The road to a new town center project at the Boulevard Mall site in Amherst travels through a J.C. Penney store – and the retailer is fighting the town’s attempts to make way for the project by seizing the property by eminent domain.
“We couldn’t even get Penney’s attention until we got within one day of eminent domain, and then they served us,” said Amherst Town Supervisor Brian Kulpa.
J.C. Penney owns the property under its store and parking lot that developers need to develop new infrastructure for its planned walkable town center, which will mix residential uses with retail, restaurants and green space.
Developer Douglas Jemal has owned most of the mall since 2019, with Benderson Development Co. holding a portion and other companies having contractual rights on the site.
Officials say the best way to re-energize the mall property is by carving roads through the mall footprint and building standalone retail, office, residential and restaurant space.
To help speed this process along, the Town Board in 2022 designated the mall as an urban renewal area and, with the support of Jemal and Benderson, voted to temporarily take control of the site through eminent domain. The plan is for the town to acquire the properties, then sell them back to Jemal and Benderson once the legal hurdles are cleared.
To speed up the development process, the town is using eminent domain so it can take ownership of the land if it can demonstrate that it’s needed to complete its urban renewal plan. The town recently created an Urban Renewal Area that includes the mall, aimed at easing the way for the redevelopment.
But J.C. Penney has filed a petition in State Supreme Court saying the store is thriving and doesn’t meet the town’s definition of blighted, “dying mall” space.
The company also claims it wasn’t properly informed of local hearings about the proposed eminent domain acquisition; the town hasn’t followed the right procedures in its acquisition…
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