X-Golf to swing into Samanea New York in Westbury

Samanea New York’s efforts to reposition itself from being a mostly vacant Westbury mall to a bustling lifestyle and entertainment destination have led to a long-term lease with X-Golf.

A combination indoor golf simulator, restaurant and bar venue, the X-Golf franchise is expected to open in November in about 6,300 square feet in Samanea New York, which was formerly called the Mall at the Source, on Old Country Road.

X-Golf’s "proprietary technology is 98% accurate and allows guests to replicate all golf shots, while measuring ball speed, launch, direction, and spin, along with club path, and impact. The X-Golf system performs over 6,000 calculations per second," Samanea said in a statement Monday.

After years of high vacancy rates, Samanea New York underwent a $28 million renovation that was completed in March as the mall’s owner — Lesso Mall Development Long Island Inc., a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Lesso Group Holdings Ltd. — tried to improve its fortunes by focusing on bringing in a different mix of tenants. (Lesso bought the mall for $92 million in 2017.)

The 750,000-square-foot mall is working to court tenants that specialize in home furnishings, experiential offerings, and food and beverages, a lineup that is expected to draw more foot traffic than a traditional mall with mostly clothing and shoe stores, Samanea said.

Samanea has only seven tenants, including Dave & Buster’s, The Cheesecake Factory, Fortunoff Backyard Store and Leonardo Furniture. Those, along with new leases signed since last year for incoming businesses, have left about 35% of the mall's space unleased, said Dominic Coluccio, Samanea New York’s chief leasing and development officer.

In May, Samanea announced that Empire Adventure Park, a family entertainment center, will open in the mall in the last quarter of 2022. Empire will occupy a 35,572-square-foot space that off-price department store Saks Off 5th vacated in 2011.

Other previously announced incoming tenants include Asian American grocer 99 Ranch Market, which will open its first New York state store in November at the mall. Two restaurants — Szechuan Cuisine and K-Pot, a Korean hot pot and barbecue eatery — will open in late 2022.

MoCA Asian Bistro will open in early 2022 in a space that was vacated by P.F. Chang’s last year.

"We do have a couple of more entertainment groups that we’re working with. It’s being negotiated right now," said Matthew Kucker, managing director in real estate firm Colliers International’s Jericho office. Colliers is overseeing leasing for the mall.

The X-Golf franchise planned for Westbury — the first in New York State — has signed a 10-year lease for space that used to be occupied by David’s Bridal at the mall, Colliers said.

The Westbury franchise will be co-owned by Christopher P. Sciocchetti and a partner, whom he declined to name. Sciocchetti is a Nassau County resident and golf fan who felt that X-Golf would offer unique amenities to the area, he said.

"I really thought that this area should have something like this," he said.

South Korean company RD-Tek supplies the hardware and software for X-Golf, spokeswoman Lauren Harrison said.

X-Golf America, based in Carlson, California, has granted franchises to 34 venues that are now open, and another 35 are in development, Harrison said.

Besides the Westbury location, two more are planned for the New York metro area, she said. An X-Golf franchise will open at Veterans Memorial Plaza in Commack in December and another will open in Brooklyn in January, she said.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.com@ToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.