Is Ridge Hill successful? (New York, Yonkers: apartments, amusement park, low crime)

[wp169]

When I shop at Ridge Hill during the week all the stores are practically empty, except for Whole Foods and a few others, like TJ Maxx, I don't understand how most of them can be making enough money to survive there. Most of the restaurants are changing hands and I know many Yonkers residents don't like to go there and pay for parking to shop or go the the doctor at WestMed.
When I research I never find anything online regarding the success or failure of Ridge Hill. Does anyone know how it's doing financially?

[naicha]

I am moving to Westchester soon and curious about that area too. I see they got a LegoLand there. How is it? Family Friendly area? or just kinda ghetto-half deserted Strip Malls?

[KensingtonPark]

The Shopping Center is quite nice and relatively new. The Legoland Discovery Center is nice as well; just don’t confuse it for a Legoland Park, which is a full-blown amusement park. I agree with the OP, however, in that I wonder how many of the smaller stores are turning a profit. Everything looks really quite nice, but there doesn’t seem to be as much buying on those occasions when I’m there. Not that often, as I mostly shop at The Westchester in White Plains, so I’m not necessarily a good barometer.

[wp169]

Everything in Yonkers, NY mostly east of Central Avenue/New York Thruway and on Central Avenue is all great, no ghetto areas, as matter of fact average home is going for $500,000 and up. The further west of Central Ave you go the housing is much less expensive and the neighborhood is your typical urban inner city vibe.

I asked about Ridge Hill because it was a long time coming for the project to come to fruition, the stores never seems busy in the day time, and the parking fees turn people off from shopping there because there is so much free shopping around. Google it and you will see how nice it looks. Across the Thruway from Ridge Hill, you have free parking for Costco, Home Depot, and Stu Leonard's grocer, they are busy all the time, too busy!

Yonkers has a very low crime rate for a city of it's size, you will be happy living in most places in Westchester County.

[wp169]

Originally Posted by wp169

Everything in Yonkers, NY mostly east of Central Avenue/New York Thruway and on Central Avenue is all great, no ghetto areas, as matter of fact average home is going for $500,000 and up. The further west of Central Ave you go the housing is much less expensive and the neighborhood is your typical urban inner city vibe.

I asked about Ridge Hill because it was a long time coming for the project to come to fruition, the stores never seems busy in the day time, and the parking fees turn people off from shopping there because there is so much free shopping around. Google it and you will see how nice it looks. Across the Thruway from Ridge Hill, you have free parking for Costco, Home Depot, and Stu Leonard's grocer, they are busy all the time, too busy!

Yonkers has a very low crime rate for a city of it's size, you will be happy living in most places in Westchester County.

Would you believe after I posted this I found out a female honor student was killed near West Yonkers last night while she walking and got shot when gunfire erupted in the street? Yonkers usually has only 5 or 6 murders a year. Teririble violence takes an innocent kid, so sad. RIP.

[ponytrekker]

Ridge Hill has a decent crowd on the weekend. The typical chain stores, Apple, Whole Foods, are fairly crowded. I shop there often.

Parking is a total PITA. I usually just park at Whole Foods and just buy $10 worth of food there so they comp your parking. That lot is decent but some of the others are a total hassle to drive around in these steep circles until you find a spot.

[rwch]

It was sold to an australian company a year or two ago that owns many upscale mall properties so I doubt you'll find financial performance figures. Parking is a pain (odd given the amount of land available) and the food is mediocre or worse, but it seems to be doing better than most malls around here. I doubt the development dollars have shown a good return in actual retail sales, but who knows how much the chains are paying for local storefronts (many Westchester towns ban chain locations).

I think it would have done better to make a full mixed use style property with apartments above the whole complex and no cars in the center avenue similar to some of the newer west coast malls (Sanata Row in San Jose, for example). Ridge Hill is still miles better than Rivertowns Square (the iPic area development in Dobbs Ferry).

[wp169]

Originally Posted by rwch

It was sold to an australian company a year or two ago that owns many upscale mall properties so I doubt you'll find financial performance figures. Parking is a pain (odd given the amount of land available) and the food is mediocre or worse, but it seems to be doing better than most malls around here. I doubt the development dollars have shown a good return in actual retail sales, but who knows how much the chains are paying for local storefronts (many Westchester towns ban chain locations).

I think it would have done better to make a full mixed use style property with apartments above the whole complex and no cars in the center avenue similar to some of the newer west coast malls (Sanata Row in San Jose, for example). Ridge Hill is still miles better than Rivertowns Square (the iPic area development in Dobbs Ferry).

I think the same builder of Ridge Hill built the outlet shopping complex in Carlsbad, Ca., I went there a few times, it's so much nicer than Ridge Hill, plenty of free parking in outdoor lots outside of the store areas. I went to Rivertown Square a few times, the parking lot was set up screwy, I noticed Brooklyn Market store is closed, most products they sold you could get in any supermarket around here, and the choices were limited because the store wasn't big enough to hold a big variety on their shelves. I find that shoppers will drive out of their way to buy at the cheapest store. For instance, if someone from Yonkers wanted organic potatoes at a good price they would rather drive to Trader Joe's in Hartsdale or Scarsdale and pay $3.99 a bag, instead of buying them in a local Yonkers supermarket for $6.99. That's why I think other supermarkets have failed, like Key Foods in Fleetwood, Best Supermarket in Hartsdale, etc, people want the bargains at Costco ($2.38 gallon of milk) and other discount stores. No wonder we don't have a SuperWal-Mart around here, they would drive mostly everyone else out of business.

Thanks for the Ridge Hill info!

[KensingtonPark]

Originally Posted by rwch

...Sanata Row in San Jose, for example...

A shout out to Santana Row?! As a former Bay Area resident, a salute to you. Agreed, Santana Row is excellent. I wonder, however, if we really have the environment to pull that off in Westchester.

[Shaolin Shadowboxing]

Originally Posted by KensingtonPark

A shout out to Santana Row?! As a former Bay Area resident, a salute to you. Agreed, Santana Row is excellent. I wonder, however, if we really have the environment to pull that off in Westchester.

we don't. looking at photos, it does make an attempt at a similar layout.