The mall is situated on a site once owned by the
Vedder Family. Harmen Albertse Vedder of
Schenectady bought the land in 1672 and built a home on it. In 1832 Harmens' great-grandson Johannes sold it to Colonel Daniel David Schermerhorn Campbell, who constructed a 26-bedroom mansion on the site. At the time of construction, the area around the mall was a nature preserve, and environmental groups were concerned that the building of the mall would endanger wildlife and pollute the wet lands on the opposite side of Route 337, now the
Great Flats Nature Trail and Preserve. Mike Kohan bought the mall from
Macerich in January 2014 for $8.5 million. In January 2015,
Macy's, originally
Hess's and later
Filene's, announced that its store would be closing as part of a plan to close 14 stores nationwide. The space is now the location of a NYS taxation call center. On February 12, 2015, local power company
National Grid disconnected electric service due to a rumored $300,000.00 unpaid utility bill. The service was turned back on the next day. In June 2015, the mall was sold for $9.25 million to Via Properties, which renamed the mall to Viaport Rotterdam in 2016. They plan to invest $10 million into mall improvements, including exterior upgrades, a aquarium, and a nearly entertainment center with a bowling alley, sports bar, restaurant, and arcade. On April 21, 2016, it was announced that
Sears would also be closing as part of a plan to close 78 stores nationwide. The store closed in July 2016. On October 15, 2018,
Sears Holdings announced that
Kmart would be closing as well in December 2018 as part of a plan to close 142 stores nationwide which left the mall with no anchor stores left. As of January 2019, only several in-line tenants are remaining in Via Port Rotterdam as well as a
call center for the
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. On August 4, 2024, a section of the mall flooded due to a tank in the VIA Aquarium bursting, covering most of the aquarium area in an inch of water and temporarily closing the aquarium down for the time being. ==Carousel==