Pyramid Management moves to add residential to its mall portfolio

Syracuse-based Pyramid Management Group, which includes among its portfolio of 15 shopping mall properties the Palisades Center in West Nyack, the Poughkeepsie Galleria and the Galleria at Crystal Run in Middletown, has revealed that its long-term plans include bringing housing to its retail sites.

Pyramid
A rendering of the Kingston, Massachusetts development.

Pyramid announced that developer Trammell Crow Residential officially broke ground on a 282-unit development adjacent to the Pyramid”™s Kingston Collection complex in Kingston, Massachusetts. When completed, the development will bring market-rate rental housing units to the area. Construction will be completed in three phases over the next 18 to 22 months, Pyramid”™s announcement said.

Pyramid said it plans to replicate the Kingston formula throughout its portfolio. It pointed to the increasing popularity of the live-work-play concept, especially among millennials and empty nesters.

“The development of a residential complex at our Kingston Collection is really just the beginning of a much broader, portfolio-wide diversification strategy to bring popular, exciting new uses, such as residential, into the mix with our existing assets,” said Stephen J. Congel, CEO of the Pyramid Management Group.

“We are pleased to be moving forward with other residential projects across our portfolio. Staying ahead of the curve is the key to our success and resilience as a company.”

Pyramid
A rendering of the development.

Congel is a longtime advocate of expanding the mix of tenants in shopping malls and bringing in facilities such as hotels and spas along with dining and entertainment features not typically associated with shopping malls. In 2018, he wrote a column for Forbes magazine espousing the mixed-use concept.

Pyramid cited data from the International Council of Shopping Centers as demonstrating that retail destinations near densely populated residential buildings tend to benefit from higher levels of foot traffic and sales per square foot.

It said that industry analysts also expect that the addition of residential developments to existing retail destinations such as open-air, enclosed and strip malls will increase over the next few years.

There were no specifics provided about Pyramid’s plans to add residential units at its New York properties, nor were there details about the steps that might be necessary before that could happen such as zoning changes.