The Lightstone Group, a company based in New York that has developed and managed outlet malls in Washington; Orlando, Fla.; and San Antonio, bought a 19.2-acre property at 2505 Bruckner Boulevard in the Ferry Point neighborhood for $30 million in May, according to city records. Currently, there is a 14-screen movie theater on site, Whitestone Multiplex Cinemas, and a parking lot. It can be reached by public buses and is about a mile from a subway station.

While the Lightstone Group has not unveiled its plans, a spokeswoman, Michele de Milly, said retail development of the site would bring much-needed jobs and revenue to the Bronx. But she cautioned that Lightstone was “still exploring the economic feasibility of developing retail on this site.”

The plans for an outlet mall were first reported last month by The Bronx Times Reporter; an article on the subject appeared last week in Crain’s New York Business.

Bronx officials said an upscale outlet mall would join a recent spurt of retail development that is reshaping the borough. Prestige Properties is building a $300 million suburban-style shopping center, the Mall at Bay Plaza, near Co-op City, which will feature a Macy’s as well as scores of other stores. A new Target is being built near the Lightstone site.

“The Bronx is finally being recognized as a retail haven,” said Marlene Cintron, president of the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation.

Ms. Cintron — whose purchases at Woodbury Common include Kasper suits and Dooney & Bourke handbags. — added that she had already told friends about the planned Bronx outlet mall. “They were beside themselves,” she said, including a Connecticut friend who was “on her way home to let the rest of the neighborhood know.”

But Kenneth Kearns, district manager for Community Board 10 in the Bronx, said that while the board supported more shopping options, it was concerned that the new developments would bring more traffic to three heavily used roadways: Interstate 95, the Bruckner Expressway and the Cross Bronx Expressway.