Cayuga Health to develop mixed-use health-care facility at The Shops at Ithaca Mall

LANSING, N.Y. — Cayuga Health has purchased 108,000 square feet of space at The Shops at Ithaca Mall and plans to redevelop, relocate, and consolidate existing medical practices into one location.

The organization says it spent $8.5 million to acquire the former big box retail parcels where Bon Ton and Sears previously operated, per its news release.

Cayuga Health contends the move is “making access more convenient for patients.” The health system plans to lease some of the space to prospective new vendors as well.

The Shops at Ithaca Mall is located at 40 Catherwood Road, near Route 13 in the village of Lansing.

Cayuga Health acquired the property 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.

Cayuga Health plans to redevelop the former retail space at The Shops at Ithaca Mall into a new mixed-use health-care facility. Plans will also include the development of a new health-education center in partnership with Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College.

Cayuga Health has retained HOLT Architects of Ithaca 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.

“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,” Dr. Martin Stallone, president & CEO of Cayuga Health, said in the release. “This acquisition allows us to consolidate existing practices into one location for efficiency and improved patient access. We have been operating at The Shops at Ithaca Mall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and it has been proven to be a valuable location within the community and for our health system.”

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.

Its partnership started with the opening of a mass drive-through COVID testing center, which “proved to be essential during the height of pandemic.” The partnership expanded with an indoor vaccination clinic (the previous Sears location), occupying 200,000 square feet when the vaccines became available for distribution.