New York Wheel Builders Think They'll Make More Tourist Money than the Empire State Building
The New York Wheel's developers, Meir Laufer, Richard Marin and Andrew Ratner, say they expect pre-tax revenues of $127.85M for their Staten Island Ferris wheel.
That would top earnings at the Empire State Building’s famous observation deck by about $16M, according to The Real Deal. Projections for admissions fees clock in at $96M for the first year of operations, with sponsorships bringing in another $10M and gift shop sales accounting for $8.7M.
The developers say the total revenues should reach $166.5M annually by 2021. The estimates are based on the 630-foot tall wheel having a huge opening year, with 4 million visitors, and nearly keeping pace with that number by drawing 3.5 million a year thereafter. By comparison, the London Eye has averaged 4 million visitors a year since it opened in 2015. [TRD]
