The Georgetown Mall is facing a historically uncommon fate for commercial property in Washtenaw County.

The county is about to foreclose on the strip mall and former home to a Kroger supermarket on Packard Road for non-payment of taxes. This process is the first step in a possible redevelopment of the now vacant, distressed property.

The owner has until March 31 to redeem the property from foreclosure by paying at least one year's worth of taxes. In the event of non-payment, the county takes control of the property and puts it up for auction. Bidding starts at the total amount of back taxes, fees, penalties, interest and costs owed. In this case, think at least $500,000, and probably more.

"My goal in all of this is to get the taxes back instead of foreclose," says Catherine McClary, the treasurer for Washtenaw County.

To put this in perspective, the county has had 92,266 properties face tax foreclosure since 1999. Of those, only 164 have been auctioned; most have been residential. However, auction numbers are expected to rise significantly this year.

"It's getting tougher," McClary says. "This year is catching up with us. We're seeing a lot of commercial property, and we used to rarely see commercial property. Georgetown Mall is just an example of what we're starting to see."

Source: Catherine McClary, the treasurer for Washtenaw County
Writer: Jon Zemke