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WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. December 12:Mills Corporation, projected new owners of White Plains landmark mall, The Galleria, has detailed preliminary plans for the property. They call for transforming the first street level of the Galleria, now occupied by the Bunny’s children’s store and Emmigrant Bank, into a culinary palette of seven sit-down restaurants. Preliminary plans call for new construction of a fifth Galleria floor which will include a “Cinema.” A PBS Kids facility will be located on the third level.
MILLS VISION FOR THE GALLERIA: Preliminary plans released to Wall Street analysts during conference call with the Mills Corporation Tuesday, detailing their first take on how they hope to transform the image of The Galleria.Photo by WPCNR News
Dynamic Siegel signals approach to The Galleria and new properties.
Laurence Siegel, Chairman of Mills Corporation, said he would have respect for the roles his new acquisitions have in the community, and said the Mills Corporation would take a pragmatic approach in reinventing the malls:
“We understand that retail relationships are important assets, and we recognize the relationships between the retailer and consumer is unique in each property we own. We will maintain the integrity of each mall’s brand while carefully examining how to enhance the customer experience with the Mills Touch.”
Siegel sent a signal to the new Mills properties to fasten their seatbelts: “At this time, with retail formats emerging, we think there are positive returns for innovative creative thinking. These acquisitions provide opportunities for us to work our magic to the benefit of consumers, retailers and entertainment partners…”
Making Over the West Side, Balancing The Westchester and the City Center
The Mills leader then introduced to the analysts, his preliminary site plans for each of his six acquisitions. For The Galleria, he was particular excited: “We are planning a number of expansions and enhancements to the acquired properties…At the 4-level Galleria in White Plains, New York, we are repositioning this asset to complement The Westchester. With an already top-performing Macy’s, a full-line Sears Department store will be a perfect addition to the merchandise mix. Popular priced retail with stores like H & M, is currently performing extremely well. We’re also adding a movie theatre, top flight restaurants, and a PBS Kid Zone that will also feature a cluster of children’s retail.”
Mills Has Already Done Some Deep Thinking
The preliminary floor plans proposed by Mills Corporation, the self-styled “Chicago Bulls of the 90s” in mall development that specializes in creating “destination malls” across America, are in character with the organization’s strategy of creating malls which are not just to shop, but where entertainment, recreation, and good times are a la carte to the consumer experience.
The Mills Fast Break.
From the new Galleria site plan released to the Wall Street “clairvoyants,” in Mills sees The Galleria as becoming a place to meet, greet, and entertain, in addition to the shopping piece.
For starters, the plans call for turning the first floor Galleria street level into a restaurant wheel of tasty temptation to play to the upscale legal, financial, and business traffic that frequent White Plains during the day. On the drawing the restaurants are actually named, but are not visible, and the Mills Media Relations Department has advised WPCNR they will get back to us with details on how Mills plans to proceed after they close in January.
On the Food Court level 2, other restaurant innovations to the Food Court appear to be planned. On Level 3, there appear to be no major design changes, while Level 4, a children’s cluster of retail will be built around the “draw” of a PBS Kids Zone facility.
The plans call for the construction of a fifth floor including a Cinema with vast space not accounted for as to what would fill out the fifth floor on the plans.
Other questions to be asked in the coming months include the state of the leases for present tenants at The Galleria, who would be managing The Galleria for Mills, whether they would bring in their own supervisors, or absorb the present Galleria management into the Mills management team. Cadillac Fairview’s public relations agency in Toronto did not return WPCNR calls for comment on this matter.
The Chicago Bulls of Mall Management is Coming to Town.
The Tuesday Conference Call introduced the Mills management team, saying they had the “management strength and depth to get the job done,” likening his management team, to be “more like the 1990s Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls a dominant, seasoned, multi-disciplined team that knows how to win year after year.”
The man who handles construction for the Mills team is Jim Whitcomb, with the company since 1994. He was described by Jim Napoli, Vice President of Operations, as “the most seasoned and veteran mall construction man in history…no one is better.”
City contacted by Mills Wednesday afternoon.
Paul Wood, Economic Development specialist for the Mayor’s office said a spokesperson for the Mills Corporation contacted the Mayor’s office yesterday, apologizing for not informing the city of their impending acquisition. The rationale given was the sensitivity of the acquisition process.
Wood said the Mills representative assured the city, “The plans are still very preliminary.”
Wood reported to WPCNR, “We want to talk with them. They want to talk to us. They said plans were still undetermined. They basically want to familiarize themselves with The (Galleria) Mall.They won’t be delivering any detailed plans any time soon.”
City officials privately are annoyed with Cadillac Fairview for not informing the city that the mall was about to change hands, and understand the Mills Corporation position.
Siegel: Galleria will get more than the usual “Mills tweaking.”
Laurence Siegel, the Chairman of the Mills Corporation, spoke generally about the six malls his organization is purchasing, informing analysts the company was going to spend between $325 Million to $350 Million to renovate all six, which means that The Galleria may undergo approximately a $60 Million of improvements. They will be extensive, if you listen to Mr. Siegel’s comments in the Conference Call:
“The six mall properties (The Galleria is one), we are about to acquire, fall within the (Mills) Third Growth Strategy…which is 21st century traditional retail and entertainment. These projects…have income and our ability to create a unique brand of retail excitement and entertainment that can take a traditional mall format and make it an exceptional attraction will create from scratch an exciting new consumer venue.”
Siegel guaranteed a new direction: “We’re not buying these malls to content ourselves with the usual tweaking. Rather we bought them with a view to profitably enhance them by putting to work our proven ability to anticipate trends, engage consumers’ imagination and create exceptional retail and entertainment experiences.”
