Fortina signs eatery lease at Boyce Thompson in Yonkers

Fortina, an Italian restaurant with three locations in Westchester and Fairfield counties, has signed a lease at the Boyce Thompson Center, a $35-million mixed-use redevelopment of a long-vacant landmark property in northwest Yonkers.

The restaurant will lease 5,605 square feet of space in the 85,000-square-foot main building being restored on the roughly seven-acre site of the former Boyce Thompson Institute at 1086 N. Broadway. The deal was announced by Boyce Thompson”™s owner and developer, Simone Development Cos. in the Bronx.

“Fortina will bring a new level of energy to the local dining scene and be an important dimension of our mixed-use community center,” said Joseph Simone, president and CEO of Simone Development Cos.

Christian Petroni, chef and co-owner of Fortina, called Simone”™s redevelopment of the former plant research institute an “awesome project.  From the first time we walked the grounds and saw the building, we were blown away. Can”™t wait to bring that space back to life.”

Simone Development last spring announced that St. John”™s Riverside Hospital will fully lease a new 15,000-square-foot glass and aluminum building also under construction on the Boyce Thompson property.

The mixed-use center is scheduled to open in 2016.

Known for its pizza, Fortina also has restaurants in downtown Armonk,  Rye Ridge Shopping Center, and Stamford.