Downtown White Plains, N.Y., is undergoing a dramatic transformation.
The 900,000-square-foot, four-story Galleria mall — an outmoded, brutalist 1980s-style structure that housed Macy’s and Sears and an array of lackluster specialty stores — will soon be demolished and remade into “District Galleria,” an 11-acre, mixed-use destination. The new look will include seven Gensler-designed glass and steel towers with 3,200 apartments and rooftop gardens; 225,000 square feet of primarily food, health and wellness retailers including a fitness center, a neighborhood grocery store, gourmet dining; a quarter-mile-long garden promenade, parks for people and dogs, and an outdoor event space.
Significantly, 46 percent of District Galleria’s footprint — over 4 acres — will be open space.
You May Also Like
“It’s important for the city to see a lot of open space because it becomes a great way for the community to gather, and to actually have some breathing room in between these massive, very tall towers so it doesn’t feel so dense,” said Steve Plenge, chief executive officer of Pacific Retail Capital Partners, the Los Angeles-based developer of District Galleria, which is working with Cappelli Organization and SL Green Realty Corp.
“District Galleria is a $2.5 billion project covering two city blocks. There are very few projects around the country of this magnitude happening,” said Annmarie Plenge, chief creative officer of PRCP, head of its design group and Steve’s wife.
A high percentage of District Galleria’s open space will be devoted to grass, trees and water features adjacent to a “hardscape” of restaurants, coffee stops, outdoor seating and an area for concerts, farmers’ markets, outdoor movies and art exhibits.
“Because the site is so urban, you have to design sections for different things, but they’re open and all integrate in a comprehensive way,” said Steve Plenge. “It becomes a whole ecosystem, if you will, that flows, and the green space is the catalyst for that. It becomes a place where people can attend events, or just bring their dog, or have a coffee and hang out.”
“District Galleria is a fantastic location in the center of the city, in the heart of Westchester, so we wanted it to be the number-one gathering place for the community,” added Annmarie Plenge. “That’s why the overall vision for the project incorporates that [high] percentage of open and green space into the master plan.”
Rather than limiting a property’s productivity, Steve Plenge said: “It’s something that can actually generate better NOI [net operating income]. We’ve seen it. If you have good green space, you can get very good tenants, restaurants in particular, on the perimeter of these spaces, leading to an amenity base for the residential side. And whether you have town houses, high-risers or multifamily [dwellings], you get higher rents.”
At other PRCP properties “with curated and well-designed green spaces,” he said, “we’ve seen 10, 15 percent higher rents,” from retail and residential tenants. With synergies happening, “You can create some real, tangible value if you do it right.”
Remaking malls into mixed-used destinations with open and green space is a strategy permeating PRCP’s portfolio of 19 shopping center properties covering 25 million square feet. “We’re trying to evolve malls for the next generation,” said Annmarie Plenge, referencing PRCP’s tag line. “It’s really about designing places where people can gather and interact, create memories and have a sense of community. It’s about emphasizing the design of spaces in between the buildings and making sure that’s actually almost more important than what the buildings look like. It gets down to how you define what that space is. And it’s unique for each each market we work in. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.”
In Lombard, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, PRCP and Synergy Construction are transforming the 1.5 million-square-foot Yorktown Center — anchored by Von Maur and JCPenney and home to 150 specialty stores — by renovating and expanding it. That includes taking over a vacant adjacent strip center, adding thousands of square feet of retail space, more than 600 residential units and a central, green space to be called The Square. For the project, PRCP tore down a former Carson Pirie Scott department store that had been vacant since 2018. PRCP acquired Yorktown Center with KKR & Co. in 2012.
With the teardown, PRCP is attracting new retail along the perimeter, particularly health and wellness tenants, including a yoga studio with access to the open space for outdoor classes. Offices will also front green space. Because of its “thoughtful design,” Yorktown is commanding higher rents, said Steve Plenge.
“As soon as we tore down Carson’s and announced to the retail universe this big redevelopment, we were able to bring in Fresh Market [supermarket], which is unique to a mall, David & Buster’s for entertainment, and six local and regional restaurants. We’ve never had so much leasing activity in the dozen years we’ve owned Yorktown Center, all because we tore down a department store, and created this great green space, adding further density.” Helping the city’s efforts to structure a business improvement district enabled PRCP to fund the project.
Annmarie Plenge described Yorktown’s open-space plan as about an acre in size, park-like with landscaping, benches, a play area, outdoor dining for restaurants, and space to host events for up to 1,000 people.
Two years ago, PRCP acquired Bridgewater Commons, a 1.2 million-square-foot enclosed mall anchored by Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s in Bridgewater Township, N.J. The adjacent 94,000-square-foot Village at Bridgewater Commons was also purchased.
“Bridgewater is probably our highest-end property, but it has this cavernous, kind of odd center court. Annmarie and her team are basically bringing a park setting into the space, with trees with artificial leaves because they can’t grow inside,” said Steve Plenge. “It’s about bringing the outside inside.”
At Bridgewater, 19 leases were signed in the past year, including Millburn Deli, a regional business offering classic chicken, beef, turkey and “vegetarian-ish” sandwiches and salads. He said staying relevant to the community entails leasing to local food operations, perhaps a bakery or fast casual restaurant, augmenting national restaurants and food establishments.
Also in 2023, PRCP acquired The Shops at Palm Desert, a 980,000-square-foot enclosed mall in Palm Desert, Calif. PRCP has a master plan for the 72-acre property, transforming it into a mixed-use destination and gathering place. “That’s a unique market because it’s hot, and an enclosed mall actually works pretty well, but you’ve got to have open space as well as the enclosed.” Also, with some oversize parking lots there, “We’re looking at doing a number of things on the residential front and discussing what green space we want,” Steve Plenge said.
In White Plains, PRCP is close to getting its final approvals. The executives expect demolition to begin in 2026, with the project completed in five to seven years. Designing District Galleria’s green space was a mutual decision by PRCP and the city, which wanted a place that would be considered the heart of their city. “The requirement from the city, for about 12 percent green space was nowhere near where we ended up,” said Steve Plenge.
Reimagining malls with more open and green space started becoming an industry trend 15 years ago — a shift that only accelerated during the pandemic. “That’s when my job got a lot easier because since COVID[-19] everyone has been saying, ‘Give me green space.’ People want to get out and socialize.”
PRCP’s “secret sauce” is its ability to do master planning in-house, as opposed to outsourcing it, which can be costly. Annemarie Plenge and several other PRCP employees formerly worked at Gensler.
“What is constantly missing in a lot of downtown projects is green space,” said Steve Plenge. “It helps to stitch all the pieces together, and draws people through.”
