CLAY — After racking up $5.2 million in back taxes, shirking their National Grid bill and receiving numerous citations for code violations from the town of Clay, the owners of Great Northern Mall could face foreclosure.

Onondaga County filed a lawsuit April 6 in New York State Supreme Court asking the state to force Long Island-based Kohan Investment Group to pay the county $5,223,648.94 in back taxes or sell the property.

“At some point, we need to stop the bleeding,” Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said in a press conference April 7.

McMahon said the Kohan Investment Group has been investing in other properties across the country, so reneging on a 2020 tax payment agreement is not about resources, but about choice.

“They’re still investing,” McMahon said. “They’re just not investing here.”

According to McMahon, the county has connected at least two local real estate developers with mall owner Michael Kohan. Kohan told NewsChannel9 that he was “discussing with potential buyers.”

As for what McMahon would like to see happen with the property, he said there are several options for Great Northern Mall’s future.

“We do have a housing shortage in this area,” he said.

Great Northern also could be a “staging area for the supply chain” of a possible semiconductor plant at White Pine Business Park in Clay. McMahon said the county is a finalist in an unnamed manufacturer’s search for a new location.

For now, it’s business as usual for the mall’s few remaining tenants. McMahon said there will be no disruption to tenants until the mall is sold.

“The story needs to come to a conclusion,” McMahon said. “We either need to be paid or there needs to be a sale. A sale is always better if you can execute that. It’ll save us both some money.”