After a years-long process, Binghamton is expected to legally acquire the Binghamton Plaza next month, with pre-demolition work already underway at the long-dilapidated site.

The city first announced it planned to obtain control of the plaza through eminent domain in 2022. From 1946 to 1957, the site functioned as a municipal landfill before the current plaza opened as an active shopping center in the early 1960s. Once home to bustling department stores, a movie theater, a diner, a pool hall and more, the plaza had deteriorated over the past 30 years, with vacant storefronts now lining much of the property.

Galesi Realty Corp., based in New Jersey, owns the Binghamton Plaza. In June 2024, the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division allowed the eminent domain plan to proceed and found the city “neither abused nor improvidently exercised its discretion” in condemning the property.

Now, the city is expected to purchase the property for $1.55 million, a deal that Mayor Jared Kraham first announced back in August.

“This plaza has been an eyesore and a symbol of disinvestment — not just for the North Side, but the entire city of Binghamton — for my entire lifetime and I was not going to accept the status quo,” Kraham said in an interview with Pipe Dream. “And this is what bold, I think, frankly, visionary leadership does to change things.”

As part of the pre-demolition phase, Colliers Engineering and Design, a multistate engineering and design firm based in Binghamton, has been hired to conduct “environmental testing, demolition design and related engineering services” at the Binghamton Plaza, per the mayor’s office. Kraham told Pipe Dream that the company is conducting surveys on the property to determine whether asbestos abatement is needed before demolition.

Once that is determined, the city will create and release a demolition bid package on the public market.

During its Jan. 28 business session, the Binghamton City Council approved an agreement with MKSK, a planning firm with an office in Rochester, New York, to commission a redevelopment plan and feasibility study for the plaza after the demolition.

The study will evaluate a wide range of metrics, including economic impacts, infrastructure requirements and funding opportunities connected to the site’s redevelopment.

Binghamton Plaza is located in the fourth district, represented by Councilman Nate Hotchkiss ‘12. He told Pipe Dream that MKSK stood out partly because of their experience with other projects involving waterfront revitalization and greenway infrastructure.

On the whole, Hotchkiss said he had mixed feelings about the project so far. Both he and Kraham separately voiced a belief that Galesi Realty Corp. was not proactive in maintaining the site or boosting economic activity in the North Side.

Hotchkiss added that he still has lingering questions about the property’s future and many constituents have some attachment to the remaining businesses in the plaza itself.

“I think it’s completely valid for the mayor to want to take action on the plaza,” Hotchkiss said. “I also think it’s valid for the folks that have raised the concerns about what can actually be built there, who is going to be willing to put up the money to do development on that site and what’s going to be viable there.”

The city previously allocated $2 million for demolition. A $75,000 grant from New York’s ​​Strategic Planning and Feasibility Studies Program, designed to promote economic development statewide, was awarded to the city last August, which will help create the “detailed roadmap” for site development.

With the exception of a convenience store and childcare center, all other structures in the Binghamton Plaza are expected to be demolished.

New York Pizzeria, which has operated in the North Side for 25 years, recently found a new location about a mile east of the Binghamton Plaza at 71 Robinson St.

The future of the plaza’s Leather Corner Shoe Repair store remains uncertain while the owners decide what to do next after their lease is set to terminate at the end of February. Kraham told Pipe Dream that the city offered them a new location, but the owners declined it.

The Office of Economic Development has offered to schedule meetings with the plaza’s remaining business owners to answer any questions and obtain assistance in finding available commercial space elsewhere.

Galesi Realty Corp. did not return Pipe Dream’s request for comment.

While still early in the process, Kraham said acquiring the plaza represents a significant milestone for the city and that he will continue to push for redevelopment.

“It’s a symbol of progress and a symbol that the city can no longer be satisfied with decay, and we need to be continuing to take bold action,” Kraham said.