<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4U7Lvv_1H1TmNRZ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4U7Lvv_1H1TmNRZ00" width="1280" height="960" ><figcaption>Members of Onondaga County government and their private partners pose in front of ShoppingTown Mall on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. "I want to see 'Bring the mall back,'" directed county spokesperson Justin Sayles as they posed, referring to graffiti on the exterior. Credit: Laura Robertson | Central Current</figcaption></figure>Onondaga County announced Thursday a $400 million plan to redevelop Shoppingtown Mall into a mixed-use town center in Dewitt with hundreds of new housing units, green spaces and a retail district with shops, restaurants, and a potential grocery store. “We like to think of ourselves as human ecologists,” said Mark Falcone, the founder and CEO of Continuum Partners, the county’s planned developer. “We are essentially in the business of building the human habitat.” Falcone is a self-described 5th generation CNYer, although he is now based in Colorado. He explained that his time on the boards of nature conservancies had taught him about the way scientists think about the ecology of other species, inspiring him to be more thoughtful about the environment humans lived in. Continuum Partners previously developed a downtown transportation hub in Denver, CO.Redeveloping ShoppingTown will be a $400 million project completed in phases over 6 to 10 years. The mall closed in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. The county went to court to take the property after the mall’s owner stopped paying taxes. A previous plan to redevelop the mall fell through when developers who owned the Macy’s and Sear’s buildings of the mall walked away from the table. The county took those spaces through eminent domain.“It took us a while to get here, but we stuck (with) it,” said County Executive Ryan McMahon. “We made a promise to the town of Dewitt to get this right. I think we’ve gotten it right, and now we will execute.”At an April town meeting on the potential future of the site, residents spoke of what the mall used to mean to them. It had functioned as a town center, and there wasn’t a clear replacement. One resident complained that there were no longer any safe places for teenagers to hang out. The redeveloped site is meant to recreate that. McMahon emphasized that he does not envision the new site as simply a place for retail; the goal is to make people want to live there. This is a continuation of the Plan Onondaga focus on strong centers, both McMahon and legislature Chair Nicole Watts said, referring to the county’s comprehensive development plan. Much of the currently existing site will be torn down, although some of it may stay. The hundreds of new housing units to be built will include rental apartments, condominiums, and for-sale town homes, according to a press release. There will be direct connectivity to the Empire State Trail, and a campus built to “accommodate expanding employers and emerging industries.” McMahon said he believes there will be announcements soon about what will happen to the Macy’s and Sear’s buildings. At the prior town meeting, the county had suggested that larger-scale businesses or Micron supply chain companies could be housed in parts of ShoppingTown. “The most important thing here is to get a new walkable infrastructure created in place,” said Falcone. “So wherever the buildings really become an interruption to that, that’s when the building is not a, is really is no longer a value to the broader neighborhood you’re trying to build.” Falcone said the project would take 6 years if steady economic growth could be guaranteed. But unexpected macro events like COVID or a financial crisis could happen in that time, slowing the project down. He said that strong public-private partnerships with the county would keep the project moving forward “even in the face of what will likely be headwinds that none of us can predict today.”To promote accountability, the county will hand over control of the land in phases. The Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency will only transfer the land once specific milestones, including approvals, construction benchmarks, and financing commitments, have been passed.Continuum Partners is set to pay the county an aggregate $16.1 million for the property. About half of that will go towards paying back an OCIDA loan, while the remaining $8 million will go to the county’s general fund. The developer is planning to seek public infrastructure financing from the county to pay for sewers and water pipes to support the proposed housing and to also negotiate a payment in lieu of taxes agreement.The first phase of the project will begin immediately with a period of due diligence. OCIDA and Continuum will evaluate the site, refine their plans, assess demolition requirements, pursue funding opportunities, and engage the local community, according to the news release. “Phase one essentially starts today,” said McMahon. </div></body>

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Onondaga County announced Thursday a $400 million plan to redevelop Shoppingtown Mall into a mixed-use town center in Dewitt with hundreds of new housing units, green spaces and a retail district with shops, restaurants, and a potential grocery store. “We like to think of ourselves as human ecologists,” said Mark...

Shoppingtown Mall gets a new redevelopment plan

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Onondaga County announced Thursday a $400 million plan to redevelop Shoppingtown Mall into a mixed-use town center in Dewitt with hundreds of new housing u

Shoppingtown Mall gets a new redevelopment plan

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