Walked past an abandoned mall in Ohio and the parking lot was completely empty but the lights were all on inside

Was driving through Canton last weekend and saw the old Belden Village annex. Every light in the whole place was blasting at 10pm on a Saturday. Not a single car in the lot. You think they leave them on for security or is it some kind of tax write-off game? Anyone else notice this at dead malls near you?

2 comments

2 Comments

piper9129d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah it's definitely a tax thing with some of these properties, I've noticed the same thing where they keep power on just to claim operational expenses. It's like these empty buildings are just ghosts running up electric bills. There's something weird about how much wasted energy we just accept as normal.

murphy.barbara8d ago

Yeah I gotta push back a little on the "tax write-off" thing. I used to think the same way until a buddy who manages commercial properties explained it to me. The IRS is actually pretty strict about what counts as a legitimate business expense, and running lights in an empty building usually doesn't fly unless you can prove it's for security or insurance requirements. Most malls have lease agreements with their utility companies that lock them into certain rates too, so turning off the lights might not even save them that much money compared to the hassle of switching everything back on when a new tenant shows up. But you're right about the creepiness factor, it does feel like these places are just burning electricity for no good reason.