Jun 10, 2025 By Mike Jones 3 min read

The proposed buyer of the Washington Crown Center mall will be at North Franklin’s zoning hearing tonight as they hope to get “more flexibility” with the commercial property before finalizing the purchase.

Representatives of Prep Funds of Cleveland, which lists itself as an Ohio-based commercial real estate fund management and advisory firm, will be attending the 5 p.m. hearing at the township building as officials consider altering the zoning to allow for more uses at the property at 1500 W. Chestnut St.

“What they’re requesting is a zoning amendment to permit them to have a little more flexibility with what they can and can’t do there,” North Franklin Township solicitor Michael Cruny said about the request. “This is one of multiple things that has to go through to their liking for them to close, (such as) additional flexibility to build it out and fill the slots.”

It’s the first time the potential buyer has been identified since New York-based Kohan Retail Investment Group listed the property for sale last summer. Township officials have been on a blitz in recent months by citing the owner hundreds of times for various infractions due to the deteriorating conditions of the mall in an attempt to force a sale.

Kohan purchased Washington Crown Center mall for $20 million in 2016, but many tenants have left as the property has become dilapidated and leaks have developed in several areas of the roof. Cruny said Prep Funds of Cleveland has purchased several other commercial properties from Kohan in the past, so they are already accustomed to dealing with the owner in similar situations elsewhere.

But the offer to buy the 434,408-square-foot property, which opened as Franklin Mall in 1969, is not a done deal, so the zoning hearing is being held to possibly change some of the allowable uses. The financial offer has not been made public, nor have any other details about the possible arrangement.

Following today’s zonight hearing at the municipal building at 345 Franklin Farms Road, the township supervisors will meet at 5:30 p.m, although it’s not clear whether they intend to vote on any changes. Representatives from Prep Funds also attended a township planning commission meeting last month as “part of their due diligence” to address the possible changes to establish a light industrial redevelopment overlay district, Cruny said.

Cruny expected the representatives from Prep Funds would be able to elaborate in more detail at tonight’s meeting about what they intend to do with the mall after the sale closes.

The potential deal is not connected to a recent sale of the 6.7-acre parcel where Rural King is located. That property was subdivided recently and sold April 13 for $2.3 million to AMJ LLC of Washington, which was formed in January. Cruny said he was unaware of any changes that will happen to the property and believes the property was just separated so it would not be included in the overall sale.