Woodbine begins construction on student-apartment complex Skyler Commons

SYRACUSE — Construction is underway on Skyler Commons, a student-apartment building at 908 Harrison St., between University Avenue and South Crouse Avenue — near the Syracuse University campus.

The Woodbine Group, which owns and will operate the 42,000-square-foot complex, announced the start of construction in a news release on Feb. 5.

The construction site is just east of the Hotel Skyler, which the Woodbine Group also owns and operates.

The Woodbine Group operates at 505 E. Fayette St. in Syracuse.

The four-story Skyler Commons building, which is scheduled to open for the start of the 2015-16 academic year, will include 80 apartments specifically designed for the university market.

College students have told the Woodbine Group “over and over” that they want to live in either one-room or “flat-style” apartments, says Thomas Fernandez, director of business development at the Woodbine Group. 

“That’s something that really isn’t in the market right now. There’s only a handful that are available. They seem to be the most sought after,” he adds.

The Woodbine Group also owns Copper Beach Commons, which is located across from the Genesee Grande Hotel, another Woodbine property. Copper Beach Commons opened in 2012, representing Woodbine’s first project targeting student housing, says Fernandez.

The Skyler Commons project costs about $5.2 million. The Syracuse Industrial Development Agency approved a sales-tax exemption worth $96,000 on construction materials and a mortgage-recording tax exemption worth $52,000 for a total savings of $148,000, according to Fernandez.

Woodbine started planning for the project about a year ago, says Fernandez.

Syracuse Woodbine Associates is the firm handling project construction. Woodbine also works with Edwin Harrington, a local architect who has previously worked with Woodbine on Copper Beach Commons, the Genesee Grande Hotel, and Hotel Skyler.

The studio, single-occupancy apartments will be “fully furnished” with a kitchen and a flat-screen television. The 400-square-foot units will have high ceilings and offer built-in cabinetry storage.

The Skyler Commons apartments will rent for $1,250 per month on 11-and-a-half month leases with utilities, cable television, and Wi-Fi Internet service available.

“We’re one block from the core of campus, so we really become the closest non-SU student housing in the area, so I think that’s really something that’ll draw a lot of attention,” says Fernandez.

Norman Swanson is president and owner of the Woodbine Group, which launched in 1978.

The company has named the upcoming student-housing facility after Swanson’s grandson, Skyler, whose name is also on the nearby Hotel Skyler that Woodbine opened in 2011.                      -