Cayuga Health acquires space at New York mall that once housed Sears, Bon Ton stores

Cayuga Health has made a big purchase at an upstate New York shopping center.

Cayuga Health has purchased 108,000 sq. ft. of space —former big-box retail parcels where The Bon Ton and Sears stores once stood — at The Shops at Ithaca Mall, Lansing, N.Y., for $8.5 million. It plans to redevelop the former retail space into a mixed-use health care facility. CH also plans to lease some of the space to prospective new vendors.

The property was purchased from an ownership group that includes Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group, two Long Island-based real estate investment companies that oversee leasing and management efforts at the mall.

“We see this capital expansion as a necessary next step in our strategic plan as we continue to reimagine our operations by making health care more accessible to everyone in the communities we serve," stated Martin Stallone, president and CEO of Cayuga Health. "This acquisition allows us to consolidate existing practices into one location for efficiency and improved patient access."

Cayuga Health has been occupying the retail space since March 2020 when it identified the facility as an ideal location for critical COVID-19 operations. The partnership started with the opening of a drive-through sampling center which proved to be essential during the height of pandemic. The partnership expanded with an indoor vaccination clinic (in the former Sears location), occupying some 200,000 sq. ft., when the vaccines became available for distribution.

“We are thrilled to welcome Cayuga Health as a permanent fixture of The Shops at Ithaca," said Elliot Nassim, president at Mason Asset Management, which is responsible for leasing efforts at the mall. "Our team has worked closely with Cayuga Health over the last few years and is excited to see that relationship we've built come to fruition in a way that will benefit the community and create a mixed-used shopping experience offering convenience for many people."

Cayuga Health’s plans for its new health care facility at the mall include the development of a health education center in partnership with Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College. 

Cayuga Health has retained Holt Architects of Ithaca N.Y., to lead the redevelopment plans for the newly acquired space. Renderings of the designs will be on display at The Shops of Ithaca Mall for anyone interested in seeing the new capital project planning.