224 apartments will be built across from Galleria Mall

Pyramid Management Group is adding apartments across its mall portfolio, including at the Galleria at Crystal Run in Orange County. The rendering here is of apartments planned for Pyramid's Kingston Collection mall in Massachusetts.

As malls across the country are being reimagined to fit evolving lifestyles, Hudson Valley's Orange County will see a change to a footprint that includes one of its signature shopping destinations: A new apartment complex will be built across from the Galleria Mall at Crystal Run to create a live-work-play environment.

A new 224-unit residential complex will be built on land directly across from the mall located in the Town of Wallkill. The Long Island-based Eliviat Group acquired nearly five acres for $2.49 million to create the complex.

Eliviat and Pyramid Management Group, the owners and operators of the mall, have worked with the town, planning department and Orange County for roughly two years to secure approvals to build "The Galleria Residences" at 79 Smith Road. In April, the Wallkill Town Board approved site plans for its construction.

The project is expected to cost $45 million and is scheduled to break ground this September with a target completion of June 2024. The development will feature a walkway connecting directly to the mall.

The proposed four-story building will also feature underground parking as well as one acre of recreational space with a patio and pool. There are also plans for a rooftop lounge, dog park, and work-from-home office style conference rooms.

"The concept is to connect dining, play, work, and now living, in an environment with amenity rich access and walkability," said Eliviat Group's CEO Eli Attias in a news release.

More than half of the development will be dedicated to one-bedroom units (122 total), while another 96 will be dedicated two-bedroom apartments, and six units will have three bedrooms.

The Galleria at Crystal Run has been in operation for 30 years. The mall's 1.1 million square feet includes shopping, bowling, a movie theater, restaurants, and a gym. A steady increase in traffic to the mall this spring led the management group to expand the hours of operation.

Pyramid Management Group also owns Crossgates in Albany, Palisades Center in West Nyack and the Poughkeepsie Galleria. The group announced in 2021 that it would build 282 apartments adjacent to its mixed-use Kingston Collection mall in Massachusetts and that it would replicate the model with other malls.

The effort follows a national trend to redevelop malls in a way that makes their footprints more population dense by building an apartment complex or hotel inside of, or immediately adjacent to, them. Essentially, it's a reimagining of the American village square.

In 2018, the developer applied the same live-work-play model to the Crossgates Mall in Albany when it announced it would build 192 apartments and 30 townhomes on land just west of the mall there.

Pyamid Management Group did not respond to inquiries for comment.

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