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LAKE GROVE, NY-Simon Property Group Inc. will move forward with a $75-million plan to redevelop the nearly 1.4-million-sf Smith Haven Mall here. The Smithtown Town Council just gave its approval to the site plan and work will begin early next year.

The effort will include the addition of a new lifestyle center that is expected to feature such tenants as Dick's Sporting Goods, Barnes & Noble and the Cheesecake Factory. A 240,000-sf former Stern's department store is in the process of being demolished. Once completed, work will get under way on the lifestyle center.

"The lifestyle center will create an attractive open-air environment that shoppers will thoroughly enjoy," says Robert Spaulding, senior vice president of development at SPG. "Shoppers will also like the pedestrian plaza-type effect the lifestyle center will bring while still offering them quick access to the rest of the mall as well." A Simon spokesperson tells GlobeSt.com that weather conditions are not much of a concern, adding that the company believes customers will seek out the retail destinations that will be offered.