The New York Wheel
Staten Island’s St. George waterfront, with our spectacular views of Manhattan, New York Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean, is set to be transformed into one of New York City’s top destinations with the start of construction on the New York Wheel and Empire Outlets later this year. Alongside the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, the New York Wheel is said to become one of the city’s–and world’s–great landmark attractions.
Sitting 630 feet (60 stories) high, and welcoming as many as 30,000 visitors per day (6 million a year!), the New York Wheel is anticipated to be the tallest observation wheel in the world and the only one in New York City. The New York Wheel is expected to begin construction in December 2014 with a target opening date of early 2017.
Striving for Platinum LEED certification, the New York Wheel and Terminal building will be a “green” and “sustainable” building.
NewYorkWheel.com states, “The natural environment surrounding Staten Island offers an abundance of sustainable alternative energy sources: wind, water and sun. Because it is well located on the harbor, the north shore of Staten Island can generate significant sustainable energy to not only power the New York Wheel, but ideally to provide excess energy in assisting with the energy needs for the borough.”
In addition to the observation wheel, a 125-store outlet mall, The Empire Outlets, have also been approved from the City Planning Commission. Slated to open on Black Friday 2016, the Outlets will feature world-class retail, a 200-unit hotel, restaurants and parking. Built next to the St. George Ferry Terminal, the complex will serve both the two million tourists already riding the Staten Island Ferry each year and NYC residents.
According to the Commercial Observer, the Empire Outlets is expected to create 1,200 permanent jobs on Staten Island’s North Shore and an additional 1,000 construction jobs. The developers are keen to employ as many local residents as possible and are going to great lengths to ensure that happens. In fact, BFC is establishing a job-training program to prepare Staten Islanders for the upcoming hiring spree.
As the development of the New York Wheel and Empire Outlets have already increased the value and demand for Staten Island real estate, Gateway Arms Realty continues to be an outstanding resource for anyone looking for the right real estate opportunity. As a family-owned & operated, full-service real estate agency, with a 30+ year history of solid performance, we list, sell, lease, and manage residential, co-op, condominium, commercial, industrial/manufacturing properties and vacant land throughout Staten Island.
Our winning formula for success “hard work + a good eye for possibilities + integrity” resulted in a sequence of transactions that continues to keep Gateway Arms in the forefront of Staten Island real estate.