One of the nation’s largest malls is purchased at auction
A four-story shopping center that once was one of the most lucrative malls in the United States — and whose attractions include an ice-skating rink — has been acquired.
The 2.2 million-sq.-ft. Palisades Center in Clarkstown, N.Y., was purchased for $175 million by Black Diamond Management at a foreclosure. Black Diamond was the only bidder at the auction held in Manhattan Supreme Court. Its previous owner and developer — Syracuse-based Pyramid Management Group, which opened the mall in 1998 — had failed to make a $400 million dollar mortgage payment on loan for the property dating back to 2016.
The winning bidder, BD Palisades Holdings, purchased the debt in 2025 at a discount and assumed ownership of the property at the auction.
The four-story mall, located 12 miles from the Mario Cuomo Bridge off Interstate 287, houses more than 200 tenants. It has 8,500 parking spaces and 40 escalators.
The center features a 2,000-sq.-ft. food hall with a dozen quick-service restaurants, a double-decker Venetian Ferris wheel, and a 21-screen AMC movie theater. Its fourth-floor ice rink serve as the site for local hockey teams and welcomes guests, as well. Also on that level is the Palisades Climb Adventure, a five-level obstacle climbing course.
The expansive tenant list stars BJ’s Wholesale Club, Best Buy, Home Depot, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Macy’s, Burlington and Dave & Buster’s.
Palisades Center was hit hard during the pandemic. Still, it remained a premier taxpayer in Clarkstown.
"This is a good thing and it's not unexpected," Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann told Lohud.
Hoehmann said town officials anticipate meeting with the principals of Black Diamond shortly.
“We're all invested in really bringing the mall back and for it continuing to be a vital component of the retail sector here in Clarkstown," he commented.
Syracuse-based Spinoso Real Estate Group is Palisades Center’s court-appointed third-party manager, and Hoehmann commented it was likely that it would continue in that role.
Aside from being one of the largest malls in the country, it was also one of the most lucrative. In its first 10 years of operation, it produced annual sales of $40 million.
