Destiny USA Logo |
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| Location | Syracuse |
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| Address | 9090 Carousel Center Drive, Syracuse, NY 13290 |
| Opening date | Spring 2012 (official), some sections opened November 2011[1] |
| Developer | The Pyramid Companies |
| Owner | The Pyramid Companies |
| No. of stores and services | 178 (2010)[2] + TBD |
| No. of anchor tenants | 8 (2010)[3] + TBD |
| Total retail floor area | 2,400,000 sq ft (220,000 m2) (combined complex)[4] |
| No. of floors | 3 (retail) + 4 (offices, cinemas, sky deck) |
| Website | http://destinyusa.com |
Destiny USA is a retail and entertainment complex under construction in Syracuse, New York, United States. 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 groundwork for the first phase, an 1,300,000-square-foot (120,000 m2) expansion of the 1,500,000-square-foot (140,000 m2) Carousel Center, began in April, 2007, and pile driving for the structure's foundation began on August 9, 2007.[5] Above-ground construction began on March 28, 2008. The first sections and stores of a 1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m2) phase one expansion opened to the public in November 2011, with an official opening scheduled for spring 2012.[6]
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Carousel Center opened in October 1990 on the site of a former landfill and surrounded by several square blocks of oil tanks known as "Oil City".[7] The Pyramid Companies expanded Carousel Center slightly by 1994, adding a Lord & Taylor store to the west end of the mall.[8] Already before the opening of this addition, Pyramid had proposed opening a strip mall named "Carousel Landing" south of Carousel Center. However, legal disputes to remove both the industrial tenants of Oil City and their soil contamination delayed any construction.[9] In 1997, Pyramid changed its plans, dropping the strip mall and instead proposing to double the size of Carousel Center. [10] On April 30, 2000, Pyramid announced the resort-style project that ultimately became the Destiny USA proposal.[11]
The project has been marked by significant delays and controversy since the proposal was made public in 2000. Construction stalled when Citigroup refused to continue funding the project in 2009. A settlement was reached, all debts were paid, and Destiny USA was able to begin construction again in early 2011.
Construction on the core and shell of the expansion is now complete, tenant build outs are underway and Destiny USA is inching closer to becoming the largest LEED Gold certified retail building in the country.
The first phase of Destiny USA that ultimately saw construction broke ground in 2008, was paused by a legal dispute with Citigroup in 2009, but ultimately resumed construction in 2011. Its first sections and stores opened in November 2011.[12] The official grand opening is scheduled for spring 2012, around which time the combined expansion and original Carousel Center are scheduled to take the Destiny USA name.[13] Pyramid estimates the expansion will house 100 businesses.[14]
Phase one has 850,000 square foot of GLA and is a three-floor expansion of Carousel Center. The expansion has four main "portals" to the original mall, one by the center atrium, and one near the mall entrance to Lord & Taylor on the first and second floors. Unlike the original mall, the expansion does not have a public basement or "commons" level. Instead, its three floors are above ground and link to the two main retail levels of Carousel Center and its cinema level.[15]
While the original Carousel Center mostly consists of traditional mall stores, the expansion focuses on designer stores and outlets, as well as large restaurant and entertainment venues, the later of which are to be centered around a large open courtyard named "The Canyon". 21 businesses have been published as being part of the expansion,[16] including:
In November 2007, Destiny USA announced a $450 million, 1,342-room hotel, covered with green solar panel windows as the second phase of the project.[17] Destiny technically has a December 6, 2011 deadline to finish the first phase and to start the next, however, in light of economic conditions, it remains to be seen if Destiny will be held to this date.[18]