The Solar Street side of Carousel Center
/ file photo
SYRACUSE -- On Tuesday morning we spoke with Bill Ryan, the chairman of the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency, about Monday's announcement. Ryan says he doesn't know exactly what Destiny meant by the statement they released yesterday.
"It was a private deal between the lender, CitiBank, and the Pyramid Company," Ryan says. "Because we're the owners of the property, there were some things we had to sign off on. We asked them to make some changes. They made those changes. That's why we signed off on that."
Ryan says he signed off on the deal last week, but he isn't allowed to release the details of the changes made in the settlement because he is bound by a confidentiality agreement. He says none of those documents are available to the public at this time.
Ryan says he has not heard any news from Destiny about when people will be able to get back to work or when the project will be completed. He says he sees these recent developments as simply the resolution of a lawsuit.
"Work stopped 18 months ago because CitiBank no longer wanted to loan money," he says. "There was litigation. That litigation has been settled, so that ends that chapter. A new chapter will begin soon. What that chapter is, I don't know."
Previous coverage from Monday:
Destiny USA and Citigroup released a short joint press release Monday, sparking more hope that work could resume on Carousel Center mall soon.
The statement said, "We are pleased to announce the resolution reached between the parties on December 17, 2010 has now been formally implemented. We greatly appreciate the effort, work and patience of many stakeholders including the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency."
SIDA sent out its own release about an hour later saying, "SIDA’s expectation that its good faith execution of the documents necessary to finalize the Citigroup-Destiny USA litigation will get the Destiny USA Expansion Project moving toward completion and the fulfillment of the economic benefits long promised by the developer."
Citigroup stopped making payments to Destiny claiming that the terms of the contract were being violated by the developer. Construction ground to a halt while both sides went to court.
On December 17th of last year a settlement between both sides was reached. For more details about that agreement, click here.
A Destiny spokesperson says the company will not be releasing anymore information about the project's status at this time.
CNY Central's Laura Hand reached out to the Syracuse Common Council Monday afternoon, but councilors say they do not know what the status of the project is.
