SYRACUSE — The 280,000-square-foot downtown Syracuse building that was once home to the Sibley’s department store is receiving a visible makeover. The Hayner Hoyt Corporation of Syracuse has been working to redevelop the building at 400 S. Salina St. in Syracuse, which is now known as City Center. The structure is situated on a block […]
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SYRACUSE — The 280,000-square-foot downtown Syracuse building that was once home to the Sibley’s department store is receiving a visible makeover.
The Hayner Hoyt Corporation of Syracuse has been working to redevelop the building at 400 S. Salina St. in Syracuse, which is now known as City Center. The structure is situated on a block that is bordered by South Salina Street, West Jefferson Street, and South Clinton Street.
“The building is really being stripped to its bones,” says Jeremy Thurston, president of the Hayner Hoyt Corporation, who spoke with CNYBJ on Aug. 26.
“We’ve stripped out the entire building envelope. We’ve gutted the inside of the building in its entirety,” he says. “And you probably noticed that we cut a courtyard into the building on [West] Jefferson Street.”
The project development cost is “north of $30 million,” Thurston adds. The project cost is listed at $37 million in a project document on the website of the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency.
Schopfer Architects, LLP of Syracuse is the architect on the project.
Earlier this year, Hayner Hoyt and the nonprofit Red House Arts Center hosted a Jan. 18 groundbreaking event at City Center.
During the January announcement, the project was described as one that would include apartments. However, Hayner Hoyt has heard so much interest from potential commercial tenants seeking office space that the firm is no longer pursuing the housing component of the project, Thurston notes.
As of late August, Thurston was able to confirm two commercial tenants for City Center but noted his firm is negotiating with other companies for commercial space but wasn’t able to release their names.
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) is taking 50,000 square feet, inside City Center. Its space will include 30,000 on the fourth floor and 20,000 on the ground floor, Thurston tells CNYBJ.
“We’re starting the interior fit out of the Huntington Ingalls space, so that’s underway right now,” he says. HII is a global engineering and defense-technologies provider spanning 135 years.
“Huntington Ingalls will be opening on March 1st of next year, so the building will need to be substantially complete for them,” says Thurston.
His own company, Hayner Hoyt, is going to take about 22,000 [square] feet on the third floor. Hayner Hoyt also anticipates moving in around March 2023, so its space is currently under design, he adds.
Another tenant, the Redhouse Performing Arts Center, has occupied part of the building since 2018.
The City Center project represents “such an important symbol in downtown’s rebirth” Merike Treier, executive director of the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, Inc., contended in her remarks at the January announcement.
“Salina Street has always been our Main Street and the building saw new life back in 2018 when the Redhouse Arts Center moved in,” Treier added. “We’re excited to now see this phase of redevelopment moving forward where we’ll be able to see a whole new exterior of the building, which will activate the heart of our community.”