E.W. Howell building two retail projects: The Gallery at Westbury Plaza, Walt Whitman Mall expansion

Long Island based general contractor E.W. Howell Co., LLC is currently building two of the largest retail projects on Long Island including an expansion of the Walt Whitman Mall and The Gallery at Westbury Plaza. Owned by the Simon Property Group the Walt Whitman Mall has nearly 100 retailers, including Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor, Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue. Currently under construction, this project consists of a 100,000 s/f expansion including tenant reconfiguration within the existing mall, and the structural reinforcement of existing mall structure to accommodate the expansion. The mall's appearance from Rte. 110 will be altered by a mix of outward-facing shops, sidewalks, upgraded landscaping and a statue of the center's namesake, poet Walt Whitman. This new "pedestrian friendly" environment will boost the overall retail space by about 72,000 s/f while increasing the selection of stores and restaurants for shoppers. Site and parking improvements will include new lighting, landscaping and reconfigured parking. Stores like Henri Bendel, Anthropologie, Free People and Hanna Andersson will all have a presence in the mall when complete in 2013. Another important project for Long Island's retail landscape is the impending Gallery at Westbury Plaza in Westbury. Currently under construction, this 330,000 s/f retail center is located in Nassau County with 1,100 ft. of frontage on Old Country Rd. The development includes construction of a two story multi-tenant retail building, a one story multi-tenant retail building along the east property line adjacent to Zeckendorf Blvd., and four smaller footprint buildings at the northwest corner to be reserved for restaurants, additional retail and banking. Site improvements will include new paving, landscaping, subsurface drainage structures and updated utilities. A grand opening is scheduled for the fall of this year with retailers including Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off 5th, The Container Store, and Trader Joe's. E.W. Howell is a well established construction manager/general contractor working in the New York region for over a century. In 1891, the company began as a builder of large estate homes on Long Island's gold coast. Today, with offices on Long Island and Manhattan, their commitment to client satisfaction and top-quality craftsmanship has enabled them to serve many repeat clients in the retail, institutional markets. E.W. Howell is a ranked ENR Top 400 Contractor, and is within the top ten of Crain's NY Business' Top 25 Contractors. Rendering courtesy: Perkins Eastman