Woodbury Commons Gets $170 Million Facelift

Woodbury Commons (Central Valley, N.Y.), one of the oldest and most successful outlet centers in the country, will be getting a $170 million renovation and expansion this year.

The center, owned by Simon Property Group Inc. (Indianapolis), will be expanded by about 7 percent to 90,000 square feet, room for 20 additional stores plus about 20 percent more parking.

The renovation will begin in June and and is expected to be finished in 2016.

The shopping complex north of New York City accommodates 13 million visitors a year, including residents who drive from nearby New York and its suburbs and tourists who come up from Manattan on a special bus. The center does more than $1.3 billion in annual sales, or roughly $1550 a square foot.

“This is one of our oldest outlet centers. It was built in 1985, and this is its first complete overhaul,” said Simon’s Danielle DeVita, a senior vp in real estate. “It really was time.”

Simon has expanded Woodbury Common three times: in 1993, 1994 and 1998. Nonetheless, visitors complain about its congested parking and labyrinthine store layout. According to The New York Times, the overhaul will feature a new main boulevard leading into the center and a new entrance plaza. The main tower building, which was designed in the style of an American colonial village, will be demolished. In its place, Simon is building a new main building, to be called Market Hall, that will feature an architectural tower in the same colonial style and a food court for 850 shoppers.

The old food court building, in the middle of the complex, will be replaced with a boulevard called Madison Avenue, which will connect shopping areas to one another.