One of the most prominent vacant retail spaces in downtown White Plains will be partly filled next spring by a national sporting goods chain.
Dick”™s Sporting Goods Inc. has signed a lease for the approximately 55,000-square-foot first floor of the three-story space formerly occupied by Fortunoff at The Source at White Plains mall. The bankrupt jewelry and home furnishings retailer vacated the space in May 2009 in the company”™s liquidation sale. A Fortunoff superstore opened in 2003 in the approximately 180,000-square-foot space.
The sporting goods store will open in April 2011, said Issie Shaitt, senior vice president of property management at New England Development, the Newton, Mass., company that manages and leases the mall for owner Bloomingdale Road Investors, an affiliate of UBS. Shaitt said demolition of the space is nearly completed and store construction should begin within 30 days.
Shaiit said his company is in “heavy negotiations” with several prospective tenants for the second and third floors of the former Fortunoff store.
“There”™s been a lot of interest, especially over the last few months,” he said. Shaitt said at least one of the upper floors should be leased in 2011.
Current tenants in the 250,000-square-foot mall at Bloomingdale Road and Maple Avenue are Whole Foods Market, Cheesecake Factory, Morton”™s Steakhouse and Destination Maternity.
Executives at Dick”™s Sporting Goods headquarters in Pittsburgh, Penn., declined to comment on the company”™s plans in White Plains. In Connecticut, the sporting goods giant plans to open a 50,000-square-foot store in the Danbury Fair Mall.
As of July 31, the retailer operated 425 Dick”™s Sporting Goods stores in 42 states, leasing some 23.7 million square feet.
