TOWN OF AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — "I love the mall, I love that it's centrally located," Deeann Tompkins said of the Boulevard Mall in Amherst. But with fleeing stores, the once bustling center of Amherst tends to look a little more desolate these days.
"When 'The Summit' closed years ago, I was bummed out about that, but now this mall, that's sad. We need this mall," Tompkins said. The mall's owner, LNR Partners, is selling the financially strapped property through an online auction from April 1-3. Shoppers ahead of the sale hope to see life brought back to this mall.
"This mall has a lot of potential," shopper Brooke Perona said. "Just develop it, people will come," Tompkins added.
And redevelopment is what Town of Amherst Supervisor Brian Kulpa is hoping for.
"It's going to be a pretty exciting moment for us to see this kinda dying mall change and turn into something that really is going to fuel the Amherst economy and taxbase in the foreseeable future," Supervisor Kulpa said.
A four to five story mixed-use development property aimed towards young professionals, students and seniors is what the town would like to see post sale.
"This is going to be an area of town that sort of revitalizes and we're going to have options to live, work and play all in the same area," Kulpa said.
From a planning perspective, Kulpa said the town will be ready to hit the ground running starting in June, but the pace will be set by LNR.
"We're a town that's ready for this redevelopment so it's going to be something that someone can come in with decent confidence," Kulpa said.
