Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta Grand Opening

By Christopher Seward - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Posted: 6:44 p.m. Thursday, July 18, 2013

Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta, a 370,000-square-foot complex off I-575 in Woodstock, opened Thursday, causing traffic gridlock as metro shoppers tried to get to the area’s newest premium outlet mall.

The complex, a joint venture of CBL Associate Properties Inc. and Horizon Group Properties, is now the closest major outlet mall to Atlanta, according to Horizon spokeswoman Gina Slechta.

Slechta said thousands of travelers along I-575 in Cherokee County have witnessed the mall’s construction over the past year and knew about its planned opening. The mall, about 40 minutes northwest of Atlanta, is off I-575 at Ridgewalk Parkway, a new exit that makes it easy to get to the mall.

“The combination of location and store brand names is what’s creating the stir,” Slechta said Thursday. Shoppers were also drawn by special promotions and giveaways by retailers, she said.

Channel 2 Action News’ Chopper 2 reported a traffic jam on I-575 for more than a mile. To accommodate shoppers, the mall had employees park off-site and provided shuttle buses for shoppers. “We had many people on the ground working to direct traffic,” Slechta said.

North Georgia Premium Outlets in Dawsonville, Tanger Outlet Center in Locust Grove and Calhoun Premium Outlets in Calhoun are among Outlet Shoppes’ closest competitors.

Developers say the mall is about 97 percent leased, and retailers include Nike, Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH, Brooks Brothers, True Religion, Cole Haan, Michael Kors, Kate Spade and Talbots. It also features a food court.

About 1,500 people are employed by retailers and property management. Slechta said many of the stores are still looking to hire and may add 800 to 1,000 seasonal workers during the Christmas holiday.

The developers say the mall will generate more than $130 million in annual sales and $3 million in property taxes for Woodstock, with an additional $34 million in taxes for the city, Cherokee and its school district over the next 10 years.

The mall will be open through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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Empire Outlets Planned for Staten Island Waterfront

 

Lauren Romano July 15, 2013 Yahoo News

New York City residents who want to do outlet shopping typically make the trek to Woodbury Common in Central Valley or Tanger Outlets in Deer Park, New York, both of which are about a two-hour bus ride from Manhattan. However, that's about to change, thanks to a new project that's underway on the North Shore of Staten Island.

Empire Outlets, which will be located next to Richmond County Bank Ballpark, is set to be New York City's first outlet shopping center. It will also be adjacent to St. George Ferry Terminal, which is only a 25-minute (free) ferry ride from Manhattan.

The outlets, a project of BFC Partners, will consist of over 350,000 square feet of retail space, plus a 30,000-square-foot restaurant space and a 20,000-square-foot event space. For those who would rather drive over, there's a 1,250-space parking garage planned. If you'd rather explore the outlets for more than a day, there will be a 200-room, 140,000-square-foot hotel on site so you can rest your weary feet.

Currently, shoppers can expect to see Coach, Nike, and Adidas, and developers are in talks with other big names, including Banana Republic, Old Navy, Kenneth Cole, and others. In total, there will be about 70-80 concepts at Empire Outlets.

At its center is going to be the New York Observation Wheel, a 630-foot observation wheel that's slated to be the tallest in the world. It will be able to hold a whopping 1,440 people per ride. The wheel will not only offer views of the local area, but also of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. The cost to ride the wheel will be in the $20-$30 range, according to estimates.

When asked why the spot was chosen for Empire Outlets, Joseph Ferrara, principal of BFC Partners, explained, "We felt that activating the waterfront with projects such as Empire Outlets and the New York Wheel would instantaneously become a local and international draw. The Staten Island Ferry is currently the No. 3 visited tourist attraction in New York City, and giving tourists something to do once they get off the ferry was a no-brainer."

"With access to 8.3 million residents and 52 million tourists annually with $36.9 billion dollars a year in direct visitor spending, Empire Outlets will continue to transform the North Shore of Staten Island into a thriving and booming economic engine, echoing its impact throughout the borough."

Developers will break ground on the project around the end of 2013 or beginning of next year, and it's set to be completed by late 2016.

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Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta to open on Thursday

A view of the Ann Taylor Factory Store at the Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta. Credit: Kristal Dixon

Posted by Kristal Dixon (Editor),  July 15, 2013 at 06:02 pm Woodstock-TowneLake Patch

The much-anticipated Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta in Woodstock will officially open to the public on Thursday.

A ribbon cutting for the development is set for 10 a.m. July 18. The outlet mall is located along Ridgewalk Parkway just east of Interstate 575, directly off the new Exit 9 interchange.

Residents also have a chance to get a sneak peek at the new 370,000-square-foot facility Wednesday evening.

In a partnership with Elm Street Cultural Arts Village, tickets are on sale to allow residents to shop at the outlet mall between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Tickets for the Red Carpet Preview are on sale for $10, with all proceeds going back into Elm Street. Tickets can still be purchased at the Woodstock Visitors Center at Dean's Store in downtown Woodstock or on Elm Street Arts' website.

Over 500 tickets have been sold at the Visitors Center, said Kyle Bennett, assitant director of tourism and visitor center operations.

Gay Grooms, artistic director with Elm Street, said her organization has sold around 3,000 tickets for the VIP event, but the number changes each day.

"We're just tickled, please and honored they opted to work with us for this VIP event," she added, referring to Horizon.
The outlet mall is a joint venture of CBL & Associates Properties and Horizon Group Properties. Both companies are developing the project, but Horizon is in charge of leasing and managing the center.

The outlet mall will be stocked with some of the widely known brands and designer outlets such as Adidas, American Eagle, Auntie Anne’s, GH Bass & Co., Calphalon, Chao Praya, Chicken Now, Chico’s, Clarks, Coach, Crabtree & Evelyn, Crocs, Fossil, Fragrance Outlet, Ghirardelli Chocolate, Hartstrings, Johnston & Murphy, Jones New York, Juicy Couture, Kasper, Kate Spade, Lane Bryant, Lenscrafters, Lids, Lids Locker Room, Little Tokyo, Loft Outlet, Luggage Factory, Naturalizer, Papaya, Skechers, Sunglass Warehouse, The Children’s Place, Tommy Hilfiger, True Religion, Ultra Diamonds, Van Heusen and Yankee Candle.
The development will feature covered walkways, landscaped court yards and will blend traditional features with other features such as a children's play area.

A center court area will be complete with fountains and a fire place and the site overall will be able to accommodate an additional 30,000 square feet of outlet mall space.

It also has seven out parcel spaces designed for restaurants, service businesses and other retail uses.

Horizon and CBL predicts the outlet mall will generate more than $130 million in sales annually and $3 million in sales and property taxes for Woodstock and Cherokee County.

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Plans for Gloucester Premium Outlets near Philly

By Mike DeNardo July 12, 2013 2:17 PM CBS Philly

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) — An upscale outlet center is on the drawing board in Gloucester Township.

Camden County freeholder director Lou Cappelli says it’s the kind of project the county had in mind when the new Route 42 exit was first planned in 2008.

“The whole purpose of that interchange was to spur economic development,” Cappelli tells KYW Newsradio.  “And we’re very thankful that it’s happening now.”

Plans for the Gloucester Premium Outlets call for 90 designer and name-brand stores.   It would be built on vacant land near the Black Horse Pike and Route 42, and would be run by a partnership that includes an affiliate of the Simon Property Group, which operates the Philadelphia Premium Outlets, in Limerick.

Gloucester Township mayor Dave Mayer says the project should generate 300 construction jobs and 700 permanent retail positions.

“This not only creates jobs,” he said today.  “Not only will it help with continuing economic development along that corridor, but it will bring people into Gloucester Township to spend their money in our community.”

Mayer says construction starts in the fall, with the first cash registers expected to begin ringing by November 2014.

“In this center we’re having a town center type of feel, like a town square, where we have open space in the middle of the center that will consist of outside dining, even in the wintertime, (and) outdoor fireplaces,” Mayer says.

Traffic looms over Woodbury Common Premium Outlet plan

Interior drawing of the New Market Hall at Woodbury Common Premium Outlet

BY JOSHUA ROSENAU PUBLISHED JUL 11, 2013 AT 2:32 PM (UPDATED JUL 11, 2013) The Photo News

Road projects delayed as mall begins $170 million renovation

CENTRAL VALLEY — A $170 million renovation plan at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlet aims to please the high-end demands of shoppers by 2016, but finding an easy route to and from the popular mall may take several years longer.

Town Supervisor John Burke said he is frustrated at the prospect of residents wasting more of their time in traffic as the destination attempts to attract more shoppers to Woodbury.

"Some people have to deal with it when they go shopping, when they come up 17 or the Thruway," Burke said. "We deal with it everyday. I am annoyed. I make no bones about it."

Retail space will expand by 60,000 square feet, growing the number of stores from 220 to 240 within the mall’s 900,000 square-foot campus, according to the plan.

"This expansion and enhancement will enable us to improve the shopper experience for our visitors and create additional space to accommodate the significant retailer demand that exists for this world-class shopping venue," said John R. Klein, President of Simon's Premium Outlets, the mall's owner.

Burke acknowledged that the outlet development has brought benefits and challenges alike to Woodbury.

"It certainly provides jobs and they pay their fair share of taxes. We can't deny that," Burke said. "But it has created enormous environmental issues and put tremendous stress on our commuters."

Managing traffic for the roughly 13 million visitors a year is a major concern at the mall for retailers, consumers and the Village of Woodbury.

Planners expressed particular concern over traffic at the southern leg of Woodbury Outlets Boulevard and mall’s interior roadway, Ring Road. The location “is expected to experience more than 1,500 vehicles an hour during typical peak periods,” according to planning documents.

The town recommended the mall’s management continue to hire state troopers to direct traffic during peak periods and holidays.

A three-storey parking garage is also being constructed to absorb some 2,000 cars, but village planners said there was a possibility the stacked structure of the deck could lead to long delays.

“With over 1,500 spaces on the upper three levels of the parking garage this may create a significant bottleneck within the circulation of the first floor of the garage,” according to planning board documents.

As volumes of motorists to the mall are projected to grow a quarter of a percent each year, planners hope a new two-stage plan to build looping ramps off of Exit 131 of Route 17 will allow traffic to flow more smoothly, according to site traffic studies.

The state Department of Transportation plans to begin a the first phase of roadway renovations sometime after the mall’s renovation has ended in 2016.

The first phase of the construction would raise and widen the Route 32 bridge that extends over Route 17 and erect a long loop to ease travelers exit to the east and west (See photos).

Construction of the loop could begin sometime in 2017, Burke said.

The second phase, involving two looping exits directly from Woodbury Common, is expected to have a significant effect on easing over-crowding at the mall, and “will allow approximately 15-20 percent of the traffic exiting the site to leave without having to first exit onto Route 32,” according to planning board documents.

Work on the second roadway may be completed as late as winter of 2022.

"We thought we had a solution for the interchange down on Exit 131. We did. We basically had it done,”
Burke said. “DOT signed off, local business signed off, we were ready to go, Then we got the news that instead of starting in 2013 with the preliminary stuff, we’re now looking at 2017. And no guarantee of that either.”

Even with the changes, Burke warned that the Thruway interchange at Harriman has become a highly trafficked roadway for all kinds of travelers, which will continue to be congested if nothing is done.

"People want to go to West Point, the Cheese Fest, watch the leaves, go to the mountains, the Catskills, the Common - its all going through that small segment of road," he said. "It's a huge job."

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