Checking out on Staten Island

VRN’s Marie Driscoll spent a day touring Staten Island during a site visit arranged for outlet retailers.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.— Staten Island, long the safe, somewhat humdrum middle child of New York’s five boroughs, is on the cusp of a revitalization designed to capture a larger share of New York City’s 52 million annual visitors.

By summer 2016, the New York Observation Wheel and its neighboring Empire Outlets will be open. The 620-foot wheel will be twice the size of the London Eye, with a view of the Manhattan skyline, including Central Park, Lady Liberty and Ellis Island.

Just a few feet from the entrance/exit ramp of the newly restored Staten Island Ferry Terminal, Empire Outlets will also open in summer 2016. The 350,000-sf complex, a joint effort of BFC Partners, EWB Development and Casandra Properties, will include the outlet center and a 200-bed, 130,000-sf hotel that has already captured the interest of international tour operators eager for bookings.

See the rest of my write up on Value Retail News.