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 Tuesday, december 1, 2025 at 100 Angelou Terrace, Syracuse. Speakers and a ceremonial dirt toss were featured. Executive Director of SHA William Simmons Speaks during the event. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current

The Syracuse Housing Authority is close to obtaining funding that would help further the redevelopment of public housing on the city’s Southside. 

The funding will help SHA build more than 220 units of housing split between a currently vacant lot across from Freedom Commons and the land surrounding Chavez Terrace. 

SHA’s contention that it will obtain the funding by the end of the year is a reversal of what Executive Director Bill Simmons has previously said. Earlier this year, Simmons told Central Current in an interview the housing authority would not obtain the funding for portions of the redevelopment. 


At the time, Mayor Sharon Owens used the potential failure to obtain funding through 2026 as an underpinning of her criticism of Simmons. 

In an interview with Central Current, SHA Deputy Executive Director Jalyn Clifford and a representative from Missouri-based development company McCormack Baron Salazar said they’ve learned a number of lessons from the redevelopment process that allowed them to make progress. 

SHA plans to redevelop 672 distressed public housing units in McKinney Manor and Pioneer Homes with McCormack Baron Salazar. SHA and McCormack Baron Salazar 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. 

The housing authority is poised to obtain the funds to start the construction across from Freedom Commons and at Chavez Terrace by the end of the year, officials wrote in materials provided at SHA’s March board meeting. SHA’s redevelopment of public housing has been scheduled to happen in 11 phases at the following locations:

  • Phase 1: Angelou Terrace, a part of McKinney Manor where construction began in 2025
  • Phase 2: A vacant parking lot opposite Almus Olver Towers 
  • Phase 3: Chavez Terrace, a part of McKinney Manor that was demolished in 2025
  • Phase 4: Weiser Court, part of Pioneer Homes and bound by Adams Street on the north, South McBride Street on the east, Monroe Street on the south and South Townsend Street on the west
  • Phase 5: Dablon Court, a part of Pioneer Homes, bound by Monroe Street on the north, South McBride Street on the east, Jackson Street on the south and South Townsend Street on the west
  • Phase 6: Radisson Court, a part of Pioneer Homes, bound by Jackson Street on the north, South McBride Street on the east, East Taylor Street on the south and South Townsend Street on the west
  • Phase 7: A parcel of land opposite the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central
  • Phase 8: A vacant lot opposite Freedom Commons
  • Phase 9: Tyler Court, a part of Pioneer Homes, bound by East Adams Street on the north, Almond Street on the east, Monroe Street on the south and South McBride Street on the west
  • Phase 10: Stewart Court, a part of Pioneer Homes, bound by Monroe Street on the north, Almond Street on the east, Jackson Street on the south and South McBride Street on the west
  • Phase 11: Gage Court, a part of Pioneer Homes opposite Wilson Park across the current Interstate 81 underpass

The housing authority and McCormack Baron Salazar decided to obtain funding for work on phase eight — skipping other phases — to streamline the process of relocating residents in public housing units within Pioneer Homes as well as to deal with “market constraints,” SHA wrote in their March board meeting agenda. 

SHA hopes to relocate residents to the housing built on the currently vacant lot when they begin construction on other phases of the redevelopment, said Clifford. SHA and McCormack Baron Salazar are first attempting to obtain funding to build on the vacant lot, part of phase eight, to have enough units to relocate residents. Housing will also be available at Almus Olver Towers and other SHA properties across the city. 

“We want to limit the disruption to residents,” Carpenter said. 

SHA officials wrote in the agenda that they have the budget for the third and fourth phases but still need to budget for the sixth and eighth phases. 

Construction has so far been funded by a historic $50 million grant that SHA and the city of Syracuse co-applied for and won to support housing and neighborhood redevelopment in the region. HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant, the first of its kind awarded in New York state, is a crucial resource to redevelop the area in the Southside, formerly known as the 15th Ward. 

The billion-dollar public housing redevelopment comes at a time when the state’s Department of Transportation is working toward removing the Interstate 81 viaduct. The viaduct cut through the 15th Ward, leading to mass displacement, when it was built more than 50 years ago. 

SHA Executive Director Bill Simmons told board members in February that the housing authority will receive $850,000 in funding from Rep. John Mannion’s office “for the East Adams phase four through five projects to support demolition site prep and predevelopment costs.” 

An image of the phases designated in the East Adams Neighborhood Transformation Plan.

SHA and McCormack Baron Salazar decided to redevelop Radisson Court before Dablon Court because the fifth phase is a more “complex project,” Carpenter said. 

The new building is larger compared to the rest and may include parking. It may also be home to a museum or exhibit to honor the 15th Ward. Pioneer Homes is one of the oldest public housing complexes in the nation. 

“We don’t want to lock in the middle of the plan right now,” Carpenter said. “We want to make sure we’re taking our time with really thoughtful design.”

SHA and McCormack Baron Salazar are working to avoid redeveloping new units closest to the viaduct during its removal, she said. 

Clifford explained that because about 95% of SHA’s apartments are occupied, the housing authority is holding several vacancies across their properties to help with relocation. 


There is no fixed timeline yet on obtaining the funding but Carpenter said during the April board meeting on Thursday that they are aiming to get financing for redevelopment of housing on Chavez Terrace by the end of this year. 

According to the Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant, both SHA and McCormack Baron Salazar have to finish closing on all 11 phases by 2032, Carpenter said. While delays may occur on a phase due to unforeseen circumstances that include but are not limited to the government shutdown, SHA and McCormack Baron Salazar will continue to proceed with the next phases of construction, she explained. 

“If there’s an opportunity to kind of speed that up, then we’re happy to take it, but we’re not going to cut corners,” Carpenter said. 

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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...