Brooklyn-based BFC Partners, in collaboration with Gansevoort Market, will launch a new culinary market at BFC’s Empire Outlets on the Staten Island waterfront along Richmond Terrace, next to the Staten Island Ferry terminal in St. George. Slated to open in late 2017, the new food market, called Marketplace at Empire Outlets, will be the borough’s first artisanal food hall. The market will occupy 12,000 square feet, plus 3,000 square feet of exterior patio space.
“The unparalleled benefit that comes from [Gansevoort] currently operating a market in the Meatpacking District, which caters to residents and visitors alike, will only add to the lifestyle components that BFC is assembling at Empire Outlets,” said Joseph Ferrara, who is one of the BFC’s principals along with Donald Capoccia and Brandon Baron.
Bruce Bronster, a partner at Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, and special counsel Daniel Pocchiari represented Gansevoort.
Daniel Weisz of Marans Weisz & Newman represented Empire Outlets.
Last April, BFC began constructing New York City’s first retail outlet mall; the investment in the development project is estimated at $1.2 billion. The complex is adjacent to the Richmond County Bank Ballpark, home to the Staten Island Yankees, and the proposed New York Wheel, a 630-foot observation wheel now under construction. Once completed, the wheel will rank as one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere.
Empire Outlets, designed by SHoP Architects, will contain about 340,000 square feet of prime retail space, including 40,000 square feet of food and beverage space. The contemporary design, highlighting industrial waterfront components, will include expansive corridors to the water with views of New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline.
The outlets will feature about 10 shops, including Nordstrom Rack; H&M; Gap Outlet; and White House Black Market. Ghirardelli Chocolate; Starbucks; Applebee’s; Nathan’s Famous; and Yong Kang Street, an Asian fusion eatery, also are among the tenants. Plans include a 190-room boutique hotel with a rooftop lounge and a 1,250-space parking facility. To date, the project is more than 50 percent leased.
BFC announced that the new lease is another “important milestone in the transformation of St. George.” Marketplace at Empire Outlets, which will showcase the best of local and international purveyors, seeks to become a culinary destination for foodies, tourists and the community. BFC is working in unison with a Gansevoort marketing team of Jamie Hinojos, director of operations, and Manny Del Castillo, creative director.
A few blocks from Chelsea Market, the Gansevoort Market is at 52 Gansevoort St., between Greenwich and Washington streets. The market, which has a rich history since 1884, began as an open-air farmer’s market on the former grounds of Fort Gansevoort, evolving over time into an 8,000-square-foot property with about two dozen vendors offering local and international fare and other merchandise.
Founded in 1985, BFC Partners and its principals have completed over $5 billion in development projects with more than 8,000 residential units and millions of square feet of mixed-use development in New York City, including the Toren in downtown Brooklyn and Essex Crossing on the Lower East Side.
A Douglas Elliman Commercial team of Louis Puopolo, co-head of operations, and broker Michael Brais handle the leasing for the food and beverage spaces at Empire Outlets.
