City Center at 5 Mamaroneck Ave. in White Plains, New York — Courtesy: JLL
By Joshua Burd
A key downtown retail property in New York’s Westchester County is on the market for sale under a recently launched offering by JLL’s Morristown-based capital markets team.
Located in White Plains, at 5 Mamaroneck Ave., the multilevel building consists of 361,958 square feet with ShopRite as its anchor and nearly 92 percent occupancy, according to the listing brokers. Junior anchors include Burlington, Nordstrom Rack, New York Sports Club and Apple Cinemas, while the balance of the tenancy is made up almost entirely of well-known food and beverage operators such as Morton’s Steakhouse, Buffalo Wild Wings, Cold Stone Creamery and Bonchon.
The offering also includes 24 affordable apartments that are within the connected municipal parking garage, JLL said, touting the building’s location in the heart of White Plains and at the crossroads of several major avenues. The so-called City Center property, meantime, is a short walk from the White Plains train station and is close to major highways such as Interstate 287 and the Bronx River Parkway.
“These locational advantages, combined with a large commercial base, has led to a booming downtown and the robust development of several thousand of residences over the past few years, with several thousand more either under construction or planned for the near future,” JLL wrote in its marketing materials. “City Center is also located within the highly affluent Westchester County, with the average household income within a (three-mile) radius exceeding $220,000.”
JLL’s Kevin O’Hearn, J.B. Bruno and Jose Cruz lead the listing team, noting that “a lack of retail-zoned land in surrounding communities serves to severely limit any further competition.” Bennett Pittel and Ryan Carroll of the firm’s analytics and financing groups, respectively, and leasing brokers Patrick Smith and Matt Ogle are providing support.
According to the firm, City Center is part of a larger complex that includes two luxury residential towers with a combined 528 apartments and condominiums, as well as additional surrounding retailers and a 365-unit Ritz Carlton condominium. The asset also benefits from two shadow anchors — a 154,000-square-foot Target on the lower level and a 17,500-square-foot White Plains Performing Arts Center on the top floor, which JLL said generates strong foot traffic.
The team added that ShopRite’s lease runs through 2031 with four five-year options remaining, while Burlington and a well-performing Nordstrom Rack provide further stability to the property. Investors can also capture a value-add opportunity through the lease-up of 30,650 square feet, JLL said, including a former Barnes & Noble unit with a prime ground-floor location with entrances from both the street side and plaza lobby.
“Grocer-anchored retail centers as an essential use continues to be highly sought-after by investors,” JLL wrote. “City Center offers investors the opportunity to acquire an infill, ShopRite-anchored asset at approximately 50 percent of replacement costs.”
