CNY Philanthropy Center to add a pair of new tenants

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Central New York Community Foundation announced it plans to add two new tenants at its Central New York Philanthropy Center facility at 431 E. Fayette St. in Syracuse. The Philanthropy Center will house the Onondaga County Bar Association and the Central New York Land Trust on the building’s third floor beginning […]

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Central New York Community Foundation announced it plans to add two new tenants at its Central New York Philanthropy Center facility at 431 E. Fayette St. in Syracuse.

The Philanthropy Center will house the Onondaga County Bar Association and the Central New York Land Trust on the building’s third floor beginning this fall, according to a news release the Community Foundation issued Aug. 12.

The Community Foundation expects each organization to move in by November. Preparing the office spaces for their specific needs will require construction work, it added.

The Onondaga County Bar Association (OCBA), which serves to foster professional growth and ethical practices in the field of law within Onondaga County, and its philanthropic arm, the Onondaga County Bar Association Foundation, are leaving their current space in the State Tower Building in part to take advantage of the Philanthropy Center’s common areas, the foundation said.

With the available meeting rooms that center tenants can use, the OCBA is able to rent 2,000 fewer square feet than in its current space, making it a “cost-efficient move,” the Community Foundation contends.

The Philanthropy Center’s public conference rooms and ballroom will host “many” of the organization’s continuing legal education (CLE) courses, which local law practitioners attend.

“With its location across the street from Fayette Park, classic architecture, and modern renovations, the Philanthropy Center will provide the OCBA members a perfect home for organization events and activities,” Nicholas DeMartino, president of the OCBA, said in the news release.

The Central New York Land Trust will also be renting office space in the center this fall.

The Land Trust is a membership-supported organization that seeks to preserve and protect natural areas. The office will represent the Land Trust’s first administrative “home,” the Community Foundation said.

The Land Trust launched in 1972 as Save The County, Inc.

“The Philanthropy Center will be a great space for the Land Trust by helping to anchor it to the community, providing networking opportunities and raising broader awareness and support,” Meredith Perreault, executive director of the Central New York Land Trust, said in the news release.

The Philanthropy Center is “excited” to have some of the region’s largest philanthropic foundations and important community organizations housed here, Peter Dunn, president and CEO of the Community Foundation, said. “Their presence here encourages collaboration and open dialogue on Central New York’s unique resources and needs. We are proud to welcome our new tenants into this distinctive fold,” he added.

The Central New York Community Foundation in 2010 purchased and renovated The Central New York Philanthropy Center, an 18,000-square-foot building in downtown Syracuse, to serve as a local charitable hub.

It currently houses five organizations in addition to the Community Foundation, including the Junior League of Syracuse, Inc., an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, according to its website; and Sage Upstate, Inc., which addresses the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) Central New Yorkers as they age, according to its website.

The facility also houses the Health Foundation of Western and Central New York, the Human Services Leadership Council of Central New York, and the Allyn Foundation, the Community Foundation said.

Headquartered in Buffalo, the Health Foundation is “dedicated to improving the health and health care of the people and communities of western and central New York,” its website says.

The Human Services Leadership Council of Central New York is a membership organization that includes the CEOs of human-service agencies in Central New York.

Founded in 1954, the Skaneateles–based Allyn Foundation is a private, family Foundation that provides grants to charitable organizations primarily in Central New York, according to its website.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

Eric Reinhardt: