New York's first outlet shopping center, Empire Outlets, set to debut next year, has announced its first tenants. According to Women’s Wear Daily, BFC Partners (New York), the developer of the project, has signed on Nordstrom Rack and H&M for large anchor spaces. Other apparel tenants will include Gap Outlet, Banana Republic Factory Store, Guess Factory Store, White House|Black Market, Innovation Luggage, Columbia Sportswear Co., Wilsons Leather, G.H. Bass & Co., Lids, Obey Your Body skin care and Walgreens. The Staten Island project will include 340,000 square feet of space for about 100 retailers. The complex also includes a 190-room hotel and a 1250-space parking structure.
Empire Outlets is located adjacent to the St. George Ferry Terminal and the New York Wheel, which is slated to open in 2017. (The observation wheel will be one of the tallest in the Western Hemisphere and is expected to draw large crowds.) BFC says Empire Outlets will attract tourists as well as shoppers from all five of the city’s boroughs. The city hopes the project will lead to further development along Staten Island’s North Shore.