Towne West Square again at risk of having power turned off for unpaid bill, Evergy says

The power at Towne West Square is again at risk of being turned off because of an unpaid electric bill.

On Thursday, Evergy informed businesses at the mall that the building owners, Kohan Retail Investment Group, have not paid their electric bill, Evergy spokesperson Gina Penzig said in a statement.

Larger stores at the mall have separate accounts that are in good standing and will not be affected, Penzig said.

Evergy shared the notification letter given to mall tenants of the possible shutoff Friday.

“We are providing this courtesy notice to you because power to your store will be terminated in the event the mall’s service is disconnected. We are providing this courtesy notice to allow you to prepare for the possible disruption,” the letter said.

Penzig did not say how much was owed or for how long.

Asked Thursday by phone about the unpaid bill, Mike Kohan, managing member of the Kohan group, told an Eagle reporter “we already done it, so, that’s already done.” He then hung up.

Told about that comment, Penzig checked and replied: “We cannot confirm receipt of payment and have not been able to reach anyone at Kohan who could confirm payment was made.”

Evergy had been set to shut the lights off in June for the same reason, but the owners paid the bill before the power was disconnected, the Eagle previously reported.

The mall was purchased by New-York based Kohan Retail Investment in 2019 in partnership with Florida-based 4th Dimension Properties.

Sedgwick County records show that the mall has unpaid property taxes. The owners owe about $202,196 in 2021 property taxes and $174,052 for 2022 property taxes.

Each month, a 1% penalty is added to the bill, the Eagle previously reported.