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Shopping Centers Today -> August 2003
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PYRAMID’S DESTINY USA IN QUESTION
BY IAN RITTER
The fate of Destiny USA, a massive retail-entertainment project planned for upstate New York that some have compared to Mall of America, is now uncertain, according to its developers and government officials.
The New York State Legislature adjourned in June without acting on a bill that would provide as much as $52 million a year in additional public funding for the complex, which The Pyramid Cos. wants to build in Syracuse, N.Y., next to its existing 1.6 million-square-foot Carousel Center mall. Pyramid already has a 30-year property tax exemption for Destiny.
Besides retail, the center would offer a 100-acre enclosed park, 20,000 hotel rooms and an amphitheater, among other attractions. Supporters argue that it would pump millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs into a local economy that has long suffered from a decline in heavy industry.
But without the full package of public funding that Destiny is seeking, it won’t go forward, predicts Nicholas J. Pirro, county executive of Onondaga County, where the site is located. Citing conversations he has had with Pyramid officials, Pirro says that the most the developer will be able to do is build an 800,000-square-foot expansion onto Carousel. The Post-Standard, Syracuse’s daily newspaper, quoted a Pyramid official who said, “We’re going to take a breather and do some real analysis.” The paper also reported that Pyramid laid off 20 people, amounting to two-thirds of its Destiny development team.
But all is not lost, says Pirro, who supports both the project and the funding request. The state Legislature could call a special session to address this and other unfinished business in the fall, he says, adding that he intends to continue lobbying. “I’m going to do everything I can to bring this to a successful conclusion.”
But Matthew Ostrower, a retail real estate analyst at Morgan Stanley, says he is skeptical about the project. If retailers are interested in the center, he argues, why does the company need state funds to build it? Ostrower also questions whether retailers will be drawn to upstate New York, given its soft economy. “It’s not exactly a booming economic area,” he observed.
 | Current Issue December 2008 |