“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
New 'look' on Richmond Terrace: Here comes the Wheel
By Virginia N. Sherry
July 27, 2015
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The recently erected, dark green construction fence along Richmond Terrace shows the east-west boundaries of the $500 million New York Wheel development site, extending, roughly, from Hamilton Avenue in St. George all the way to Nicholas Street in New Brighton.
Small, transparent plastic "windows," measuring 12 inches square, punctuate the continuous fence, providing the only sight lines to the harbor and the downtown Manhattan skyline.
The fence will remain in place until the NY Wheel opens for business, CEO and president Rich Marin said Monday. (The opening is anticipated in the first half of 2017.)
Asked if there is a plan for art to be painted on sections of this long fence, Marin replied: "None planned yet, but could be considered."
FENCE REQUIREMENTS
The city Department of Buildings dictates the size and look of construction fences.
Requirements include:
The fences must be built at least 8 feet high.
They must be constructed of wood or other suitable material.
They must be painted hunter green.
There should be viewing panels, at a rate of one for every 25 linear feet per frontage, with a minimum of one per frontage.
The viewing panels must be 12-by-12 inches in size and must be blocked with plexiglass or an equivalent non-frangible material.
__________________ NEW YORK is Back!
“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
This will be a major catalyst that will revitalize Staten Island. Theres talks amongst planners stating that Staten Island will be the next borough to see a big boom. Traditionally a place which has seen few units compared to the other boroughs.
This will be a major catalyst that will revitalize Staten Island. Theres talks amongst planners stating that Staten Island will be the next borough to see a big boom. Traditionally a place which has seen few units compared to the other boroughs.
Doubtful. Still too far from the Manhattan jobs. Upper Manhattan still has plenty of opportunity for boom well before staten island does
SI Ferris Wheel Parts Coming To Construction Site in February
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What’s expected to be the world’s largest observation wheel might not be finished until 2017, but its parts are expected to start arriving this coming February, according to the wheel’s developer, as the foundation work is currently underway.
The pieces that will eventually make up the $500 million, 625-foot New York Wheel will start coming to the north shore of Staten Island in February, Richard A. Marin, the president and chief executive officer of developer New York Wheel LLC, told Commercial Observer. The crews constructing the wheel are expected to take over the site at the beginning of 2016.
A temporary jetty will be built at the site next month to accommodate the parts’ arrival, he said.
It’ll be a busy September for the developer. Changes to the parking lot are set to go before the City Planning Commission on Sept. 9 for a public hearing. New York Wheel LLC originally cleared the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure in 2013, but has since made changes to the project. It will reduce the size of its parking garage by nearly 25,000 square feet, as CO reported last month, while maintaining its capacity.
The garage will also feature a natural ventilation system, Mr. Marin said added, “so it’s a little bit more environmentally friendly.”
Construction can proceed on any part of the project that doesn’t involve the aspects under review. So in the meantime, Swedish construction giant Skanska is building the foundation, which it commenced in May, when the developer secured financing for the project. The foundation for the Ferris Wheel will be held up by 96 cassons below the foundation, Mr. Marin said.
“We are barrelling ahead with our construction,” he said following a news report indicating that has just commenced.
While Borough President Jimmy Oddo supports the project and the local community board approved the change, the construction site has drawn the ire of some Staten Islanders, who told the local Staten Island Advance today that the windows on the green construction fences were too high. They alleged that the fences discriminated against people of short stature and children from seeing the site, as well as the Manhattan skyline.
The New York Wheel, officially located at 155 Richmond Terrace, is part of a massive redevelopment of the area around the St. George Waterfront. BFC Partners is working on the sprawling 340,000-square-foot Empire Outlets adjacent to the ferry.
Staten Island Ferris Wheel Seeks $30M Through Crowdfunding
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Chances are that you've used Kickstarter to fund something—a friend's music project, a local restaurant, maybe even a beloved movie or TV series—but there's a whole other level of crowdfunding that goes beyond throwing $10 or $15 to a project. According to the New York Times, the owners of the New York Wheel, the enormous Ferris wheel that's coming to the Staten Island waterfront, are looking to raise about $30 million through crowd-funding via a brokerage firm—a feat that the Times called "a Wall Street version of crowdfunding."
In a statement obtained by DNAInfo, New York Wheel CEO Rich Marin said, "We believe that the democratization of finance through efforts like crowdfunding is a good fit for a large populist attraction like New York Wheel."
But unlike a Kickstarter campaign, it's unlikely that this is something your average person can invest in; it's more like buying stocks than like giving a few bucks to bring Reading Rainbow back. The owners of the Wheel have partnered with North Capital Private Securities, a broker-dealer who will handle the fund-raising effort, and they're targeting a wealthier base of investors, according to the Times:
While some of the shares will be sold conventionally by brokers, Mr. Dowd said, other shares will be sold through 99Funding to "self-directed investors," those who sign up on their own. He said the offering was planned for a 90-day period before the year's end.…North Capital plans to add up to a dozen other crowdfunding sites to participate in the fund-raising, and expects to set a minimum investment size of $5,000 to $10,000, Mr. Dowd added.
The attraction's owners have already raised about $450 million, including about $31 million through a previous round of selling stocks. So assuming you have that much cash to throw around, a chunk of the attraction could potentially be yours. The The New York Wheel, which is scheduled to open in 2017, has been touted as the savior of Staten Island.
Land Use Committee Spins New York Wheel Forward to Full Council Vote
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The New York Wheel on the north shore of Staten Island is a step closer to getting its second zoning approval in two years, following a unanimous vote by the New York City Council’s land use committee today.
Proposed changes to the $550 million observation wheel, set to be the tallest in the world, will next go to the full City Council, which is slated to vote on the project next Tuesday. If approved, it needs the sign off from Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Councilwoman Deborah Rose, who represents the north shore, supported the wheel changes at the land use hearing earlier today. She said the company behind the project had worked well with the community in getting the wheel off the ground, according to the Staten Island Advance.
Because Mr. Rose is backing the changes, they’re expected to cruise through the full 51-member City Council vote on Oct. 28.
“I’m obviously very pleased,” Richard Marin, the chief executive officer of developer New York Wheel LLC, told Commercial Observer. Approval by the committee today meant “a highly likely approval from the City Council.”
New York Wheel LLC refiled the project for the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) in June. The wheel was originally approved during ULURP in 2013. But because of engineering issues, the developer applied to change the 950-space parking structure from three levels to four levels, while retaining the same footprint, as CO previously reported.
And instead of a mechanical issue, the garage will also have a natural ventilation system, which was also part of the new ULURP, Mr. Marin told CO in August. The result will be a facility that’s “a little bit more environmentally friendly,” he added.
In the meantime, the developer has been plugging away at work on the wheel itself. Construction giant Skanska started doing the foundation work in May, which includes installing 96 cassons. Mr. Marin said 72 of the cassons had been installed as of today.
Parts of the Ferris wheel are set to start arriving to the waterfront construction site next February, Mr. Marin said. Crews working on the wheel are set to take over soon after with a timeline of roughly a year to the wheel’s completion.
The wheel will be almost 90 feet taller than the Singapore Flyer in Asia. The project abuts the Staten Island Ferry terminal in the St. George section of the borough.
It’s one of the two big projects around the ferry station; Empire Outlets, a 350,000-square-foot outdoor mall being developed by BFC Partners, is slated for a soft open next year. The mall is part of a 1-million-square-foot project, that includes a 198-key hotel and several restaurant concepts.
^ aah, so that confirms the construction i saw recently on site and as seen above was indeed for the ferris wheel. i thought so, you don't need major cassion drilling like that for a lowrise outlet mall haha, but i wasn't 100% sure.
Followup to the post above. (#312)
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New York Wheel Clears Last Big Hurdle in Approval Process
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What is expected to be the world’s tallest observation wheel is all but a done deal.
The New York City Council approved changes to the original 2013 plans for the New York Wheel, which is slated to be built on the north shore of Staten Island. Changes to the construction plan, including another level and a new ventilation system for the parking garage, entered the uniform land use procedure, or ULURP, earlier this year.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has five days under the ULURP time table to either sign off or veto the plan.
Councilmembers on the Land Use Committee approved the plans last week, as CO previously reported. It was expected to cruise through the full council vote since it had the support of its local representative, Councilwoman Debbie Rose.
Foundation work for the wheel began this spring, and construction of the actual structure is expected to begin this winter. The New York Wheel will be almost 90 feet taller than the Singapore Flyer in Asia, currently the world’s highest Ferris wheel. The project sits next to the St. George station of the Staten Island Ferry, as well as the 1.1-million-square-foot Empire Outlets being developed by BFC Partners. Combined the projects are being billed in tourism efforts as “Destination St. George” to lure people to the outer borough.
“This approval today will ensure that construction will continue as scheduled,” New York Wheel LLC President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Marin said in prepared remarks. “With today’s council vote, the New York Wheel will become the centerpiece for New York Harbor’s newest urban getaway, Destination St. George.”
“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Which tourist spot is hyped to make more cash than the Empire State Building?
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The developers of Staten Island's New York Wheel see King Kong-sized dollar signs.
Should the giant ferris wheel rake in pre-tax revenues of $127.85 million in 2017, as the developers expect, the mega project would surpass the revenue earned by the Empire State Building's observatory deck, which made $111.5 million last year.
Even though the project is slated for completion in 2017, Laufer, Marin and Ratner are already touting ambitious goals. Here's a breakdown of revenues and interest levels the Wheel operators anticipate in their first year of operation:
Generate $96 million in ticket sales
Bring in $10 million in sponsorship deals
Rake in $8.7 million in gift shop sales
Attract four million customers and 3.5 million tourists each year after opening.
For now, wheel riders will be asked to shell out $35 for each ticket, higher than the Empire State Building asks visitors for $32 a head in order to visit the 86th floor observation deck.By 2021, the attraction could be making as much as $166.52 million in revenues, the developers estimate.
The site under construction, from East to West:
Terrible cell-phone pictures of the view
The impression that I get from fellow Staten Islanders about their thoughts on the wheel is varied. Plenty of people are excited about the project, or at least passively think it will be good for the island. Then you have those typical New Yorkers that don't seem to care or get excited about anything; 'eh' they might say. Then you have certain people who live nearby who are concerned about rent increases. St.George residents don't like that the fact that the parking garage will be, perhaps, value-engineered, with the roof of the garage being a few floors above the street level of Richmond Terrace (the terrace is about 20-30 feet above the site of the wheel, not unlike small bluffs) and therefore obstructing views but also adding an eyesore in their mind. Originally the developers said the garage would be partially underground, with the roof being below the street level of the Terrace. Traffic is also a major concern for many, but I think most people will be coming via the ferry to see it.
The Food Hall Obsession Makes Its Way to Staten Island
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Following a slew of recent headlines–Anthony’s Bourdain’s food and retail market headed for the SuperPier, the mega-market coming to Essex Crossing that will be one of the largest in the world, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s seafood-themed food hall planned for the South Street Seaport–6sqft recently posed the question: Is the city’s food hall obsession about to burst? Though the votes were divided, the trend has shown no signs of slowing down, especially considering that it’s now making its way over to the often-forgotten borough of Staten Island, with perhaps the most gimmicky name we’ve heard yet.
Curbed reports that the team behind Gansevoort Market has partnered with Empire Outlets developers BFC Partners to open a locally curated food market by late 2017. Dubbed MRKTPL, the hall will span 15,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space that will “tie together the history of the New York Harbor with modern communal spaces to eat and gather,” as per the press release.
The project is slated for completion in 2017, along with the rest of the SHoP-designed Empire Outlets, which will include a hotel, restaurants, and a ridiculous amount of retail space. It'll sit near the New York Wheel, which is currently under construction.
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