Destiny USA
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Destiny USA is a proposed retail and entertainment complex in Syracuse, New York. The project's developer, The Pyramid Companies, predicts that Destiny USA will become a major tourist destination and will have an economic impact throughout the Central New York region. The project is planned to be a green building, powered entirely by renewable resources, and is planned to be completed in three phases. Preparatory ground work for the first phase, an 848,000 square foot expansion of the 1.5 million square foot Carousel Center, began in April, 2007, and pile driving for the structure's foundation began on August 9, 2007[1]. Above-ground construction began on March 28, 2008; Pyramid officials plan to finish the first phase by the end of 2008[2].
The project has been marked by significant delays and controversy since the proposal was made public in 1997. Criticism of the project has primarily been in regards to the tax breaks granted the project and to skepticism as to whether the complex can draw the projected number of tourists from surrounding areas to fulfill its economic promises.
During the early planning, Pyramid's printed materials referred to the project as DestiNY USA, with the "NY" capitalized to emphasize its stated goal to promote tourism throughout Upstate New York. However, current materials from the company, including the Destiny USA website, no longer feature the capitalization, and place less emphasis on this goal than did earlier versions. The project will not assume the name "Destiny USA" until the completion of the second phase of the project.
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[edit] Entertainment complex
Plans, which currently include over 4.5 million square feet (400,000 m²), consist of 1,300 hotel rooms, an indoor aquarium, a water park, an indoor recreation of the Erie Canal, a stadium and performing arts center, three golf courses, a 100 acre (400,000 m²) glass-enclosed indoor park, and a 20 acre (80,000 m²) artificial lake. This complex is to be known as Destiny USA, and plans for it were first made public in April 2000. There have been constant calls for the city, county, state, and federal government to give tax breaks and financing to make this project a reality. The Pyramid Cos. claim this resort would create approximately 120,000 new jobs and bring millions of tourists to the Syracuse area. These benefits would be a significant economic boost to the area, which has been hard-hit by corporations downsizing or moving away from Central New York.
[edit] Stages
First stage: 848,000 square feet (79,000 m²) of leasable retail
Second stage: 38-floor, 1,000-room hotel
Third stage: 350,000 square feet (33,000 m²) of leasable retail space, possibly replacing the existing mall's parking garages
These three phases are officially simply expansions of the existing Carousel Center. However, the Pyramid Companies have stated that they will contain elements of the planned resort.
[edit] Research and Development Park
On March 3, 2005, The Pyramid Companies announced detailed plans for a 1 million square foot (90,000 m²) technology park at the intersection of Interstate 81 and Interstate 90 in the suburb Salina, approximately four miles (6 km) north of the Carousel Center. The park would host companies that are working on renewable energy, which Destiny itself is planned to use extensively.
The following companies stated intentions to move into the research park:
- Interregnum: Headquartered in London, this technology firm has stated it will open an office in Syracuse, but has not released hiring estimates.
- ThoughtWorks: Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, this technology firm has estimated its hiring needs at 300 people.
- WISeKey: Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, this technology firm has stated that it will locate both its North American headquarters and its technological innovation headquarters in Syracuse, and estimates a need for 500 positions.
These companies announced plans to maintain temporary offices in the Syracuse Technology Garden in AXA Plaza in Downtown Syracuse until Destiny facilities are completed. Interregnum has since decided to close its U.S. operations.[3] As of early 2006, ThoughtWorks and WISeKey no longer maintain offices at the Technology Garden.[citation needed]
[edit] Transportation
Proposals for the Destiny USA complexes include a monorail, which is estimated to cost around $750 million. It would connect Syracuse Hancock International Airport, approximately a mile (2 km) north of the technology complex, to Syracuse University, via the technology complex, the William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center, the entertainment complex, and downtown. This monorail is often mentioned in plans, but no concrete plans have been released yet.
Another transportation device mentioned is personal rapid transit, which presumably will be used to transport visitors across parking lots.
[edit] Project status
Construction of the $180 million, 47 floor, 1,300 room Grand Destiny hotel was purportedly started on October 24, 2002, with a ceremony during which a steel beam was driven into a Carousel Center parking lot. At least 40 more pilings were driven over the next three weeks, but construction stopped by December 2. The stated reason was a dispute about whether this hotel would be considered "leasable space", which is a term used in the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement between the county and the developer. However, in a Sept. 28, 2005 deposition, Destiny Chief Executive Officer Michael Lorenz admitted there was "no intention to build anything, per se", when that ceremony was held and that Pyramid did not have final construction plans for the hotel at the time. Under questioning, Lorenz twice mentioned the campaign of incumbent Governor George Pataki, who was up for re-election 12 days after the ceremony, although Lorenz denied a desire to aid Pataki's campaign.[4] As of February 2007, construction has not been re-started.
As of February 2007, Pyramid has not released a tenant list for the mall expansion, citing trade secrets.
January 10, 2006: A planned march on City Hall by Destiny employees was quietly cancelled at the last minute. The following day, Destiny terminated most of its workforce without prior notice (162 construction workers and 28 managers fired out of a total of 210). Destiny and City Hall each blamed the other for the loss of the jobs. Other civic leaders accused the hiring of 180 workers at an average salary of $60,000 per year between August and November 2005 of being a public relations ploy to bring pressure on City Hall, citing Pyramid's lack of interest in the backgrounds and qualifications of the applicants (no resumés were required, and the employee appearing in ads trumpeting the hiring turned out to have a criminal record[5]). Subsequent training of the construction workers was also criticized. Local representatives of the Carpenters and Operating Engineers unions called it the equivalent of a vocational school class and far short of the minimum training required before their apprentice members are even allowed on construction sites.
January 22, 2006: The Syracuse Post-Standard has declared the R&D Park all but dead, writing "the developer has put this on the back burner ... [sic] and perhaps even taken it off the stove."
January 25, 2006: The Post-Standard reports Congress has approved $1.04 billion of Green Bonds for Destiny, allowing the developer to borrow that amount at low interest rates. The bonds are intended to stimulate the redevelopment of brownfield projects using renewable energy sources. To remain eligible, Destiny must get "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for at least three-quarters of its commercial square footage; build on a remediated brownfield site; construct 1 million square feet (90,000 m²) of building space or build on at least 20 acres of land; provide 1,000 jobs during construction and 1,500 permanent jobs afterward; and show that the bond proceeds, after financing expenses, will be used to buy, build or integrate renewable energy and sustainable design. The bonds must be sold by October 1, 2009. Destiny officials have said they would need to build 4 million square feet (370,000 m²) to make the energy aspects feasible.
March 9, 2006: NY State Supreme Court Judge, John Centra, ruled that Pyramid Companies has met all the terms of a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement for an 800,000 square foot expansion of Carousel Center. Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll has been ordered to sign the tax deal, clearing the way for the first phase of Destiny USA. The city eventually appealed the ruling to keep its options open.
May 15, 2006: Mayor Matt Driscoll has formally agreed to grant Pyramid Co. the tax breaks that it has requested; pending approval by city and county lawmakers. In return, the city expects upwards of $100 million in sales tax revenues and guaranteed project fees. Critics and opponents note that the deal between the city and Pyramid makes no mention of Destiny, referring to the deal as only a Carousel Center expansion. Critics include State Senator John DeFrancisco.[6] Pyramid Chairman Robert Congel seemed to confirm the disconnect in a 2005 deposition, saying, "(The) 800,000 square feet [74,000 m²] is not part of Destiny. It's part of Carousel, and there is an economic program that's put together from the economic agency, that was put together many years ago which has been the somewhat road map to eventually coming to a conclusion that we haven't come to yet in total..."[7]
June 22, 2006: The Syracuse Common Council rejected the Destiny deal negotiated by the city by a 6-3 vote. Councilors cited reasons such as Syracuse corporation counsel Terri Bright not voicing support for the deal that the mayor, her immediate superior, negotiated. Mayor Driscoll refused to deny or confirm Bright's opposition to the plan. One councilor cited a corporation counsel study that concluded the city would lose up to $1 billion in revenue if it signed the $100 million deal. A concern persisted that the deal was not for Destiny but rather for a Carousel Center expansion.
June 30, 2006: Destiny shut down its Adobe Flash-based website, replacing all content with a static Destiny logo, then later with a letter of commitment to the project. The full Flash site was relaunched several weeks later.
July 2, 2006: The six councilors who voted against the deal explained their position in the Syracuse Post-Standard. Their chief objection was the lack of important guarantees in the legislation. "A prime example of the lack of guarantees is illustrated by the mall tenants' lawsuit. If we had passed the legislation June 22 and Lord & Taylor and Kaufmann's win their lawsuit in Appellate Court, Pyramid would not be able to build anything, but would still have a new, 30-year tax deal. The legislation states that if Pyramid cannot build because of an 'unavoidable delay' - such as litigation aimed at stopping construction - the city cannot force Pyramid to build. Pyramid would get the benefit of the Destiny tax break, the community would get no project, and the mall would stay off the tax rolls."[8]
July 5, 2006: Mayor Matt Driscoll and SIDA convened an urgent meeting to create a new agreement with Pyramid which would not require Common Council approval. The mayor ordered corporation counsel Terri Bright to withdraw the previously filed appeal. Bright subsequently asked the court to disregard the withdrawal because the Common Council did not approve it. Driscoll immediately terminated Bright.
July 7, 2006: The Common Council hired attorney John Cirando to argue its case in the state Appellate Court. The council contends the emergency meeting called two days previous with only three hours notice violated the state's open meeting laws, which require 72 hours advance notice. It also contends that the mayor's office does not have exclusive power to withdraw the appeal.[9]
July 10, 2006: Pyramid commits to paying union wage rates or higher to workers who work on the project. The commitment was made in front of the Construction Trades Council.[10]
July 21, 2006: It is made public that "the city will not provide legal advice, or money for outside lawyers, to city councilors dealing with a grand jury investigation launched by District Attorney William Fitzpatrick."[11]
July 25, 2006: The Syracuse Industrial Development Agency votes 5-0 to approve the appointment of Lehman Brothers Inc. as co-senior managing underwriters for the bonds the agency plans to sell to help finance the expansion of the Carousel Center mall. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. will remain co-senior underwriters.[12]
August 17, 2006: The appeal bid by the common council is rejected by the state Appellate Division.[13]
October 24, 2006: The New York State Court of Appeals refuses to hear several major Carousel Center stores' appeal of an Appellate Division decision that upheld the taking of some of their lease rights by the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency. This clears the legal path to construction.[14]
December 9, 2006: Destiny officials announce that no construction will begin by the end of 2006 as per their agreement with the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency.[15]
January 31, 2007: The Syracuse Industrial Development Agency authorizes the sale of bonds to finance the first phase of the mall's expansion. Bruce Kenan of the Pyramid Companies states that communication has reinitiated with the 200 workers terminated in January 2006, and that those still available will be rehired.[16]
February 27, 2007 12:00: Syracuse Industrial Development Agency sells bonds in the amount of $322.59 million, securing the funding needed for the Destiny Project to continue.[17] 17:30: Destiny USA ceremonially hands over the amount of $65.4 million to the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency in a presentation in the Carousel Center's Commons Level Atrium. This money, which in reality is to be paid over the course of several years, will be used for downtown parking ($51M), lake front improvements ($5.4M), economic development ($5M to the county, $130K to the city), the OnCenter complex ($1.6M), city neighborhood enhancements ($1.4M) and dome events reimbursement ($400K). It is said that construction of the Destiny Project should begin this spring.
November 8, 2007: Destiny USA issues a press release announcing that phase 2 of the project will consist of a 39 story, 1300 room hotel. The proposed design incorporates numerous environmentally-friendly features such as rooftop photovoltaic cells for energy production, high efficiency LED lighting, and a rainwater collection system for "gray water" useages such as toilet flushing and laundry. At 640 feet tall including decorative rooftop design elements, the structure will be the tallest building in upstate New York if completed. Under terms of an agreement with the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency, Destiny USA is required to build at least 1000 hotel rooms by February 1, 2012. Destiny USA Moving Forward with Phase II
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Carousel foundation work to begin today" Syracuse Post Standard Moriarty, Rick 8/9/07
- ^ syracuse.com Moriarty, Rick 3/26/2008
- ^ The Parkmead Group PLC 2006 Report
- ^ "Destiny's Developer in One Courtroom After Another." Syracuse Post-Standard. April 9, 2006
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Destiny Time?" Syracuse Post-Standard. May 24, 2006
- ^ "Mall Deal: What's in a Name?" Syracuse Post-Standard. May 26, 2006
- ^ "Why we voted 'no' on the Destiny settlement deal." Syracuse Post-Standard July 2, 2006
- ^ "Councilors hire attorney for legal struggle with City Hall" Marnie Eisenstadt, Syracuse Post-Standard. July 7, 2006
- ^ "Congel promises to pay union wages". Rick Moriarty, Syracuse Post-Standard. July 10, 2006
- ^ "City to council: Hire your own lawyers; it's a criminal case". Greg Munno, Syracuse Post-Standard. July 21, 2006.
- ^ "Expansion news: It's the law, not construction". Staff reports, Syracuse Post-Standard. July 23, 2006.
- ^ "Judge: No appeal on mall tax deal". Munno, Greg, Syracuse Post-Standard. August 18, 2006.
- ^ Court of Appeals refuses to hear Carousel stores' appeal
- ^ City, SIDA extend mall expansion deadline - Syracuse.com Destiny USA Updates
- ^ Moriarty, Rick. "Agency OKs bonds to expand Carousel", The Post-Standard, 2007-02-01. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
- ^ Bonds sold for mall expansion - Syracuse.com Destiny USA Updates
