HAMBURG, N.Y. — The McKinley Mall is up for auction, again.
As first reported by the Buffalo News, the Seneca Nation has shown interest in placing a bid on the property.
“The Seneca Nation always looks at strategic opportunities to potentially expand and strengthen our economy. Economic development is how we fund important services for our people. The McKinley Mall site in Hamburg could be a unique potential opportunity with many positive attributes that we are interested in exploring,” Seneca Nation President Rickey Armstrong, Sr., said in a released statement to 2 On Your Side.
The mall was bought in 2021 for $8.5 million by developer Michael Kohan's Long Island-based real estate firm.
But the McKinley Mall is on the auction block with listings for the 75-acre property, which is said to be just over half-full with retail tenants.
"It's a business, and developers are looking to make money. But we want services for our residents," Hamburg town supervisor Randy Hoak Hoak said.
"We want a thriving business community, so whatever happens with the future of the mall, our hope is because of the development that has happened around the mall and throughout Hamburg that there's renewed interest."
When 2 On Your Side first spoke with Hoak about the sale in March, he said he would like to see Benderson Development, which owns the thriving strip mall across McKinley Parkway, come back with some purchase interest. That would be just as it did in 2021. Benderson lost out when a judge ruled their bid came in too late. Benderson and the town were unsuccessful in their efforts to legally block the mall sale to Kohan.
In the meantime at the mall, there are still stores like JC Penney, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, and other small attractions such as Dipson Theaters.
The auction of the mall was scheduled to take place this month but was pushed back to May.