The retail and restaurant components of the $1.7 billion Time Warner Center were unveiled to the public yesterday morning during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

All told, the mixed-use development in midtown Manhattan boasts 500,000 sq. ft. of restaurant, specialty retail and entertainment space. It also includes hotel, residential, office and studio space.

Present at the ribbon cutting were executives from Apollo Real Estate Advisors, The Related Cos. and Time Warner, among other dignitaries.

"Apollo’s ability to secure the financing necessary to bring this groundbreaking development to fruition is testament to the level of confidence our investors have in the continued vitality of New York, and to the future of the city’s newest cultural and lifestyle destination," said William Mack of Apollo. His firm partnered with to develop the project.

Both Related and Apollo will lease office space in this building, which houses 211,000 sq. ft. of Class-A space. The project was formerly called the "AOL" Time Warner Center, but the AOL portion of the name was dropped last year after many Time Warner employees soured on the merger. Federal regulators are investigating the AOL division for questionable accounting practices.