nope! per SILive.com:
NY Wheel groundbreaking postponed; Empire Outlets ceremony Thursday
Tracey Porpora |
porpora@siadvance.com By Tracey Porpora |
porpora@siadvance.com
on April 15, 2015 at 3:38 PM, updated April 17, 2015 at 9:44 AM
While site preparation has already begun at the NY Wheel site, developer Rich Marin said the postponed groundbreaking ceremony will not delay construction.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- While the ceremonial groundbreaking for Empire Outlets will take place on Thursday at Richmond County Bank Ballpark in St. George, the New York Wheel ribbon cutting has been postponed for a couple of weeks.
An invite-only groundbreaking ceremony for both projects was scheduled to take place on Thursday, but NY Wheel developer Rich Marin said he still has some "details" to work out.
"These are separate projects. We (NY Wheel and Empire Outlet developers) tried very hard for a long time to operate hand-in-hand through the approval process. We tried to coordinate the groundbreaking, and quite frankly, our project is a more complex project. There's more paperwork, special agreements, more documents, more everything," said Marin.
"They (BFC Partners, the outlets developer) were able to get through theirs (the approval process), but we will take a few weeks longer," he added.
Marin said he is still waiting to close on some city approvals and some of the project loans.
"The requirements for everyone -- the city, the lenders -- are extremely expensive, much more than normal, and we just have a lot of stuff to do," he added.
"We will close (on the project) it's just going to be a few weeks later," said Marin.
There has been no date set for the NY Wheel groundbreaking, he said
While site preparation has already begun at the Wheel site, Marin said the postponed groundbreaking ceremony will not delay construction or the expected early 2017 completion of the project.
On Tuesday, BFC Partners announced 17 retailers that will be part of New York City's first outlet center.
The multimillion-dollar Empire Outlets project will include 340,000 square feet of retail space with approximately 100 designer outlet retailers, a 190-room hotel featuring a rooftop venue with expansive waterfront views, a 1,250-space structured parking garage, and a 40,000-square-foot food and beverage deck that will provide panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline.