The Ridge Hill mixed-use development in Yonkers lost an expected anchor tenant when Saks Inc. recently dropped its plans to open a Saks Fifth Avenue store.
The high-end New York City retailer had signed a nonbinding letter of intent to open a store at Ridge Hill, an approximately $685 million project that includes more than 1 million square feet of retail, entertainment and office space scheduled to open in early 2011. Additional phases are expected to include residential and hotel development.
“This is obviously a disappointment,” said Richard Pesin, executive vice president of retail development for Ridge Hill developer, Forest City Ratner Cos. in Brooklyn, “but we are fully committed to seeing this project become a world-class shopping and entertainment destination.”
Pesin said Ridge Hill still would include anchor tenants Cinema De Lux and Whole Foods, the grocer that will occupy about 60,000 square feet in a freestanding building, as well as Cheese Cake Factory, L.L. Bean, Sephora and Ann Taylor Loft. The developer, a subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises Inc. in Cleveland, is in lease discussions with other major retailers and expects to announce additional tenants in the coming months, Pesin said.
The Ridge Hill project broke ground in November 2007.
