Ivy and Barrow Street, a pension fund advisor, acquired the leasehold of the three-story, 270,000-sf retail building, which Sears had occupied for more than 35 years, for approximately $13 million earlier this year. Sears has since moved to space at the Galleria Mall a few blocks away. Ivy Equities was also interested in acquiring the White Plains Plaza office complex, which is located adjacent to the Sears site. However, building owner Metropolitan Life has taken the property, which consists of two, 15-story office buildings totaling more than 710,000 sf, off the market for sale.
John A. Saraceno Jr., Ivy Equities CIO, said at the recent groundbreaking event, "We're about to transform one of the city's most famous single-use structures into one of the county's finest multi-tenant retail developments."
Patrick A. Smith, a principal of Staubach Retail Services of New York City, said, "We expect to be able to announce major tenant signings by year-end." He noted that his firm currently has proposals out to a number of big-box type retailers for the entire building. Tenants could begin moving into "the Shoppes on Main" by the spring of 2004.
The redevelopment project will feature a complete electrical upgrade, a new heating and air conditioning system, new escalators, new tenant installations and a major garage upgrade, which will include new lighting, improved security and new traffic patterns.
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