Meeting offers peek at major downtown Syracuse projects

CNY Business Journal (1996+), May 30, 2008 by Tampone, Kevin

SYRACUSE - Developers rattled off a laundry list of projects either under way or nearing their start May 28 at the annual meeting of the Downtown Committee of Syracuse.

Altogether, some $2 billion will be spent in Syracuse's center-city area in the next two years, said David Mankiewicz, executive director of the Downtown Committee. And $300 million of that will go directly to downtown.

One of the newest additions to the projects on the table is one by S&W Redevelopment, a company that relocated from Cazenovia to downtown Syracuse several years ago. The firm acquires and redevelops brownfields throughout the state.

S&W moved into 430 E. Genesee St. in 2001. The company is now adding six luxury apartments to that building, said Robert Petrovich, executive vice president.

The units will be a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 1,300 to 1,800 square feet. S&W expects to begin work in September, with construction to last about six months.

Syracuse University also announced a new component of the Connective Corridor initiative at the committee meeting. SU's Urban Video Project, developed together with the 40 Below Public Arts Task Force and The Third Thursday, plans to begin projecting video art on three buildings in downtown Syracuse this fall, said Eric Persons, director of engagement initiatives at SU.

The Mulroy Civic Center, Syracuse Stage, and 333 E. Onondaga St. will be the project's first targets. The buildings will display a variety of images and video.

One idea for the Civic Center is to display a video of events happening inside in real time. So when the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra is performing, those walking by the building could see the concert displayed on the walls outside.

SU hopes to include more buildings in the effort in the future, Persons said. Other potential canvases include One Park Place, 444 E. Genesee St., SU's Warehouse, and areas in Armory Square.

The art could eventually even include interactive components like video games, Persons added.

The Downtown Committee meeting included some updates of previously announced projects as well.

David Murphy, president and vice chairman of the Pioneer Cos., said his company's plan to build a new 120,000-square-foot, six-story office building at the corner of Washington and Franklin streets is slowly moving ahead.

"I would love to be here today to tell you all we've crossed the finish line," he said.

The project is moving more slowly than those involved had hoped, but the pieces are falling into place, Murphy said. The planned building's main tenant, engineering firm O'Brien & Gere, has signed a lease for its portion of the building and Pioneer also still plans to relocate its headquarters to the new facility from its current home at 250 S. Clinton St.

One major remaining hurdle to the start of work on the building is the sale of O'Brien & Gere's current facility in DeWitt. Murphy said that sale is near.

One new building already under construction is Jefferson-Clinton Commons. The project's developer, Joseph Hucko of Washington Street Partners, said seven of the building's 18 condominiums are already sold.

The Sugarman Law Firm is the anchor tenant for the $21 million, four-story, 120,000-square-foot building, which should be complete next year. Sugarman will occupy the second floor, while the apartments will be on the third and fourth floors, Hucko said.

Hucko is still searching for retail and office tenants for the first floor.

The S&W project and Jefferson-Clinton Commons are part of a recent trend in downtown construction - housing. About 2,000 people participated in the Downtown Living Tour on May 17, the Downtown Committee's Mankiewicz said. When surveyed after the event, half said they definitely or probably would move downtown.

Currently, there is not nearly enough housing under construction or even planned to hold that many people, Mankiewicz added. Nearly all of the projects discussed during the committee meeting included some type of residential component.

"This is a major opportunity," Mankiewicz said.

Mankiewicz also cautioned that parking continues to be a major issue downtown and an economic slowdown could affect downtown's prospects as well. He also urged the Onondaga County Legislature to support financing planning for the planned convention center hotel.

The hotel is critical to continue downtown's recent gains, he said.

Downtown also needs more than just residential development, Mankiewicz added. Retail shops and other street-level activity will be a focus for the downtown committee in the next year.