White Plains Mall's New Focus Pays Off

July 27, 1998
By Alex Philippidis
Westchester County Business Journal

A new focus on attracting institutions and service businesses eager for downtown office space is paying off for the White Plains Mall, which is close to filling up for the first time in a decade.

Four new tenants, have agreed to leases totaling 28,400 square feet at the mall in recent weeks. The new White Plains Dialysis and Renal Center will take 13,000 square feet, Michael's Sports Bar and Cafe 7,000 square feet, the Independent Living Center 6,300 square feet, and the computer consulting-training business Information Technology Express 2,100 square feet.

In addition, BOCES of Southern Westchester plans to add 2,700 square feet to an existing 1,000 square feet instructional space. And in June the employment agency Labor Ready opened in 4,000 square feet of ground floor space previously occupied by the variety store Embassy, now in Tarrytown.

With those tenants and a few more still in talks for a total 14,000 square feet, the complex is on the way to filling up for the first time since the late '80s/early '90s recession.

Unlike then, the White Plains Mall is not even trying to compete for national and regional retail chains, given the presence of The Galleria mall one block south and the more upscale mall The Westchester a quarter-mile southeast.

"Those are clearly retail centers. However, there's a need for the service-niche tenant that's not typical class A or class B space," said Glen W. Repko, director of property management with The Dagar Group Ltd., the Fishkill based leasing and managing agent for the mall.

Still available, Repko said, is 11,000 square feet on the upper level and 2,900 square feet on the lower level.

Last year, city officials blocked the White Plains Mall from pursuing two possible avenues for revitalizing the mall. Owner Benerfore Properties sought zoning changes for two caterers that wanted to lease space, but then Mayor S.J. Schulman and Common Council members balked, demanding estimates of how much traffic the two businesses would generate. They cited the mall's presence across from an apartment complex.

Earlier in 1997, the owner considered leasing space for cabarets, but changed course when the city began re-examining its cabaret law.