Onondaga County, developer McCormack Baron Salazar and Syracuse Housing Authority officials are at odds over a two-year-old $7 million commitment by the county to the redevelopment of public housing.
In private, the three organizations have been trying to settle whether the $7 million commitment by the county should be an in-kind contribution or a cash contribution. SHA and the city included a commitment letter from County Executive Ryan McMahon in their application for the $50 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — a critical pot of funding to the project.
The 2024 letter said the county would contribute infrastructure work that included “new water mains in roadways, source/outfalls connections, and a portion of the internal infrastructure needed to support the new housing development and more walkable streetways.” The county has said the $7 million was only ever put forward as an in-kind contribution.
Minutes from a recent SHA board meeting outlined SHA’s contention that the organization believed it would receive $7 million in funding from the county. Allyson Carpenter, vice president of development at McCormack Baron Salazar, told Central Current that the Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant administered by HUD does not permit in-kind support for the housing component of the project.
Justin Sayles, the spokesperson for McMahon, has said county officials made clear to McCormack Baron Salazar that the county would provide the infrastructure when it saw a plan from the developer how to spend the money.
“We’ve met with them as recently as January of this year where we reiterated the facts and they still have yet to produce a plan,” Sayles wrote in his email.
Carpenter pushed back against Sayles’ statement, saying that the county had received the plans.
“The county helped fund the design of Phase 1 and 2 infrastructure plans, they’re certainly in receipt of those plans, and construction on those phases is underway,” Carpenter said.
Central Current’s inquiry into behind-the-scenes disagreement reflected in SHA’s meeting minutes appears to have set off attempts by each agency to get on the same page. County officials have said they will meet with McCormack Baron Salazar and SHA after discovering a two-month-old correspondence in which the developer requested a meeting with county officials. The request did not come through the typical point person, Sayles said.
SHA officials said the organization will work with the county and McCormack Baron Salazar to “determine the specific details of the county’s contribution and how the county can support future phases of the redevelopment effort,” SHA Deputy Executive Director Jalyn Clifford said.
SHA has physical copies of meeting minutes available at every board meeting but does not upload them online. Central Current obtained the minutes and attached the agenda below.
When asked about the commitment, a spokesperson for the Onondaga County Legislature’s Democratic caucus said they were hoping to coordinate with the county executive’s office to hold a public update on the county’s commitment to the project.
Central Current reviewed McMahon’s letter which included that the county will contemplate an additional investment of $7 million for the future construction. Sayles said that while McMahon may be open to spending the amount for future phases, the form of the investment had been undecided.
SHA is redeveloping 672 distressed public housing units in McKinney Manor and Pioneer Homes with McCormack Baron Salazar. 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.
McMahon also committed $750,000 to SHA and their partners for the project in 2023 through Onondaga County’s Housing Initiative Program fund. The county has spent $683,000 of that commitment toward the project’s design process, County Comptroller Marty Masterpole confirmed.
The county executive’s letter also outlined other county contributions toward elements of the project, including the $74 million bond funding for the Syracuse City School District STEAM High School.
In 2023, the county budget committed $5 million for the Children Rising Center. The Children Rising Center project was conceptualized in 2021 as a signature element of the $1 billion plan to redevelop the area into a mixed-income neighborhood. However, the development of the center halted in February 2025, following spats between SHA, city officials, and leaders of nonprofits tasked with a portion of the redevelopment of public housing.
Stakeholders sparred over missed deadlines and misinformation. The money for the project has not been reallocated from the Onondaga County Department of Children and Family Services, said Ruthnie Angrand, the spokesperson for the legislature’s Democratic caucus.
Democratic Legislator Charles Garland, who has represented the Southside in the legislature since 2022, said that following Central Current’s inquiry he is looking for clarification on the nature of the county’s commitment and SHA’s interpretation of the commitment. He also called for transparency.
“Moving forward, having access to precise, factual data is critical to preventing funding disruptions or project delays,” Garland said. “Each organization is going through a major transition right now so we have a window of opportunity for everyone to do their homework to get the ship rolling in the right direction.”
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