Torrington to raze Newington mall in $500 million redevelopment plan

Torrington Properties has told Newington officials it plans to raze all of the Mall at Fox Run in a $500 million redevelopment effort.

With demolition starting in February, current tenants in the mall are expected to vacate by late this year/early next year so that razing preparations can be made, according to information supplied to the town of Newington, where the mall is located.

The redevelopment plan does not have a residential component to it. Current zoning prohibits any residential in that area bounded by the Spaulding Turnpike (Route 16) and Woodbury Avenue, and Newington officials have expressed no desire in accommodating any residences there.

On its website list of holdings, it’s worth noting that the site isn’t referred to as the Mall at Fox Run but as Seacoast Landing.

This is an aerial image of the Mall at Fox Run property in Newington, bounded on the right by the Spaulding Turnpike (Route 16) and on the left by Woodbury Avenue. The image comes from the Torrington Properties web site, and it is worth noting that the web site list of Torrington holdings refers to the property, not as the Mall at Fox Run, but as Seacoast Landing.

Information about Torrington’s recent plans for the mall were gleaned from publicly accessible minutes from Planning Board and Board of Selectmen meetings over the last several months.

Torrington declined an NHBR request to comment for this story.

In early January, Torrington representatives met with Newington selectmen to discuss the mall property, which encompasses about 82 acres.

Jay Bisognano, Torrington founder and CEO, told the board that residential housing was not part of the redevelopment plan, the minutes noted, “because Newington made it very clear that it’s not something that’s desirable to be there and the sentiment that Torrington felt is that residential is unwelcome. Torrington has chosen to not fight that point.”

Bisognano described both the mall and adjacent Newington Park Shopping Center, which Torrington also owns, as a “once in a lifetime piece of property” to develop.

Torrington fully acquired the 600,000-square-foot mall with the purchase of the final piece — the J.C. Penney store space — in December 2024. In total, Torrington has paid about $66 million for the retail properties at the mall. It had purchased the nearby Newington Park in 2021 for $13.3 million.

Asked at the Jan. 7 meeting about any zoning exemptions, Gregg Mikolaities, a consultant for Torrington, said that he doesn’t see any need for any variances, according to the minutes.

He was noted as saying the Torrington team traveled across the country and looked at successful developments and unsuccessful developments “and they learned a lot and will put that knowledge into the plan for this area.” Bisognano told the board the new development “will produce a lot more revenue than it is producing today,” said the minutes.

Newington Selectman Brandon Arsenault reported to fellow members on June 18 that he had a follow-up meeting with Torrington, being told that the entire development will be commercial and retail and will be in compliance with the zoning for that area, according to minutes from that session.

Further, according to the minutes, Arsenault said the residents should be happy with the planned development of that area in that it is “a dramatic site plan” that will look completely different and “will be a really nice win for this area.”

Newington Town Planner John Krebs reported to the Planning Board on June 9 he had seen the proposal to raze the entire mall, remove rocky ledge on the hill and level the 11-foot difference between the mall and Woodbury Avenue.

With demolition scheduled to start in late February 2026, according to the meeting minutes, Krebs said the goal was to create a mall similar in square footage to the current buildings.

There would be less parking and more greenspace, according to Krebs’ statement to planners, creating what was called a “village loop road” from Chick-Fil-A off Woodbury Avenue to the Texas Roadhouse, which sits on a hill on Fox Run Road.

Krebs said “the half billion-dollar project would include a big box store, small stores, and restaurants with details of major tenants to be released later,” according to the minutes.

Krebs told NHBR in an email that while he’s seen the plan for the redevelopment, nothing yet has been formally presented to the town for consideration. “I believe Torrington hopes to appear before the Planning Board this Fall, but I do not have a date from them yet,” Krebs said.

Fox Run opened in 1983 under the management of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL), based in Chicago. From 2011 through 2017 it was managed by Simon Properties, the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States. Until its purchase in 2023 by Torrington, it was leased and managed by Spinoso Real Estate Group.

During its heydays, it was anchored by some of the biggest retail chains in the country — Sears, Filene’s, Macy’s, Jordan Marsh and J.C. Penney.

Jordan Marsh closed in 1996, part of a Federated Department Stores merger and reorganization that saw Macy’s take over the space. The Filene’s store at the mall closed in 2006, and that space was absorbed into Macy’s. The Sears store at the mall closed in 2019. J.C. Penney closed up shop in 2025.

Of the anchors, the one left standing is Macy’s, having been sold for $16.25 million to Torrington Properties in 2024.

Besides Macy’s, stores that remain at the mall include LensCrafters, Kay Jewelers, Loft

Aeropostale, Sunglass Hut, Men’s Warehouse, Lids, Bath & Body Works, The Watch Shop, and  Claire’s. Many of the stores are offering deep discounts. Claire’s on its storefront that it is having a store closing sale.

Torrington has been accumulating and developing commercial, residential, retail and manufacturing property in New Hampshire over the past few years.

Among its retail holdings, in addition to Fox Run and Newington Park, are Mill Plaza in Durham, Fort Eddy Plaza in Concord and Portsmouth Green in Portsmouth. It also developed and/or owns several apartment/condo residences, including Campus Flats apartments in Durham, Sage condos in Portsmouth, Veridian apartments in Portsmouth, West End Yards in Portsmouth (which includes office/commercial space), and Wellington Hill apartments in Manchester. As well, it has commercial/industrial space in Exeter and Seabrook.

While having shed its Fox Run mall interests several years ago, Simon Properties retains a significant presence in New Hampshire.

Its 2024 annual report cites 96.2% occupancy of its 1,063,618 square feet of total gross leasable area (GLA) at the Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem. For the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, the annual report cites 97.0% occupancy of 803,782 GLA. Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua had 93.8% occupancy of 978,210 GLA.

Full capacity of 100% was reported for the 408,843 GLA at Merrimack Premium Outlets in Merrimack.