The Syracuse Housing Authority and McCormack Baron Salazar host a groundbreaking ceremony for East Adams Phase 1, the first new housing development of the East Adams Transformation Plan. The event took place Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2025, at 100 Angelou Terrace, Syracuse. Speakers and a ceremonial dirt toss were featured. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current

The Syracuse Housing Authority will receive a boost to their pot of funding for the redevelopment of public housing on the city’s Southside. 

Rep. John Mannion’s office was able to secure $850,000 in a congressional appropriations bill. The money will be used for future phases of the billion-dollar redevelopment of the neighborhood situated around the Interstate-81 viaduct on the city’s Southside. 

SHA Executive Director Bill Simmons told board members in February that the housing authority will receive the money “for the East Adams phase four through five projects to support demolition site prep and predevelopment costs.” 

SHA officials declined to comment further on the money as it awaits a formal announcement with Mannion’s office. 

SHA is redeveloping 672 distressed public housing units across McKinney Manor and Pioneer Homes with Missouri-based developer, McCormack Baron Salazar, across several phases. They will also build an additional 732 apartment units. The housing authority hopes to house current residents while drawing in new residents who pay market-rate rents. 

David Doyle, Mannion’s communications director and senior adviser, confirmed to Central Current on Thursday that the funding was one of the 15 Community Project Funding priorities Mannion included in the recent appropriations bill that was signed into law. The original request for the resources was made by former Congressman Brandon Williams, Doyle said. 

“A formal announcement is expected soon, and monies will be awarded once the SHA completes HUD’s required process,” Doyle said. 

The funds are not tied to particular phases and are instead designed to support the overall project, Doyle explained. 

The housing authority has to submit required documentation to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with a comprehensive scope of work and project budget before the federal funds can be disbursed. 

Doyle said it is highly unlikely for the funds to be clawed back by the federal government if SHA decides to close on phases other than the ones Simmons mentioned at the board meeting. 

“We expect HUD and SHA to work collaboratively to ensure the project is carried out according to plan, and in line with all statutory and regulatory requirements, as well as House Appropriations committee guidelines,” Doyle said. 

The redevelopment of public housing has, of late, been plagued by turmoil at the housing authority. Doyle, however, did not directly respond to a question about the trouble SHA has recently faced. Instead, Doyle shifted the focus on residents being at the center of the project. 

“This is a generational opportunity and the focus remains on delivering results for residents and ensuring the project moves forward responsibly and transparently,” Doyle said. 

Simmons recently accused Chair Ryan Benz of having a conflict of interest related to the redevelopment of public housing, creating tense exchanges between board commissioners. 

In a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Simmons specifically alleged that Benz’s conflict of interest as a developer lies in partnering with businesses that contract with SHA and are specifically involved with the project, according to a HUD letter that Benz read at the February board meeting. 

Benz recused himself from the February board meeting following HUD’s recommendation but Commissioner Patricia McBride insinuated that the board chair pushed for SHA and its developer, the Missouri-based McCormack Baron Salazar to use Hueber Breuer Construction as general contractor. 

However, emails obtained by Central Current through a public records request seemed to undercut McBride’s allegations. It showed that Hueber Breuer, a company that is potentially at the center of the controversy, was hired by SHA’s development partner in April 2024 — nearly 11 months before former Mayor Ben Walsh appointed Benz to the board.

SHA counsel Brad Hunt sent a letter to HUD in March clearing Benz of any such conflicts of interest. 

At SHA’s board meeting Thursday, Benz read aloud excerpts of Hunt’s legal opinion regarding the investigation about Benz. 

However, the exact content of Simmons’ complaint remains unclear to both the board as well as Hunt, who serves as counsel for both the housing authority and the commissioners. Hunt wrote in his opinion that he had sent an email to Simmons on March 5 asking for materials and information Simmons sent to HUD but had not received a response to the email. 

Syracuse Mayor Sharon Owens, a vocal critic of Simmons, sent a letter to HUD on Feb. 25, following Simmons’ allegations to alert them about how the city was not made privy to the alleged conflict of interest. Because the city is a co-applicant to the Choice Neighborhood Implementation grant, a critical pot of funding to the project, Owens wrote in the letter that city officials should have been notified of the complaint ahead of time.

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Debadrita Sur is a multimedia journalist and Report for America corps member who reports on the I-81 project and public housing for Central Current. In 2023, Sur graduated with a master’s degree in journalism...