BlueRock Energy to move to Barclay Damon Tower in 2017

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — BlueRock Energy, a Syracuse–based energy-services company, plans to relocate its headquarters to the 8th floor of what will become the Barclay Damon Tower.

BlueRock currently operates in an 8,800-square-foot space at 432 N. Franklin St. in a building called The Foundry in Syracuse’s Franklin Square area. That’s about a half-mile away from its future home.

The firm will move to a nearly 14,000-square-foot space, allowing room for a “potential” staff of 82, the company said in a news release. BlueRock plans to move to its new office in January 2017.

BlueRock Energy currently employs 68, including 49 at its North Franklin Street headquarters, the company said in an email response to a BJNN inquiry.

The firm also has energy advisors who live elsewhere in New York state, along with Pennsylvania and Connecticut, servicing customers and prospects.

“We are thrilled to be able to join together BlueRock Energy, BlueRock Energy Services and our latest division, BlueRock Solar, under one roof. This new, larger office solidifies our commitment to creating new jobs for our local community and fostering the great talent that lives here,” Phil VanHorne, founder, president and CEO of BlueRock Energy, contended in the company’s release.

All three business units operate in Franklin Square, but in different buildings, the company said.

BlueRock applied to the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA) for a sales-tax exemption on nearly $500,000 that it wants to spend on equipment and furniture for the new office, the company confirmed in its email response.

BlueRock Energy markets electricity, natural gas, and renewable energy products to more than 18,000 customers across New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.

Syracuse–based CBD Companies, which owns and manages the building currently known as Onondaga Tower, has spent $10 million to refurbish the structure since acquiring it in 2010, BlueRock said.

 “We feel BlueRock will bring a lot of ‘energy’ and enthusiasm to downtown as well to our growing list of new tenants, which include Barclay Damon; Ashley McGraw [Architects, P.C.]; Ephesus; [Syracuse law firm] Porter Nordby Howe [LLP]; Custom Wealth Management, and Aspen Fitness. They are a perfect fit for our project and for the continued renaissance downtown is experiencing,” CBD Companies owner Chuck Sangster said in the release.

Ephesus is a firm specializing in light-emitting diode (LED) lighting products and serving commercial, industrial, and entertainment venues such as sports stadiums and arenas.

Onondaga Tower will be renamed Barclay Damon Tower once the Syracuse–based law firm moves in later this year. The law firm is currently based at One Park Place at 300 State St. in Syracuse.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com