Private real estate developers failed to fulfill promises on Staten Island’s North Shore. New York City is stepping in with a substantial promise of its own.
On Thursday, Mayor Eric Adams announced a $400 million investment towards the North Shore’s waterfront, SI Live reported. The investment carries a pledge of 2,400 housing units, a school and more open space.
In a press conference, Adams referred to the plan as a “once-in-a-generation investment,” adding the money would also improve flood resiliency along the borough’s shore.
The city’s investment comes after several waterfront development sites disappointed, some never making it to the finish line. Those projects include Empire Outlets, Lighthouse Point and an updated New York Wheel.
CanAm Enterprises worked on redeveloping the New York Wheel, planning a 420-foot-tall attraction meant to be one of the biggest and brightest in the borough. The project was supposed to be up-and-running in the next two years, but today is largely a massive unused parking garage. New York City terminated its lease there earlier this year, essentially killing the latest attempt to revive the site, according to SI Live.
Lighthouse Point is a stalled 12-story high-rise looming large over the St. George Ferry Terminal. In February, the Economic Development Corporation updated its timeline for the 115-unit project, according to SI Live. Email correspondence suggested a 2024 completion was still in reach at the time.
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Then, there’s Empire Outlets, meant to be one of the drivers of the North Shore’s renaissance. Last year, developer BFC Partners agreed to put the ambitious mall development into foreclosure. While the 340,000-square-foot mall has remained open since then, an auction for the property is slated for the end of this month.
All of the sites referenced in the EDC’s vision have specific action goals attached. Groundbreakings and solicitations for new ideas are slated to start by the end of the year.
— Holden Walter-Warner