Joan Verdon

Staff Writer, @JoanVerdon

The Shops at Riverside, North Jersey's first luxury mall, is getting a face-lift that's intended to give the 40-year-old shopping center a new lease on life.

The owner of the Hackensack mall, the Simon Property Group, is doubling down on its plans to upgrade the center, announcing today the second and third phases of a project it says will transform The Shops at Riverside.

The second phase of the project, under construction and expected to be completed by November, will add architectural and design elements, including a floating staircase, a central court with a crystal chandelier and a fountain that will create a light-reflecting design feature, and new floor tile throughout the center. Store ceilings will also be raised and skylights will be added throughout.

The third phase, expected to be completed in 2018 or later, will create a grand court entrance with a covered valet parking area, VIP lounge and concierge desk. The new entrance will be built where the Cheesecake Factory is situated; the restaurant will relocate to the new movie theater and dining wing this summer, when the movie theater is expected to open.

The first phase, announced at the end of 2015, was the redevelopment of the former Saks Fifth Avenue department store into an entertainment and dining district with an upscale movie theater with a bar and dining lounge, along with several restaurants.

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The Simon Property Group isn't revealing how much it is spending specifically on the Riverside project, but it is part of the $2.1 billion the Indianapolis-based mall developer budgeted for makeovers at 33 of its malls. The Riverside renovations, retail experts said, show that Simon Property believes Riverside has the potential to be a premium mall in an age when only the strongest centers will survive.

"We've got a lot of world-class luxury merchants here, and we want to create a world-class shopping experience," Stephen Shea, Simon Property's vice president for development, said in a phone interview. "Riverside has always been a luxury shopping experience, but it's time for a makeover."

Developers like Simon Property, the largest mall owner in the United States, are investing in those properties they believe can be best in market, and are shedding properties that don't make the mall A list.

"This investment means they are saying, 'This is worth the risk. We think we can turn this into a showplace,' " said Jan Rogers Kniffen, chief executive of the investment research and consulting firm of J. Rogers Kniffen WWE.

Simon Property has a good track record with mall redevelopments, Kniffen said, noting that the company's recent expansion of the King of Prussia mall outside of Philadelphia took that center to a new level. At Riverside, he said, the challenge will be to see if the mall can become the premier luxury destination in a highly competitive market.

Westfield Garden State Plaza, Riverside's neighbor a few miles west on the same highway, Route 4, also is repositioning itself as a luxury destination, although as the state's biggest mall it is more of a something-for-everyone center. With the Garden State Plaza and the still-under-construction American Dream project in the Meadowlands both vying to attract luxury shoppers, the competition for high-end retailers is intense.

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This is the first major renovation of Riverside by the Simon Property Group since it acquired the mall in 2007. The project was triggered by the closing of the 110,000-square-foot Saks Fifth Ave at the end of 2014. Simon Property said at the time that the closing was an opportunity to take the mall in a new direction.

The first step was landing an upscale movie theater. The AMC chain is nearing completion on a nine-screen, 1,040-seat theater that will have fully reclining seats, a bar and expanded dining options. The theater is expected to open in late summer.

The Cheesecake Factory is moving into a new space near the movie theater, and its current interior and patio space will be converted into the valet parking area and entrance. Other entrances to the mall will also be improved.

The grand entrance court will have a 40-foot-high open entrance that will "create an impactful grand space" at what is a comparatively small mall. Riverside has about 770,000 square feet of leasable space and is about a third the size of the Garden State Plaza.

The design and interior remodeling work will be conducted in the evenings, and the mall will remain open throughout the project, Shea said.

The parking decks at the mall will also be upgraded with brighter overhead lighting and signs as well as park assist lights that guide drivers to available spaces.

History

1959: Bloomingdale's opens on the site that later expanded into the mall.

1977: Riverside Square mall opens with 56 stores, including one of the first suburban Saks Fifth Avenue stores.

1995: The mall gets its first face-lift, designed to draw luxury shoppers, and begins adding fine-dining restaurants.

2004: The then-owner, Mills Corp., adds a parking garage, restaurant wing, and renames it the Shops at Riverside.

2007: The Simon Property Group becomes owner of the mall.

2014: The Saks Fifth Avenue store closes.

2015: Simon announces plans to transform the mall, beginning with a movie theater addition.

Today: Simon announces the second and third phases of the renovation will include new design elements and a grand entrance.