Community Corner

Planning Board will Hear Wayne Town Center Application Tuesday

Costco could relocate from across the street to the former Fortunoff building.

The Planning Board will hear testimony regarding an application to rebuild the once-thriving Wayne Town Center Tuesday night.

Wayne Town Center Associates, the applicant, withdrew its earlier application in October. That application called for a 750,000-square foot building in between JC Penny and the vacant Fortunoff building. Several “high-end” businesses, a Dick’s Sporting Goods, and a health club were slated to be a part of that redevelopment project.

Town Planner John Szabo said Costco Wholesalers would relocate to where the Fortunoff building is now. Costco is located across from the town center site on Willowbrook Boulevard. The Fortunoff building could be torn down and a new building built in its place. Szabo said the application contains plans for another 750,000-square foot building.

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The site suffered a slow death since 2008 when Old Navy, Borders Books and Music, and other big box stores left the main part of the property one at a time. The main part of the building was knocked down. JC Penny is the only remaining original tenant.

However, several retail stores and restaurants, including DWS Shoes and Olive Garden, have been built on the periphery of the property in the past few years.

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Vornado Realty Trust bought a leasehold interest in the site for $12.5 million from Wells Fargo & Co. in late 2010.

— Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Daniel Hubbard at Daniel.Hubbard@patch.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.


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