Mixed-Use $2.5-Billion Redevelopment Proposed for Galleria Mall in White Plains
By JOHN JORDAN – October 23, 2023
WHITE PLAINS—In what is clearly the most anticipated development proposal to hit the desks of city leaders in decades, Pacific Retail Capital Partners, The Cappelli Organization, SL Green Realty Corporation, and Aareal Bank, owners of The Galleria at White Plains, presented a $2.5-billion redevelopment plan for the property to the White Plains Common Council on Sept. 28.
The ownership stated that the plan, if approved as submitted, would entail the largest conversion of an enclosed shopping mall into a mixed-use residential and retail use, along with open space, in the New York metro region.
The plan calls for the demolition of the 43-year-old shuttered Galleria at White Plains shopping mall and the development of seven residential towers of varying heights that would feature up to 3,200 apartments including 384 that would be designated as affordable in accordance with the City of White Plains Affordable Rental Housing Regulations. The submission to the City Council calls for a zone change of the property.
The buildings would combine state-of-the-art technology and building systems with amenity-based retail for the residential units including fitness, grocery, dining, professional and personal services. The District Galleria is being designed as a sustainable project, meeting the silver LEED standard of high-energy efficient building materials, the building ownership stated.
Nearly half of the project’s footprint is designated as open space that would break down existing barriers and create a quarter mile-long green promenade complete with pet playgrounds, pocket parks and lush landscaping for community gatherings, outdoor events, public entertainment, and art.
The District Galleria would also feature a garden promenade designed to link the adjacent neighborhoods at eight different access points.
Annmarie Plenge, Executive Vice President of Design for PRCP, is the Master Architectural Designer of the project. Plenge brings more than 27 years of professional experience master planning large-scale mixed-use projects and is collaborating with world renowned architectural design and planning firm Gensler, along with Kimley Horn and Eric Rain Landscape Architecture to design the project.
“Experience driven mixed-use environments appeal to people’s desire for connection and belonging. They are poised to be the key in reviving our communities’ urban centers. The evolution of an enclosed mall to an open-air mixed-use development with the unified vision of The District Galleria is pivotal in evolving real estate for the next generation,” said Najla Kayyem, Executive Vice President for Pacific Retail Capital Partners.
In 2022, Pacific Retail and Aareal Bank developed a joint venture partnership to undertake the redevelopment of the Galleria at White Plains site with New York City-based SL Green Realty Corporation and the Cappelli Organization, which is headquartered in White Plains.
“As an urban renewal project that began more than 50 years ago, the reimagining of this property is integral to the transformation of Downtown White Plains, which began in earnest over 20 years ago with City Center. The District Galleria will go a long way in making our local community more enjoyable, desirable, sustainable, and resilient,” said Chief Executive Officer/Founder of the Cappelli Organization, Louis Cappelli.
With the new plan submitted, what had been the two major shopping centers in Downtown White Plains—The Galleria White Plains and the White Plains Mall, will now be redeveloped into mixed-use developments that will add a significant amount of rental apartments to the downtown district. In addition to the 3,200 apartments to be built in the District Galleria, at full build-out the White Plains Mall project will feature four residential tower buildings that will total 860 rental units, including 78 affordable units, open space as well as approximately 84,000 square feet of retail space. Construction began on that $650-million project in December 2022.