy left the 700,000 square-foot facilities and the loss of stores continued. Eventually, the mall closed its doors for good, with only Regal Cinemas and Target, both of which own their buildings, still operating.
 
The mall's website was shut down and Kohan removed the mall from the list of properties its website.
 
Searches for Durga has turned up little but according to the Herald Palladium in Michigan, Velmulapalli has had "mixed results" with development. He had particularly been successful with the development of a couple of hotel resorts.
 
Rumors of the sale, or pending sale, have circulated around town and little is actually known. However, the payment of the taxes has come at a great relief to town officials.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Lanesborough Administrator Gives Update on Snow Plowing

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

LANESBOROUGH, Mass.— Five staff members plow about 50 miles of town roads during the winter.

On Monday, Town Administrator Gina Dario updated the Select Board on snow plowing.  The county began to see snow around Thanksgiving and had a significant storm last week.

"I just think it's good for transparency for people to understand sort of some of the process of how they approach plowing of roads," she said.

Fifty miles of roadway is covered by five staff members, often starting at 8 p.m. with staggered shifts until the morning.

"They always start on the main roads, including Route 7, Route 8, the Connector Road, Bull Hill Road, Balance Rock (Road,) and Narragansett (Avenue.) There is cascading, kind of— as you imagine, the arms of the town that go out there isn't a set routine. Sometimes it depends on which person is starting on which shift and where they're going to cover first," Dario explained.

"There are some ensuring that the school is appropriately covered and obviously they do Town Hall and they give Town Hall notice to make sure that we're clear to the public so that we can avoid people slipping and falling."

She added that dirt roads are harder to plow earlier in the season before they freeze 'Or sometimes they can't plow at all because that will damage the mud that is on the dirt roads at that point."

During a light snowstorm, plowers will try to get blacktop roads salted first so they can be maintained quickly.

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