Whole Foods at The Shops at Sun Vet to open earlier than planned, developer says
A rendering of The Shops at SunVet, formerly called Sun Vet Mall, in Holbrook. Credit: Regency Centers Corp.
The long-struggling property formerly known as Sun Vet Mall is now more than 70% leased by mostly incoming tenants, including Whole Foods Market, which is arriving earlier than initially planned, according to the lead developer.
The redevelopment of the mall in Holbrook, now called The Shops at SunVet, is on track to be finished this year, when most of the new tenants are expected to open, said Rebecca Wing, vice president of investments at Regency Centers Corp. Regency is the Jacksonville, Florida-based real estate investment trust that is the lead partner in the project.
"Being able to transform this nearly vacant mall from the 1970s to a state-of-the-art open-air shopping center has been really exciting,” she said.
Located at 5801 Sunrise Hwy., the property was struggling as an enclosed shopping mall with a high vacancy rate for years before the redevelopment, including a name change, began in 2023 to transform the site into an open-air shopping center with a more upscale mix of tenants, including high-end natural and organic foods grocer Whole Foods.
The 40,000-square-foot supermarket, which will be the largest tenant, will open by the end of the year, likely in the fall, instead of spring 2026, as was previously projected, Wing said.
Mild weather earlier this winter allowed construction work to continue longer than expected, which pushed up Whole Food's opening, she said.
Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc., which owns Whole Foods, declined to comment on its plans for the Holbrook store, including the number of people it will employ.
SunVet’s second-largest tenant will be off-price department store Nordstrom Rack, which is scheduled to open in its 26,780-square-foot space in the fall, Newsday reported in December.
Other businesses that have signed leases to open locations in the shopping center include prescription eyeglasses store Warby Parker, clothing retailer J.Crew Factory, Shake Shack, Crumbl Cookies, Sephora, Nava Health, Teachers Federal Credit Union, Mogu Modern Chinese Kitchen, Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa, Tony’s Tacos, Wells Fargo Bank, fast-casual eatery Wonder and M-Nail Bar.
Most of the tenants will open this year, but Shake Shack and Tony’s Tacos will open in the second quarter of 2026 in the same building, Wing said.
As SunVet's construction work continues, it now has only three tenants, including an Aspen Dental that opened in December in a new freestanding building and a drive-thru-only Starbucks with two lanes — and no indoor seating — that opened in a new freestanding building last month.
Citibank, which was the only remaining tenant in the mall before the redevelopment started, will relocate to a new 3,800-square-foot freestanding building that will open this spring.
Newsday first reported in December 2023 that the mall’s redevelopment would cost an estimated $87 million.
The price tag has risen to $93 million, partly because Regency built the 7,600-square-foot building that will be shared by Shake Shack and Tony’s Tacos, but it was initially going to be built by the tenants, Wing said Monday.
Built in 1973, the once-bustling, 282,000-square-foot mall, which sits on 18 acres, lost tenants for years, including two major anchors — an approximately 100,000-square-foot Toys R Us store and a 60,000-square-foot Pathmark supermarket that closed after their parent companies filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017 and 2015, respectively.
Blumenfeld Development Group Ltd., or BDG, in Syosset signed a 99-year ground lease for Sun Vet Mall in summer 2022 with plans to redevelop it.
In 2023, BDG entered into a joint venture with Regency, which holds a majority interest in the deal, to redevelop the mall.
Demolition work started in summer 2023.
In spring 2024, new construction work began on the project, which is reducing the retail square footage of the mall, turning it into a 168,000-square-foot shopping center, including six smaller outparcels that will be constructed around the main building.
“The town looks forward to the revitalization of The Shops at SunVet mall, which will offer an exciting mix of new and iconic shopping and dining options for our residents," Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter said in an emailed statement Monday.
The long-struggling property formerly known as Sun Vet Mall is now more than 70% leased by mostly incoming tenants, including Whole Foods Market, which is arriving earlier than initially planned, according to the lead developer.
The redevelopment of the mall in Holbrook, now called The Shops at SunVet, is on track to be finished this year, when most of the new tenants are expected to open, said Rebecca Wing, vice president of investments at Regency Centers Corp. Regency is the Jacksonville, Florida-based real estate investment trust that is the lead partner in the project.
"Being able to transform this nearly vacant mall from the 1970s to a state-of-the-art open-air shopping center has been really exciting,” she said.
Located at 5801 Sunrise Hwy., the property was struggling as an enclosed shopping mall with a high vacancy rate for years before the redevelopment, including a name change, began in 2023 to transform the site into an open-air shopping center with a more upscale mix of tenants, including high-end natural and organic foods grocer Whole Foods.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The Holbrook property formerly known as Sun Vet Mall, which was renamed The Shops at SunVet in 2023, is now more than 70% leased, according to the lead developer.
- The $93 million redevelopment of the enclosed shopping mall is transforming the long-struggling, 282,000-square-foot property into a 168,000-square-foot open-air shopping center.
- The largest tenant, which will be Whole Foods Market, will open this year, which is earlier than initially planned.
The 40,000-square-foot supermarket, which will be the largest tenant, will open by the end of the year, likely in the fall, instead of spring 2026, as was previously projected, Wing said.
Mild weather earlier this winter allowed construction work to continue longer than expected, which pushed up Whole Food's opening, she said.
Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc., which owns Whole Foods, declined to comment on its plans for the Holbrook store, including the number of people it will employ.
SunVet’s second-largest tenant will be off-price department store Nordstrom Rack, which is scheduled to open in its 26,780-square-foot space in the fall, Newsday reported in December.
Other businesses that have signed leases to open locations in the shopping center include prescription eyeglasses store Warby Parker, clothing retailer J.Crew Factory, Shake Shack, Crumbl Cookies, Sephora, Nava Health, Teachers Federal Credit Union, Mogu Modern Chinese Kitchen, Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa, Tony’s Tacos, Wells Fargo Bank, fast-casual eatery Wonder and M-Nail Bar.
Most of the tenants will open this year, but Shake Shack and Tony’s Tacos will open in the second quarter of 2026 in the same building, Wing said.
Tenants at the redeveloped The Shops at SunVet will include Whole Foods and Nordstrom Rack. Credit: Tom Lambui
As SunVet's construction work continues, it now has only three tenants, including an Aspen Dental that opened in December in a new freestanding building and a drive-thru-only Starbucks with two lanes — and no indoor seating — that opened in a new freestanding building last month.
Citibank, which was the only remaining tenant in the mall before the redevelopment started, will relocate to a new 3,800-square-foot freestanding building that will open this spring.
Newsday first reported in December 2023 that the mall’s redevelopment would cost an estimated $87 million.
The price tag has risen to $93 million, partly because Regency built the 7,600-square-foot building that will be shared by Shake Shack and Tony’s Tacos, but it was initially going to be built by the tenants, Wing said Monday.
Built in 1973, the once-bustling, 282,000-square-foot mall, which sits on 18 acres, lost tenants for years, including two major anchors — an approximately 100,000-square-foot Toys R Us store and a 60,000-square-foot Pathmark supermarket that closed after their parent companies filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017 and 2015, respectively.
Blumenfeld Development Group Ltd., or BDG, in Syosset signed a 99-year ground lease for Sun Vet Mall in summer 2022 with plans to redevelop it.
In 2023, BDG entered into a joint venture with Regency, which holds a majority interest in the deal, to redevelop the mall.
Demolition work started in summer 2023.
In spring 2024, new construction work began on the project, which is reducing the retail square footage of the mall, turning it into a 168,000-square-foot shopping center, including six smaller outparcels that will be constructed around the main building.
“The town looks forward to the revitalization of The Shops at SunVet mall, which will offer an exciting mix of new and iconic shopping and dining options for our residents," Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter said in an emailed statement Monday.
Current & incoming tenants
The only three tenants in The Shops at SunVet, formerly called Sun Vet Mall, are Citibank and newcomers Aspen Dental and Starbucks as the Holbrook property undergoes a redevelopment.
The following tenants will be opening this year:
- Crumbl Cookies
- Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa
- J.Crew Factory
- M-Nail Bar
- Mogu Modern Chinese Kitchen
- Nava Health
- Nordstrom Rack
- Sephora
- Teachers Federal Credit Union
- Warby Parker
- Wells Fargo Bank
- Whole Foods Market
- Wonder
Shake Shack and Tony's Tacos will open in the second quarter of 2026.
Source: Rebecca Wing, vice president of investments at Regency Centers Corp.
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
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