Empire Outlets New York City is a retail complex in the

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

neighborhood of

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

in New York City. Construction on Empire Outlets started in 2015, and the complex opened on May 15, 2019. Tentative plans called for 100 stores, but there is only space for about 70 stores, less than half of which are currently occupied. It is the first outlet mall in New York City. The mall is located next to the

St. George Terminal St. George Terminal is a ferry, railway, bus, and park and ride transit center in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City. It is located at the intersection of Richmond Terrace and Bay Street, near Staten Island Borough Ha ...

, a major ferry, train, and bus hub.

Facilities

The mall, the city's first outlet mall, was to feature 100 designer outlet stores and a hotel with 200 rooms as it originally was approved. There are also of outdoor space with a staircase leading to a green roof. The mall includes a 1,200-space underground parking lot, as well as 22 escalators and 21 elevators. , tenants leasing significant amounts of space included H&M, Nordstrom Rack, Nike Factory, and Gap Inc.'s subsidiaries Banana Republic and Old Navy. Empire Outlets is located near

and

Richmond County Bank Ballpark The Staten Island University Hospital, Community Park (SIUH Community Park) is a baseball stadium located on the north-eastern tip of Staten Island. The ballpark is the home of the Staten Island FerryHawks, a member of the Atlantic League of P ...

. The mall is located next to the site of the unbuilt

New York Wheel The New York Wheel was a proposed Ferris wheel to be located at St. George in Staten Island, New York City, next to the Empire Outlets retail complex. The project was announced in 2012 as part of an initiative to make St. George into a touris ...

, a tall giant Ferris wheel that was canceled in 2018. The two projects initially went through the approval process simultaneously and shared consultants on issues such as traffic and the waterfront, but were separate projects with separate funding.

History

Construction on Empire Outlets started in 2015. BFC Partners, based in Brooklyn, constructed Empire Outlets under the auspices of the developer, an Economic Development Corp named Empire Outlets Builders, LLC. SHoP Architects provided architectural design services; DeSimone Consulting Engineers was the structural engineering firm; and Casandra Properties and EB were the leasing agents. The original opening date for Empire Outlets was scheduled for fall 2017. However, in early 2017, the opening was delayed to March 2018 in order to coincide with the

's opening. Later that year, the mall's opening was delayed again to late 2018. By July 2018, the mall was mostly complete, and was projected to open that November. However, in September 2018, the mall's opening date was postponed again, this time to spring 2019. The mall's opening date was later set at May 15, 2019. Even though the grand opening was held on May 15, most retailers would open on a staggered schedule through mid-2019. By November 2019, there were thirty stores operating at Empire Outlets, and hundreds of thousands of visitors had traveled to the mall, with international tourists making up almost two-thirds of all spending at Empire Outlets. This, in turn, increased international spending on Staten Island by almost 50%. A 600-seat beer garden and a food market were expected to further increase visitation to Empire Outlets once they opened in early 2020, which they never did. In February 2022, Empire Outlets went into foreclosure; it owed $38 million to Sterling National Bank and $174 million to Urban Investment Group.

Ferry terminal

In January 2019, NYC Ferry announced that it would start operating its St. George route in 2020. The route opened in 2021 and runs from the

Battery Park City Ferry Terminal The Battery Park City Ferry Terminal, is a passenger ferry terminal in Battery Park City, Manhattan, serving ferries along the Hudson River in New York City and Gateway Region, northeastern New Jersey. It provides ferry slip, slips to ferries, wa ...

and

West Midtown Ferry Terminal The West Midtown Ferry Terminal is a passenger bus and ferry terminal serving ferries along the Hudson River in New York City and northeastern New Jersey. It is located at Piers 78 and 79 in Hudson River Park adjacent to the West Side Highway at W ...

in Manhattan. However, due to concerns that the massive Staten Island Ferry boats and the small NYC Ferry craft might not be able to share a dock, the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced in January 2020 that a NYC Ferry dock would instead be built close to the existing terminal, at Empire Outlets closer to the

. The St. George ferry stop began operating in August 2021.

References

External links

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Empire Outlets Celebrates Groundbreaking on Staten Island's North Shore
{{New York City Malls 2019 establishments in New York City Commercial buildings in Staten Island History of Staten Island Shopping malls in New York City St. George, Staten Island Tourist attractions in Staten Island