BOARDMAN The man behind the company who purchased the Southern Park Mall in late 2024 had an extended conversation with 21 News Friday morning to discuss the future of the mall.

This comes after several months' worth of reports regarding concerns about Kohan Retail Investment Group based on troubles the company has had with other malls it has purchased across the country from unpaid taxes and utility bills to loss of tenants and even closures of some of those malls.

After not showing up to previous scheduled interviews, Kohan Retail Investment Group CEO Mike Kohan sat down with 21 News's Kaitlyn McCarthy over Zoom to discuss his plans for the mall and to quell the fears of those concerned for the mall's future.

21 News has confirmed that Kohan has recently paid not only a large portion of the first half of its property taxes, but the second half as well. Kohan says he hopes this can provide a sense of reassurance for those concerned.

Kohan said the Southern Park Mall is one of the most unique malls in its portfolio crediting amenities like the DeBartolo Commons, which he says attracts traffic from several different counties.

"Believe it or not, every time there is a game or a gathering, the businesses that we have, especially the food chains and restaurants, are making a great amount of business. And also, the mall obviously gets busy because they do not just come for the game, they come to shop and dine and to get together," Kohan said.

Kohan also touched upon the several events held at the mall and promised to add more. However, Kohan did not specify what these new events would be.

"I'm trying to do as much as possible because the more we do events, the more traffic we draw to the mall, and our [businesses] are going to get the benefit out of it," Kohan said.

Back in January, 21 News reported on businesses closing in the mall including Touchdown Gifts and Sarku Japan. Another spot that has been vacant since 2019 is the former Dillard's, which is owned by the Cafaro Company.

In Friday's interview, Kohan talked to 21 News about filling up those vacant spots.

"This area will be great for the national tenants or regional tenants that we are approaching, that we have connections and relationships with [through] other malls that are not in this mall. We are trying to pitch them into coming into this mall," Kohan said.

"We're always reviewing our portfolio. If we're missing one tenant in this mall that we have in five or 10 other malls, that's definitely going to be approach for us to pitch them to come into this mall and ask them why they're not in this mall and what it would take for them to come into this mall," Kohan continued.

There is no word yet on which tenants and merchants Kohan has been talking with, but Kohan did say he is willing to work with the Cafaro Company on their plans for the former Dillard's space.

We also asked Kohan about reports on his company's past with owning malls including falling behind on taxes and utility bills. Kohan provided reassurance to those concerned saying he left that business model behind a long time ago.

"When I started about 21 years ago, I bought very distressed malls. Malls that were at some points beyond fixing. ... Obviously, something's going to fall through the cracks. Not that I planned it, not that I disregarded it, it was a situation where taxes simply could not be paid because they were so high for such a mall that was in a very, very distressed situation on a cash flow basis," Kohan said.

"I'm sorry that happened, but this is not my model. I'm not going to be investing in a mall that I'm planning to disregard like this or not pay the bills or anything," Kohan continued.

You can watch full interview in the video player above.