Empire Outlets New York City, also known as Harbor Commons, is a retail complex in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City. Construction on Empire Outlets started in 2015, and it opened on May 15, 2019; when complete it will include 100 designer outlets. It is the first outlet mall in New York City. The mall is located next to the St. George Terminal, a major ferry, train, and bus hub.
Facilities
The mall, the city's first outlet mall, features 100 designer outlet stores and a hotel with 200 rooms. There are also of outdoor space with a staircase leading to a green roof. The mall includes a 1,200-space parking lot located underground, 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 St. George Terminal and Richmond County Bank Ballpark. The mall is located next to the site of the unbuilt New York Wheel, 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 New York Wheel'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.
