COR Development won’t seek PILOT from city or county on Inner Harbor hotel

SYRACUSE — COR Development Co., LLC today announced it will not seek “special” financial assistance from the city of Syracuse or Onondaga County for the development of a Starwood Hotels & Resorts Aloft in Syracuse’s Inner Harbor.

COR doesn’t intend to pursue a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to develop the project “other than those standard programs already authorized by municipalities available to all development,” according to its news release.

The firm credits the involvement of the Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s regional economic- development council and “conventional” funding sources for its decision not to seek a PILOT agreement from the city or county, the COR news release said.

Its decision is “in keeping” with a commitment it made to the Syracuse Common Council during the early stages of the Inner Harbor project that COR would only pursue a PILOT agreement “on an individual, as-needed basis,” the developer said.

“COR is excited to begin the first phase of the ambitious development of the Inner Harbor that will initially create hundreds of jobs for local residents and bring a vibrant new, mixed use, and state of the art anchor for Central New York,” Steve Aiello, president of COR Development Co., said in the news release.  

The Starwood Hotels & Resorts Aloft will create 70 permanent jobs and 200 construction jobs for the Central New York region.

COR will break ground on the project in June. The hotel is tentatively scheduled to open in late 2015.

COR’s plans for the hotel include a community-benefits agreement with the State University of New York’s Educational Opportunity Center (SUNY EOC) to “ensure employment opportunities are provided directly to the community,” the firm said in its news release.

The EOCs are intended to provide educational and vocational training opportunities to “disadvantaged” adults, urban communities, and employers of New York, according to the SUNY EOC website.

COR Development’s $350 million redevelopment of the Inner Harbor, a 30-acre waterfront property, includes the Aloft hotel, educational facilities, and several mixed-use complexes with office, retail, and residential components, the company said.

Formed in 1998 and headquartered in Fayetteville, COR Development Co., LLC is a real-estate development company.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com