Syracuse Housing Authority on Dec. 18 is set to close on financing for the second phase of the redevelopment of public housing on Syracuse’s Southside.
SHA is redeveloping 672 distressed public housing units across Pioneer Homes and McKinney Manor with McCormack Baron Salazar, the Missouri-based developer in charge of redeveloping public housing in Syracuse. They will also build an additional 732 apartment units. The redevelopment of public housing, valued at about $1 billion, is stretched across several phases.
SHA hopes to house current residents while drawing in new residents who pay market-rate rents.
The second phase of the East Adams transformation project will see a vacant lot — previously used as a makeshift parking lot — at the intersection of South State and Burt streets converted into a new apartment building with 125 new affordable units for seniors.
Simmons told Central Current that there would be five two-bedroom units while the others would all be one-bedroom apartments. The building will not be more than four stories tall, Simmons said.
The project will cost more than $100 million with vertical construction estimated to begin in early 2026.
The area was previously identified as a brownfield due to several environmental contaminants like petroleum-impacted soil and high levels of lead and PAH being discovered.
The $7 million environmental remediation was funded partly by $3.5 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant. SHA won a $50 million grant for the project to support housing and neighborhood redevelopment in the region The state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program lobbied U.S. Bank to invest the remaining $3.7 million.
“Remediation of this brownfield site is more than a construction milestone. It’s an
investment in long-term health, safety, and dignity for the residents of East Adams,” said Allyson Carpenter, the vice president of development at McCormack Baron Salazar.
Hueber-Breuer Construction Company took over the remediation efforts as the general contractor while Langan Engineering provided oversight as the environmental engineers. Besides constant environmental monitoring, remediation work included excavating the soil and off-site disposal, installing a site-wide vapor barrier and sub-slab depressurization system as well as importing and placing clean fill.
“In alignment with this work and using funds received from New York State, the City is also developing a Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) plan for the area, creating an inventory and strategy around additional brownfield sites within South Salina/East Adams that will help revitalize vacant lots, create more third spaces, and generate economic activity for the neighborhood,” Mayor Ben Walsh said.
SHA and McCormack Baron Salazar broke ground on the first phase of redevelopment in the neighborhood last week.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, SHA Executive Director William Simmons announced that the first new building that will be constructed in the area will be called the Langston. The new street going through the compound will be named McKinney Street to honor the late Judge Langston C. McKinney, the first Black city court judge. McKinney “fought for justice, with his quiet dignity and unwavering strength,” Simmons said.
Walsh, Mayor elect Sharon Owens and County Executive Ryan McMahon joined SHA officials, McCormack Baron Salazar representatives and residents at the construction site where they held up construction spades and flung dirt into the air to signify the official start of the project.
McCormack Baron Salazar, known for similar neighborhood redevelopment projects across the nation, was initially also set to manage the property.
However, the housing authority made a surprise move by committing to taking on property management responsibilities once public housing in the Southside is redeveloped. SHA Deputy Executive Director Jalyn Clifford told Central Current in August that was always meant to be the case.
“It’s just sooner than originally anticipated,” she said.
Read more of Central Current’s coverage
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