Town Center Developers Consider 'Alternative' for Site

The Wayne Town Center will remain vacant for a little while longer.

Wayne Town Center Associates (WTCA) has requested the Planning Board allow its redevelopment application to be withdrawn “without prejudice” as it evaluates “alternative opportunities” for the 49-acre site.

Jerome Vogel, the lawyer representing WTCA, sent a letter to the board earlier this month requesting the application be withdrawn.

Vogel states in the letter than an alternative site plan “will be presented in the reasonably near future.”

Vogel did not return messages left for him at his office Monday afternoon.

The application called for 750,000 square feet of building space to the once-thriving property next to the Willowbrook Mall. It was originally supposed to be only 700,000 square feet.

The Fortunoff building, which remains vacant, was to be knocked down and a new two-story building with multiple high-end stores and a fitness center was supposed to built.

The main part of the building was knocked down in 2009. Realtors left the main part of the mall one by one since 2008. JC Penny is the only remaining tenant. Several restaurants have been built around the periphery of the site in recent years.

Another multi-million dollar redevelopment plan from 2006 was expected to move forward but it stalled in 2009 when Fortunoff, one of the center’s anchor stores, went bankrupt.

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.