Beneath its dark netting and scaffold-covered exterior, the historic Sears building at 400 E. Fordham Rd. is undergoing drastic restructuring. The shopping center will re-emerge in the next 16 to 18 months as Fordham Place, the Bronx’s first mixed-use development in more than 15 years.

Last Thursday, real estate developers Acadia Realty Trust and P/A Associates joined with Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, Jr. and City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera for the Fordham Place groundbreaking ceremony.

In the barren, cement-floored lobby, an array of black curtains concealed evidence of what P/A Associates co-founder Aaron Malinsky assured guests was “the middle of a construction demolition site.” Malinsky then introduced his partner and CEO of Acadia Realty, Kenneth F. Bernstein, who beamed, saying, “This has been several years of hard work and we’re very excited to get to this point.”

Since announcing renovation plans at the Bronx Chamber of Commerce’s business banquet last November, Fordham Place developers say they have set the bar for future Bronx investors by stimulating an influx of commerce and jobs. In appreciation of their progress and vision for Fordham Road, Chamber CEO Lenny Caro presented the developers with a ceremonial plaque and vowed to encourage local businesses to relocate to the new facility.

Lured by the modern architecture, high-tech amenities, and sprawling office spaces of the new 14-story building, tenants have already signed on for leases. The nearly 285,000- square-foot Fordham Road anchor will also afford tenants “design and cost-effective floor layouts with an unsurpassed location in terms of its incredible accessibility, high levels of foot traffic and excellent work force,” Bernstein said.

Potential occupants represent “the healthcare, non-profit and education sectors,” said Harry Blair, senior managing director of exclusive leasing agent GVA Williams. Rivera, a fervent project supporter, said he would have liked to move his office to the building were it not for its 2008 completion date. “To my successor: have fun in this building,” Rivera joked, alluding to term limits, which will force him from office in 2009.

Developers worked closely with local Bronx politicians, including Rivera and Carrión, as well as with the Fordham Road BID and the community board, Malinsky said. These partnerships have facilitated the “first brand new office building of a Class A standard to be built in the heart of the Bronx” with access to spectacular views from the intersection of Webster and Fordham Road,” the third largest retail corridor in New York City, he added.

In the past five years, the borough president said, the Bronx has seen upward trends in employment and private sector job creation. So, “Fordham Place makes sense as an investment… and allows for future development down 3rd Avenue,” he said.

The new mixed-use building will add 150,000 square feet to the old Sears building, with plans for three full stories of retail space and a full-floor health club. Once completed, Fordham Place will welcome back Sears in the basement level, and will include Walgreen’s and other national retail chains.