Mall has new owner

Findlay Mall has a new owner. Rocky Five Investments, of Baltimore, Maryland, bought the mall on Dec. 29 for $3 million from Kohan Retail Investment Group, of Great Neck, New York. Rocky Five Investments will be assessing the mall and its options in the coming months, Jeffrey Gelberman, an owner and managing member of Rocky Five, said. "At this point, we're just trying to get our hands around it," he said Wednesday. "We're still just trying to get deposits and rents and all that shifted over, that's kind of been the focus now." Rocky Five Investments also owns Lima Mall and it is assessing how to attract new tenants there. Findlay Village Mall prospered as a regional shopping center and social center through the late 1980s, 1990s and into the 2000s. Then consumer shopping tastes and retailer strategies changed, and online shopping stole much of the retail market share from Findlay Mall. The mall's slate of tenants dwindled. Various potential uses for the mall have been mentioned in recent years, including making it a multipurpose center, complete with marketing companies with call centers, offices, a food court and entertainment venues. Hancock County government officials considered buying the mall for offices and court space in 2021, but they ultimately backed away from it.