Downtown White Plains is set for another makeover. This fall, representatives from the project to transform the outdated and vacant 43-year-old Galleria retail mall (Pacific Retail Capital Partners, Cappelli Organization, SL Green Realty Corporation and Aareal Bank) revealed their long-awaited concept for District Galleria. District Galleria re-envisions the former closed “walled-in” shopping mall concept popularized in the early eighties into a more porous development that will knit itself firmly into the downtown landscape with multiple mixed-use residential buildings of various heights, new ground-floor retail, restaurants and amenities and notably, significant green space as the project’s base. Comprised of nearly 50% of the project, the open space will include a quarter-mile-long green promenade with playgrounds (youth and pet), community gathering nodes, shade structures, breezeways permitting various entry points from the street, art and allocated areas specifically for public events.
District Galleria is just one of many projects changing the skyline and vibrancy of downtown White Plains in the years to come. Last April, Greystar Real Estate Partners’ 25 North Lex, a luxury residential and transit-oriented project just a few blocks away from the District Galleria site, celebrated its topping off. The shuttered White Plains Mall is converting into Hamilton Green, and just down the road Rose Associates’ Hamilton Crossing has started the leasing process for its studio to two-bedroom apartments. Also in rapid progress: The Juliette, a luxury development on Mamaroneck Avenue is set to come online in 2024 and the Beitel Group’s One Lyon Place, which will incorporate art throughout the development in partnership with downtown’s cultural stalwart Arts Westchester.
This infusion of energy continues to storefront level, where multiple new businesses have recently established themselves downtown. Notable newcomers include the Bib Michelin Gourmand-awarded Shiraz Kitchen and Wine Bar, David Burke’s Red Horse, Pamplemousse Café — a socially-conscious coffee shop that reinvests all profits back into the community, Asopao, a Dominican-fusion restaurant, several upscale medi spas, and the boutique pet shop and doggie daycare, 4mydogs. The latest addition: Sweet Temptations, a local dessert bar and café leading to OMC, a sultry speakeasy accessed behind two flowered vending machines after hours.
In the midst of this, the Downtown White Plains Business Improvement District (WPBID), a nonprofit dedicated to maintaining a clean, beautiful and vibrant downtown, provides an annual roster of free public events and promotions, ranging from summer concerts to Restaurant Month to a Wing Walk tasting event involving 15 restaurants down to the county’s largest Oktoberfest. This Dec. 6-17 , it will present the Downtown Holiday Market, featuring 48 artisans and seasonal activities, including visits with Santa and friends, stilt-walkers, ice sculpting demonstrations, s’mores pits, dining igloos and live entertainment on Court Street. For more, visit wpbid.com/events.
