Simone Development Companies Diversifies Shopping Centers To Suit Contemporary Consumers
Securing experiential and service-oriented tenants is key to maintaining vibrant shopping centers in the e-commerce era, said Joseph Simone of Simone Development Companies.
“As big-box retailers shrink their footprints or close locations, shopping center owners are increasingly challenged to identify experiences and personal services that can bring more foot traffic to retail destinations,” said Joe Simone, President of Simone Development Companies. “Across the country, we’re seeing the rise of health clubs, experiential retail and urgent care at shopping centers.”
In New Rochelle, N.Y., LA Fitness recently opened a 36,000-square-foot gym in a strip shopping center owned by Simone Development Companies and G&S Investors. LA Fitness now occupies the majority of a two-story, free-standing structure at 75 Nardozzi Place. The health club is adjacent to a cluster of 30 beauty and personal service businesses housed within My Salon Suite of New Rochelle and destination retail like PXG Westchester, a golf franchise whose amenities include interactive swing simulators and a practice putting green.
According to data from the retail-analytics firm Creditntell, a retailer located in a shopping center with a health club receives about 2.5 percent more monthly visits compared with a similar retailer in a shopping center with no fitness tenant.
The presence of an LA Fitness as an anchor at another Simone Development property at 262 Boston Post Road in Port Chester, N.Y., helped to attract new businesses. Nothing Bundt Cakes, Nailed It Spa and European Wax Center recently opened at that revitalized location.
“We recognize the value that fitness businesses bring to shopping centers, particularly in terms of early-morning and evening foot traffic,” said Joanna Simone, Principal and President of Leasing and Property Management Operations at Simone Development Companies. “Some prospective tenants specifically seek shopping centers with health clubs because their services align with the healthy lifestyles promoted by the gyms.”
Simone Development Companies is a full-service real estate investment company specializing in the acquisition and development of healthcare, mixed-use, office, industrial, retail, and residential properties. Headquartered at the Hutchinson Metro Center, it boasts a portfolio of over 7 million square feet throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Long Island, Westchester County, Orange and Fairfield Counties and New Jersey. With services spanning acquisition, development, construction, finance, asset management, accounting, leasing and property management, Simone Development Companies is set apart by its vertically integrated management team, long-term asset ownership and its pursuit of visionary development.
Joseph Simone says New York City’s land-use initiatives will deliver more housing and jobs
New York City’s plans to update neighborhood land uses will help businesses, create more housing, and promote sustainability, said Joseph Simone of Simone Development Companies.
“New York City’s ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions include creating new job districts and allowing taller apartment buildings near train stations to reduce single-passenger car use. This policy will improve New Yorkers’ connections to new employment districts emerging near mass transit facilities,” said Joe Simone, President of Simone Development Companies.
The modernization of New York City’s land use rules is part of Mayor Eric Adams’ goal to build 500,000 new homes over the next decade. Under the mayor’s “Build Everywhere” initiative, up to 6,000 new housing units will be built in the East Bronx by 2027 near four new Metro-North Railroad stations also expected to open that same year. The Build Everywhere push in the East Bronx is projected to create 10,000 jobs near the new train stations, allowing workers to sustainably commute by public transportation.
One of the East Bronx neighborhoods targeted by the Build Everywhere initiative is Morris Park, already home to a large job center due to the presence of hospitals, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and affiliated healthcare businesses. Simone Development Companies’ Hutchinson Metro Center represents a significant portion of the area’s employment numbers, and it sits next to the future Morris Park Train Station.
The Hutchinson Metro Center is a 42-acre, mixed-use campus planning a 33-acre expansion that may include life science labs, medical offices, and destination retail, among other uses.
“Simone Development Companies supports New York City’s effort to increase the quantity and quality of workforce housing, which is critical for the hospitals in Morris Park and for employers considering locating in our campus or anywhere in the region,” said Patricia Simone, principal and president of Simone Management Group.
Simone Development Companies is a full-service real estate investment company specializing in the acquisition and development of healthcare, mixed-use, office, industrial, retail, and residential properties. Headquartered at the Hutchinson Metro Center, it boasts a portfolio of over 7 million square feet throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Long Island, Westchester County, Orange and Fairfield Counties and New Jersey. With services spanning acquisition, development, construction, finance, asset management, accounting, leasing and property management, Simone Development Companies is set apart by its vertically integrated management team, long-term asset ownership and its pursuit of visionary development.
Joseph Simone Calls New York’s Workforce Development Essential for Life Sciences Real Estate Growth
New York’s planned investments in life science workforce training centers will help stimulate real estate development, said Joseph Simone of Simone Development Companies.
“New York is successfully attracting life science startups. The challenge now is to build talent pipelines to train the necessary workforce that will enable the state to achieve its employment goals,” said Joe Simone, President of Simone Development Companies. “State investments in the New York City regional workforce development plan ensure that growing life science companies seeking real estate in the tri-state area will find the right workers to fill new laboratories and facilities.”
The Long Island Investment Fund recently announced its intention to fund a life science workforce development training center. One of the fund’s goals is to supercharge the life sciences ecosystem in the region by developing workers with in-demand skills.
LifeSci NYC has a similar role in the five boroughs, and one target area is in the Bronx at the Montefiore-Einstein Accelerated Biotechnology Research Center (EMBARC), located across the street from Simone Development Companies’ Hutchinson Metro Center. EMBARC is a biomanufacturing operation focused on cell, gene, and antibody production. LifeSci NYC will invest $20 million to build a diverse pipeline of life sciences talent.
Simone Development Companies has anticipated growth in Morris Park’s biotech talent pool by planning for a live-work-play environment at the Hutchinson Metro Center, a mixed-use medical-office complex where future construction may include life science labs, housing, and destination retail catering to the employees of companies that grow out of EMBARC. This emerging innovation hub will be connected to New York City’s life sciences network by Metro-North’s future Morris Park train station, which will provide quick access to Penn Station in Manhattan.
“Since 2018, biotech research and development companies have increased employment by more than 8,000 people in the New York City metro area, an almost 20 percent increase. “Industry leaders say this growth will continue, and our Hutchinson Metro Center is well positioned to meet the increased demand for real estate that can accommodate life science facilities and workers,” said Megan Guy, Simone Development Companies’ Senior Vice President of Development.
Simone Development Companies is a full-service real estate investment company specializing in the acquisition and development of healthcare, mixed-use, office, industrial, retail, and residential properties. Headquartered at the Hutchinson Metro Center, it boasts a portfolio of over 7 million square feet throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Long Island, Westchester County, Orange and Fairfield Counties and New Jersey. With services spanning acquisition, development, construction, finance, asset management, accounting, leasing and property management, Simone Development Companies is set apart by its vertically integrated management team, long-term asset ownership and its pursuit of visionary development.