Binghamton is moving forward with its purchase of Binghamton Plaza on the city’s Northside.
Mayor Jared Kraham announced Wednesday that the city has made an official purchase offer of $1.55 million in the next step of the eminent domain process.
The complex is 21.5 acres and once was home to a K-Mart, as well as a strip mall which still houses some local businesses. The owners, the New Jersey-based Binghamton Plaza, LLC and Binghamton Plaza, Inc. have 90 days to respond to the purchase offer.
“Under this law the city will be getting this property,” Kraham said.
The Republican mayor said once the city takes possession of the plaza a series of actions will begin.
“First part is demolish the blight that is there. Step two, improve access to the river front, the Chenango River Corridor. Number three, expand park space, where possible, of Sherry Lindsay Park," Kraham said. "And number four is [to] create new opportunities for economic development along the State Street Corridor,” Kraham said.
In an interview with WSKG, Kraham said the city has been awarded a grant from Empire State Development, for a strategic planning and feasibility study.
Binghamton Plaza was first developed in the 1940s on top of a former city landfill for solid waste. It was declared a Brownfield site and went through a remediation process about a decade ago.
That process was supervised and given final approval by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The clean-up means the site is approved for certain types of redevelopment.
Democratic mayoral candidate Miles Burnett has criticized the city’s plan to purchase the property. Burnett said, in response to the announcement of the purchase offer, that the mayor has, “no real plan, no long-term budget, and no clear timeline” for the property.
Kraham said the redevelopment of the plaza has support from the Binghamton City Council and state entities like the DEC and Empire State Development.
The city allocated $2 million for the project in the 2025 budget.
Kraham said the city won a unanimous ruling in state Appellate Court in 2024 partly because they presented a plan for the future of the site.
The shopping center has lost a number of stores before and during the eminent domain process.
One of the businesses that is still there is the popular New York Pizzeria. Asked about the fate of the popular local eatery, Kraham said, “I’m very confident that they will be having a new location very soon that’s close by, that’s in the city of Binghamton, that we’re very supportive of.”
