Shopping center could double visitation
With New York gaming regulators poised to add up to four new commercial casinos in the state, the Oneida Nation of Indians plans to bolster its own appeal with the addition of a 250,000-square-foot enclosed mall at its Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona.
The outlet center will be bigger than four football fields, reported the Associated Press, and will include new restaurants and a six-screen movie theater. The Oneidas say the addition could result in an additional 5 million visits per year, doubling the current number of casino patrons. It will open in the fall of 2016.
“We see the changes that are occurring,” said nation spokesman Roy Halbritter. “We see the changes in the economic climate as well as the preferences of travelers and our guests and we’re responding to those.”
The outlet mall will be developed, leased and operated by Connecticut-based Gordon Group Holdings, the AP reported. Gordon Group has overseen the development of retail projects at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. It is also helping to build an outlet center at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. That development is set to open next May.
