Six more tenants have signed on to lease space in Westchester”™s Ridge Hill in Yonkers, including three outdoor/sporting goods retailers.
The development is now 35 percent full.
Dick”™s Sporting Goods, Orvis and REI are the outdoor/sporting goods retailers. Joining them are three restaurants: Brio Tuscan Grille, Texas de Brazil and Yard House.
“The addition of these fine new retailers and restaurants brings many regional firsts to Westchester”™s Ridge Hill,” said Andrew Silberfein, executive vice president, director of retail development and finance for Brooklyn-based Forest City Ratner Cos., in a news release. “Our selection of shopping, entertainment venues and restaurants will create the ideal environment for guests to get together and spend a day or evening. The momentum will continue to build as we announce more exciting retailers in the coming months.”
But, why put three outdoor/sporting goods retailers in the same development?
“These are three different, complementary tenants each catering to different customers,” Silberfein said in an e-mail to the Westchester County Business Journal. “Each will have broad appeal to the strong demographics of Westchester.”
He said construction has been moving along at “full speed” and will be complete in 2011.
As for the project”™s timetable of store and building openings, Silberfein would only say, “We don”™t want to get into details about this just yet, but we will in the near future.”
The cost of the project is estimated at $800 million, according to public filings by parent company Forest City Enterprises Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Westchester”™s Ridge Hill will be an open-air shopping center totaling 1.3 million square feet of retail and entertainment. It will also have 160,000 square feet of office space, of which half has already been leased to Westmed Medical Group. It will have streetscapes and green spaces. There will be 500 luxury condominium units ”“ the Monarch at Ridge Hill ”“ on the western side, built by a partnership of David Marom of The Horizon Group, a real estate development and investment company, Eldad Blaustein of Izaki Group Investment and Azorim, a publicly traded construction company.
“The timing and makeup of the residential units will be market driven,” Silberfein said. “The first phase that is being built by Horizon are condos. Future phases will be market-demand driven.”
Some other retailers that have signed on as anchors are Whole Foods and Cinema De Lux, L.L. Bean, The Cheesecake Factory and Sephora.
“We have been seeing a lot of interest in the project from a large range of tenants and we will have some exciting announcements over the next few weeks,” Silberfein said.
The project is being built on land that was the former home to Loral Electronic Systems. The developers broke ground on the site three years ago this week.
Forest City Ratner would not disclose square footage of the six tenant additions but here are other details:
Dick”™s Sporting Goods: A full-line sporting goods retailer offering an assortment of brand name sporting goods equipment, apparel and footwear in a specialty store environment.
REI: A national outdoor retail co-op, the stores feature brand name camping, climbing, cycling, fitness, hiking, paddling, snow sports and travel equipment, including its own line of outdoor gear and apparel.
Orvis: One of the oldest retailers in the U.S. offers apparel for men and women, fly fishing rods and gear, home furnishings, travel apparel and shoes.
Brio Tuscan Grille: Upscale casual Italian restaurant that brings the flavors of Tuscany to Ridge Hill.
Texas de Brazil: An authentic Brazilian-American churrascaria (steak house) that combines the cuisine of southern Brazil with the spirit of Texas.
Yard House: A wide selection of draft beer, ranging from classic lagers to more obscure ales.
