SYRACUSE, NY— The Pyramid Cos. said it will begin construction of its 1,302-room Grand Destiny Hotel on Oct. 24, marking the start of the long-awaited $2.2 billion Destiny USA retail and entertainment center, according to The Post-Standard here. The 47-story hotel will be the first of several large hotels Pyramid plans to build as part of Destiny, a 15 million-square-foot addition to the Carousel Center shopping mall in Syracuses lakefront. The project will reportedly rival the size of the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. At a cost of $180 million, the Grand Destiny will be one of the largest construction projects in Central New York since the Carousel Center opened in 1990. An accompanying four-story, 2,400-car parking garage will add an additional $30 million to the projects cost. Carousel Center cost nearly $300 million to build. Pyramid has an aggressive construction schedule planned. Executive Michael Lorenz said the company hopes to open the hotel by the end of 2003. Pyramid released an artists rendering of what the hotel will look like. However, a final design of the hotels interior and exterior is still in the works – and still could be after the pile-driving starts for the foundation. By the time the hotel is open, Pyramid says, it will have other hotels and the main part of Destiny USA under construction. Meanwhile, The Kaufmanns and Lord & Taylor stores filed a lawsuit last week seeking to block the hotels construction because of concerns that it will disrupt parking near the stores during the holiday shopping season. Pyramid has not formally responded to the lawsuit. Pyramid says it cannot start construction on the main part of Destiny USA until state lawmakers approve legislation clarifying and guaranteeing Empire Zone tax credits for the project. Part of its motivation for starting the hotel construction this month appears to be to put pressure on lawmakers to come back into session this year and vote on the tax incentive legislation. Lorenz said the company wants to show it is “taking the initiative” to get Destiny rolling. — The Post-Standard