Long Island's biggest mall redevelopments: Latest status
Almost all the enclosed shopping malls on Long Island, some of which have faced steep losses in foot traffic and sales, are undergoing revamps aimed at resurgences.
For some of the properties, that means new layouts and tenants for different retail concepts. For others, retail is taking a backseat to other options.
Click to explore the latest development status of your local mall.
Sunrise Mall, Massapequa
- Status: Defunct; part of the property is slated to become an Amazon warehouse
- Targeted completion date: Unknown
What changes are expected this year?
The termination of the mall's last tenant lease with Dick's, which closed in April, "clears one of the final hurdles needed to advance the project," Urban Edge's chief operating officer, Jeffrey S. Mooallem, told analysts during an earnings call in February. Urban Edge, the majority partner in the mall's ownership group, Sunrise Mall Holdings, declined Newsday's request for comment.
During the call, Mooallem stated the Dick's closure clears the path for Amazon's distribution center "to advance quickly through the entitlement process." Mooallem told analysts Urban Edge was in discussions with other potential users for the rest of the site. "And we hope to have more to announce later this year," he said.
What does the future look like?
- Amazon warehouse: Proposed for part of Sunrise Mall, the distribution center would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to plans under review by the Town of Oyster Bay. The facility is proposed for a 26.7-acre portion of the mall property that the Seattle-based e-commerce giant intends to buy, Newsday previously reported.
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Plans in flux: Amazon is still working on its site plan, which will require a hearing before the planning advisory board, Town of Oyster Bay spokesman Brian Nevin said in March. The mall is currently owned by Sunrise Mall Holdings LLC, which bought the 77-acre property in 2020.
What's behind the delay?
Sunrise Mall has struggled for years, due in part to competition from online retailers and the loss of department stores.
Sunrise Mall Holdings bought the mall from Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, a Paris-based company, in 2020 for $29.7 million, a steep discount from the $143 million that the property sold for in 2005.
When it bought the mall, Sunrise Mall Holdings said it would redevelop it.
In January 2025, when a redevelopment still had not taken place, Mooallem told Newsday that a plan for changes to the mall had not been finalized, but Macy's exit in a few months would create more opportunities to revamp the property.
The COVID-19 pandemic and high interest rates for the costs of construction projects and supplies were among the factors that extended the timeline to redevelop the mall, Gene Spiegelman, an official in the ownership group, told Newsday in January 2025.
The Shops on Broadway, Hicksville
- Status: $175M redevelopment projected
- Targeted completion date: 2028
The mall, formerly called Broadway Commons, has been struggling with a high vacancy rate for several years. Awaiting redevelopment, shells of shuttered eateries and retailers remain. The property's owner, K/BTF Broadway LLC, plans to convert part of the enclosed mall to an open-air shopping center. The project calls for the construction of a freestanding, 105,000-square-foot BJ's Wholesale Club building with a gas station and electric vehicle charging stations, according to the site plan.
What changes are expected this year?
Construction is projected to start late this year, and the entire project is expected to be finished in 2028, said Bram D. Weber, an attorney with the Weber Law Group LLP in Melville who represents the mall’s ownership. The Town of Oyster Bay review and approval process is ongoing, and building permits from the town are needed before work can begin. Town public hearings on two special use permits — one for the BJ's gas station and the other for indoor active recreation — are expected to be held this spring, Weber said.
What led to its decline?
The vacancy issues were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to officials with K/BTF Broadway LLC.
Macy’s, which was an anchor, closed in early 2020 and a 17,000-square-foot Old Navy closed in June 2023. The mall’s 12-screen movie theater, the Showcase Cinema de Lux Broadway, closed in January 2025 because the operator did not renew the lease.
What does the future look like?
The owner of The Shops on Broadway plans to redevelop part of the enclosed shopping mall as an open-air shopping center. Credit: K/BTF Broadway LLC
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An open-air revamp: The proposal includes the demolition of the vacant, 300,000-square-foot Macy’s building, which has five above-ground levels and a basement, and tearing down other retail adjacent to Macy’s. Also proposed is the removal of the roof over the mall’s common corridors.
- The District: An entertainment hub called The District would include the existing Round1 Bowling & Amusement and a new 70,000-square-foot, three-story building for restaurants.
- A new movie theater: There is a plan to bring a movie theater to the mall again, but it would be smaller than the one before, Weber, said.
A rendering shows how the project in Hicksville would look. Credit: K/BTF Broadway LLC
What's behind the delay?
In June 2024, K/BTF Broadway LLC estimated that the redevelopment would cost $100 million. The projected cost has now risen to $175 million due in part to changes to the plans for the special entertainment and restaurant spaces, open-air plaza for outdoor use and events, and enhanced architectural elements, Weber said in an email last month.
Roadway improvements to the mall entrance and the installation of a new traffic signal have added to the overall cost, he said.
Roosevelt Field, Uniondale
- Status: Thriving
What changes are expected this year?
In the third quarter of this year, jewelry store Ana Luisa and activewear retailer Vuori will open, said Simon Property Group Inc., an Indianapolis-based real estate investment trust that owns the mall. Also, in the same quarter, an escape room, The Escape Game, and its live game show concept, Great Big Game Show, will open.
What's behind its success?
At the mall, sales per square foot are $1,374, the second-highest of any mall in the state, after Queens Center, according to Green Street, a Newport Beach, California-based real estate information provider. The mall's occupancy rate as of Dec. 31 was 96.6%, Simon reported in its annual report published in February.
Simon also owns two other Long Island malls — Walt Whitman Shops in Huntington Station and Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove.
Sun Vet Mall
- Status: Now open-concept
What changes are expected this year?
The former Sun Vet Mall struggled with a high vacancy rate for years before construction work started in 2023 to transform the property into an open-air shopping center, now called The Shops at SunVet, with a more upscale mix of tenants. The revamp reduced the size of the retail space by 40% to 169,628 square feet.
The shopping center is 93% occupied or committed to incoming tenants, and construction is mostly complete, according to Regency Centers Corp., the Jacksonville, Florida-based real estate investment trust that is the lead partner in the redevelopment.
A 43,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market, which opened March 5, is the largest anchor in the $93 million redevelopment of the retail property, located at 5801 Sunrise Hwy. on an 18-acre site.
New tenants include Nordstrom Rack, cosmetics store Sephora, fast-casual eatery Wonder, Hand & Stone Massage & Facial Spa, Teachers Federal Credit Union, Wells Fargo Bank, Starbucks, Aspen Dental and golf shop Club Champion.
What does the future look like?
- More openings: Other businesses that have signed leases at the shopping center but haven’t opened yet include prescription eyeglasses store Warby Parker, J. Crew Factory, Crumbl Cookies, Nava Health, Mógū Modern Chinese Kitchen and California Closets.
- Most of the incoming tenants will be open by this summer, Regency said.
South Shore Mall, Bay Shore
- Status: Bustling on a recent visit
How is the mall performing?
In 2023, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield sold South Shore Mall and a mall in Connecticut for $196 million to a Great Neck-based partnership formed by Namdar Realty Group, a commercial real estate investment firm; Mason Asset Management, a real estate investment and advisory company; and CH Capital Group.
The mall's ownership group declined Newsday's request for comment on the property.
But data from real estate sources gives some insight on how the mall is performing.
The mall has a B- rating, which takes into account its occupancy rate, 92%, according to Green Street. Excluding the now-vacant Sunrise Mall, South Shore Mall had the second-biggest decline in foot traffic, 8.4%, for the year that ended April 1, among seven enclosed and formerly enclosed malls on Long Island, according to Chicago-based real estate firm JLL's analysis of data from Placer.ai, a Covina, California-based company that analyzes location data from mobile devices.
Walt Whitman Shops, Huntington Station
- Status: Thriving
Polished with some high-end tenants, Walt Whitman Shops is high-performing, but it's a relatively small mall, at 1.1 million square feet on one level. As of Dec. 31, it had an occupancy rate of 97%, according to Simon's annual report.
What changes are expected this year?
Pop Mart, which sells designer art toys and collectible figures, will open in the second quarter, Simon said. Also, 7th Avenue Furniture will open in the third quarter.
What does the future look like?
Though highly rated, Walt Whitman Shops has been affected by the bankruptcies of luxury department stores. The mall is home to the last Saks Fifth Avenue store on Long Island, but that store is among 20 in the chain that will close by May, following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in January by Saks Global Enterprises LLC.
Also, the mall still hasn't replaced its Lord & Taylor store, which was among the remaining 38 stores in the chain to close in 2020 after the luxury retailer filed for bankruptcy.
Soon, the only two department stores left will be Bloomingdale's and Macy's.
Smith Haven Mall, Lake Grove
- Status: Multimillion-dollar redevelopment in progress
What changes are expected this year?
The new tenants opening this fall are clothing stores Zara and GOAT USA, eateries Boxcar Burgers and Ugly Dumpling, and Miniso, a variety store that will sell cosmetics, stationery, toys, kitchenware and other goods.
An outdoor, park-like area, shown in a rendering, is planned for the redevelopment of Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove. Credit: Simon Property Group Inc.
What does the future look like?
- Smith Haven Mall is undergoing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment that will add new stores, dining destinations, an outdoor plaza and amenities, said the mall’s owner, Simon. The work began last summer and will be finished this year, Simon said.
- The revitalization project stands as an example of "how retail continues to thrive through innovative concepts, strategic reinvestment, and thoughtful evolution," Simon spokeswoman Nancy Gilbert said in an emailed statement.
The mall has lost some department stores that have been replaced by other large tenants.
In July 2023, an outpatient care facility, Stony Brook Advanced Specialty Care at Lake Grove, opened in a former Sears space in the mall.
The facility occupies 60,000 square feet of space, with a full expansion to 170,000 square feet targeted for completion by 2027.
In November 2023, clothing and home goods retailer Primark opened a 32,700-square-foot store in part of a first-floor space that was vacated by JCPenney in 2019.
The mall's other largest tenants include Macy's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Barnes & Noble and H&M.
As of Dec. 31, the mall's occupancy rate was 99.5%, according to Simon's annual report published in February.
Smith Haven Mall is a grade A mall, according to Green Street.
Samanea New York, Westbury
- Status: Now a "lifestyle destination" center
After undergoing a $30 million revamp in 2021 designed to revitalize the struggling site formerly known as The Mall at the Source, the property now has tenants offering laser tag, rock climbing, miniature golf, arts and crafts, indoor pickleball courts and other activities.
What changes are expected this year?
One of the incoming tenants opening by this spring is the Ichiddo Ramen eatery. Also, this spring, NY Axe, an ax-throwing range, will open its permanent location in the mall, and then close the pop-up it opened in early 2025, said Dominic Coluccio, director of real estate for the mall.
What does the future look like?
The 750,000-square-foot mall was plagued by a high vacancy rate for years.
Built in 1996 for $200 million, the mall began to decline when one of its main anchors, a Fortunoff department store, closed in 2009 after the retailer filed for bankruptcy.
Lesso Mall Development Long Island Inc., a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Lesso Group Holdings Ltd., bought the property for $92 million in 2017, changed its name, and completed a renovation of the property in 2021.
When the renovation on Samanea New York was completed in 2021, there were only six tenants, including Dave & Buster’s, The Cheesecake Factory and Bloomingdale’s Furniture Outlet.
There are now 36 tenants operating at the mall, said Dominic Coluccio, director of real estate for the mall.
They include The Gravity Vault, a rock-climbing gym; Ryco’s Escape Room & Lounge; X-Golf, a combination indoor golf simulator, restaurant and bar venue; I. FLY Trapeze, an indoor trapeze school; Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao, a dumpling soup restaurant; Rainbow Nails & Foot Spa; 99 Ranch Market, an Asian supermarket; Gatsby’s Game Cafe; and Crazy Hot Deals, a discounter selling clothing and housewares.
Is it drawing shoppers?
Five years after the mall's renovation, its occupancy rate is 76%, Coluccio said. The mall's grade is a C, according to Green Street. Nationwide, the average occupancy rate for C grade malls is 82.1%, Green Street reports. Lesso is aiming over the next year to significantly increase its occupancy rate, but the company is satisfied with the pace of the leasing, said Coluccio, adding that it has "consistently been on schedule."
Green Acres Mall, Valley Stream
- Status: Undergoing $130M to $150M redevelopment
The 70-year-old "tired mall" is undergoing a redevelopment aimed at taking the property in a more upscale direction with new restaurants and entertainment venues, according to the property's owner, The Macerich Co., a real estate investment trust in Santa Monica, California. A ShopRite supermarket will also be added to the mall.
What changes are expected this year?
New tenants coming to the mall include Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chão, food hall-inspired eatery Wonder, The Cheesecake Factory, Shake Shack, Paris Baguette, Tony’s Tacos, Panda Express, Dave’s Hot Chicken and Sephora. All of them will have sidewalk entrances and face Sunrise Highway. The move to add restaurants with outside entrances is a throwback to the mall's origins -- it started as an open-air shopping center in 1956, and then was enclosed in 1968.
Most of the new tenants are expected to open by Black Friday in November, but ShopRite should open by fall 2027, Macerich said.
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