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Gabe Alexander’s Renamed Nanuet Town Centre Aims To Become More Community-Oriented; And A Place To Live
RETAIL NEWS
The new owner of the Shops At Nanuet has an ambitious 2.0 plan lined up for a decade-old outdoor retail complex that underperformed for years.
Local developer Gabe Alexander, whose bought the Shops At Nanuet at 912-1000 Fashion Driver under the name Nanuet Holdings DE LLC and Nanuet Holdings NY LLC from the Simon Property Group for $60 million in late 2024, is rolling out a future blueprint for the nearly 50-acre site that includes rebranding, additional “pad sites” for retail or dining, physical upgrades, and luxury apartments. The purchase included the site’s out parcels, and the former Sears building and automotive center.
To build housing, the developer will need to get a zone change because the commercial site at Route 59 is not zoned for apartments.
The plan includes a 1.25-mile walking trail around the perimeter of the property to promote wellness and walkability.
Alexander’s real estate portfolio includes market-rate apartments, a Spring Valley shopping center with a supermarket, and recent acquisitions of a fallow summer camp and degraded bungalow colony to turn into senior and market-rate housing.
Renamed Nanuet Town Centre, the developer hopes to diversify the center to include more events and community engagement – taking a page from the Palisades Center, which has been struggling for years and is in foreclosure. Keri Cunningham, the Nanuet Town Centre’s marketing director, previously worked for the West Nyack megamall.
“The rebrand includes a broader vision to create a vibrant lifestyle destination that blends the traditional elements of a shopping center with exciting new experiences,” Cunningham said in a press released issued today. “Nanuet Town Centre is no longer just a place to shop – it is a place to connect, experience, and live.”
The new direction takes a page from moribund malls nationwide. The migration to online shopping, the collapse of many big boxes, and changing consumer habits during the COVID pandemic, are forcing mall owners to rethink the way they do business. Many malls are adding a housing element to their mix; others are incorporating everything from parks to churches to post offices.
The fate of the Palisades Center is uncertain. Owners of the mall, along with guarantors of the $418.5 million mortgage loan on the real estate, recently lost a battle in New York County Supreme Court that moved the likelihood of a sale of the mall one step closer.
Cunningham says revision for the Nanuet Town Centre will include making it a destination.
“Our goal is to reimagine Nanuet Town Centre as more than a shopping destination,” said Cunningham. “This is about creating a place where people gather, connect and experience something new – whether at a concert, during a lunch break with friends, or while exploring what our businesses have to offer. Over the years, the Shops At Nanuet rarely held community-oriented events or used its property as a focal point for community engagement.
The mall plans to host four events annually beginning with the “Grand Re-Opening Block Party” on June 21 and 22, which will include live music and performances and promotions including showcasing local vendors.
The Centre will also host a multi-day Summer Festival featuring artisan booths, food and drinks, live demonstrations, interactive art, and a kids’ “make-it-and-take-it” crafting station. The Centre will hold a Summer Picnic Series, a weekly midday event with free family-friendly entertainment on Thursdays from July 10 through August 28 from 12 to 2 pm.
For the fall, Puppy Pals Live, the acrobatic dog show, will be held September 13. The roster will continue through the winter, including a holiday market.
The mall is centrally located in Nanuet’s shopping district in a sea of retail. Directly across Route 59, Brixmor’s Rockland Plaza, in response to a changing retail environment, hatched a re-development plan that carves up larges spaces to cater to smaller businesses, and envisions adding at least two restaurants to the center. While the Nanuet Diner has been preserved in this latest round of redevelopment planning, the intended addition of a grocery store has been scrapped.
The new plan varies dramatically from a plan submitted in 2021, that included the addition of a 43,000 square-foot grocer (the developer declined at the time to reveal which one) and the demolition of the Nanuet Diner to make way for new outparcel buildings. Overall, in this new iteration, the shopping center will be reduced by about 7,500 square feet, from 258,758 to 251,217 square feet.
Improvements are already underway at the Nanuet Town Centre, including new signage, refreshed directories and parking lot signs, and additional seating, lighting and landscaping.
The Centre plans to offer free space to local non-profit organizations for hosting events, fundraisers, awareness campaigns, and more, according to Cunningham.
In recent years, the Shops At Nanuet became more down market, losing many of its national chains and big boxes. Vacancy rates were dogging the retail center. Alexander’s team say it plans to court tenants with “strong regional and national footprints.”
The Centre announced two new tenants: Golf Lounge 18, an indoor golf and sports entertainment company, and Karako Suits, a family-owned regional menswear brand with locations in New York and New Jersey.
Rendering provided by Nanuet Town Centre
