TEMPLE, Texas (KXXV) — The Temple Mall is currently owned and operated by Kohan Real Estate Group, which took ownership of the property in October 2021.
Store owners at the mall say they've faced many obstacles since then — a recent mall manager asked to stay anonymous for legal reasons but says they witnessed the issues firsthand.
"The water and the electricity issue are an overall company problem it has nothing to do with the managers there it has to do with Kohan itself, " the former manager said.
Just this past Monday, workers reported showing up only to find there was no water.
A Facebook message from Celeste Coleman, the owner of Faye's Bounty telling customers the outage forced her to close shop for the day.
In a statement, Coleman says the mall did not pay the water bill impacting her operating hours and her ability to hire.
She also says the last six months have been rough between water, lights, and the mall shut down due to fire code violations.
She adds, in part, quote:
"I was fortunate that another tenant looked out for me and several others and went out of his way to figure out which meter services which businesses and then paid our meters to get us through Christmas."
The result is a daily loss of at least $150, and Coleman says she could be forced to close her doors, which is tough this time of year.
"Christmas is a big deal and I'm struggling to keep up between holiday orders — if I can't hire help soon I'll be forced to close at the mall."
According to the city, water bills are due 16 days after it's issued, followed by a 10-day grace period before disconnection happens.
Currently, the total balance is listed as $10,500, and water service has been interrupted eight times since January.
My research also shows that 7 Seas Aquarium and the mall owner parted ways in 2020.
JC Penny left the same year and Premiere Cimena left in 2022 — nationwide, Kohan Retail Investment Group manages more than two dozen malls — including the ones in Temple and Killeen.
"It's disgusting — someone needs to come in and say, 'You know what, this is not how you conduct business' — because it has affected the community, it affected the people, and it affected the employees."
