Mayor: Olean Center Mall work expected as complaints reported

City Editor

An aerial view of the Olean Center Mall on Tuesday.

OLEAN — Work is expected to begin soon to make repairs at the Olean Center Mall.

Mayor Bill Aiello said he spoke earlier this month with the head of the firm which purchased the mall almost three years ago, encouraging the owner to make progress at the site.

“He’s planning to start soon,” Aiello said, with an initial focus on parking lots and repairs before moving ahead with long-term redevelopment plans. The firm was working with contractors on quotes at the time of his discussion, the mayor said.

Rochester developer Angelo Ingrassia, of Olean Town Center LLC, could not be reached for comment.

Under a proposal submitted to the state in 2022 for assistance, the long-term plan includes demolishing the former Bon-Ton store, which closed in 2018, to build a new structure for a 60-unit senior housing project with ground-floor retail. Other planned work includes interior renovations, restoration of existing commercial space, and parking and greenspace upgrades.

The development is similar to efforts Ingrassia, a longtime Rochester-area businessman, led at Skyview on the Ridge in Irondequoit, formerly the Irondequoit Mall. That site faced a string of closings, vacancies and ownership changes between its opening in 1990 and when Ingrassia purchased it at a 2016 sheriff’s auction. Since buying the site, the site has seen a new 100-unit senior housing development, a $9.5 million community center, and several businesses move into vacant space.

In December, Empire State Development awarded $2 million for the redevelopment effort. Other aid is also being sought to help bridge the gap between existing funding sources and the cost of the project.

Breaking ground 50 years ago this month, the mall opened in 1977. Declines due to the opening of large developments in the city’s West End and in the town of Allegany in the mid-1990s, the Great Recession in the late 2000s, and the COVID-19 pandemic saw many stores in the mall close — either to relocate elsewhere in the area or going out of business.

As of Tuesday, the mall housed 11 businesses, including two anchors, eight storefront businesses and one kiosk. Of the tenants, two — Renna’s Pizza and Kay Jewelers — were original tenants when the mall opened. Three businesses have closed since the 2020 purchase by Ingrassia.

Olean Town Centre purchased the mall from Zamias on Dec. 4, 2020. According to Cattaraugus County Office of Real Property Services records, the sale price was $5.99 million.

In the last year, several businesses have left the site, and anchor stores have blocked off access to the main mall corridor. A sign posted at J.C. Penney indicated city code enforcement was involved with the closure. Codes officials told the Times Herald that company officials reached out to the office to see if the closures would follow city codes for emergency exits. Both stores still meet the codes, officials reported, with other exits and sprinkler systems allowing for the entryway in question to remain closed.

The overall condition of the structure has appeared to deteriorate, with complaints from employees and tenants reported to the Times Herald. The public restrooms on the south end of the mall — notorious in recent years for a poor state of repair — have been closed, according to notices posted at the mall’s entrances.

Fallen ceiling tiles can be seen in one vacant store space, with dripping water presumably from a roof leak soaking a large area of carpet.

As of Tuesday, there had been no formal complaints to code enforcement about the property — the first step toward an investigation and potential action by the city.

(Contact City Editor Bob Clark at [email protected].)

City Editor

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