‘Ongoing issue’: Towne West tenants told power will be shut off if owner doesn’t pay bill
Updated Wednesday:
Towne West’s deadline to pay its power bill or have electricity turned off was extended again, an Evergy spokesperson said.
The new details can be found here.
Original Saturday:
Some Towne West Square tenants could soon be without power if the mall does not pay its overdue electricity bill by the end of the business day Tuesday.
Evergy spokesperson Gina Penzig said tenants were notified Friday about the past-due bill by its owners. She wouldn’t say how much the bill is or how late it is.
“Nonpayment has been an ongoing issue with continued opportunities to bring the account current,” she said in an email, adding that the looming power outage would affect storefronts inside the mall and not the larger stores with their own entrances. “Some larger stores in the mall are served separately on accounts that are in good standing and will not have service disconnected.”
Power was originally going to be turned off at the end of the day Monday, but, at the request of mall management, it was extended to Tuesday since Monday is a federal holiday, Penzig said.
Mike Kohan, the managing member of New-York based Kohan Retail Investment Group, which purchased the struggling mall in 2019 along with Florida-based 4th Dimension Properties, did not immediately return a call or text.
Last week, The Eagle reported that the mall had been bouncing checks to its employees and owed more than $363,424 in past-due property taxes and penalties from 2021 and 2022 — that’s how much was still owed on Friday.
This story was originally published June 16, 2023 at 2:51 PM.