WPCNR MAIN STREET LINE. From the Mayor's Office. October 15, 2003: Two development firms, Ivy Equities and Barrow Street Capital, LLC, have acquired the lease on the Sears building, 275 Main Street, on the east end of Main Street at North Broadway. At a news conference Wednesday morning for what was described as a "groundbreaking," the Mayor's Office reports that the developer plans to invest $17 Million in refurbishing the building to house what they hoped would be 2 to 6 retail tenants in a mini mall they call The Shoppes on Main.

275 MAIN STREET: To be renovated to house The Shoppes on Main. Photo by WPCNR News.

MAYOR JOSEPH DELFINO AND COUNTY EXECUTIVE ANDY SPANO BREAK GROUND Wednesday morning at 175 Main Street, next to City Hall. The firms developing the property are Ivy Equities of Montvale, New Jersey, and Barrow Street Capital, a pension-fund advisor. According to the official news release from Rubenstein Associates, the firms "recently acquired the leasehold" on the three-story, 270,000 square-foot store where Sears did business. Official City of White Plains Photo by Rick Ammirato, The Mayor's Office.

"We're about to transform one of the city's most famous single-user structures into one of the county's finest multi-tenant retail developments," said John A. Saraceno, Jr., Ivy's Chief Investment Officer.

No tenants have been signed for the three-story space yet. Patrick A. Smith, of Staubach Retail Services, introduced as the exclusive leasing agent and retail consultant for The Shoppes on Main Street  said: "We expect to be able to announce some major tenant signings by year-end, and we're hoping to begin moving retailers into their stores by spring."

Refurbishment of the retail space is expected to be completed by the end of June, 2004 within eight months, the news release reported. The three-story venue sill undergo a complete electrical upgrade, be outfitted with a new heating and air conditioning system, new escalators, new tenant installations and a major garage upgrade that will feature new lighting, improved security and a new traffic pattern.

Ivy Equities is an owner and manager of office buildings primarily, including 399 Knollwood Road in White Plains and 411 Theodore Fremd Avenue in Rye.

Staubach Retail Services, the consultant advising and leasing The Shoppes on Main Street, is a major player in retail leasing with 50 offices around the world. They take properties and match retail tenants to the property advantages. For more on this giant firm, visit their website at www.staubach.com.