Federal funding will target redevelopment of public-housing units near I-81

SYRACUSE — Millions in federal-government funding will help pay for the redevelopment of more than 600 aging public-housing units into new, affordable, mixed-income housing units in the East Adams neighborhood near Interstate 81 (I-81) in the city’s 15th Ward. The Syracuse Housing Authority (SHA) and the City of Syracuse will use a $50 million federal grant to improve the units. This money comes through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Choice Neighborhoods Initiative program, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) said in a joint announcement on July 12. The lawmakers called the grant “one of the largest single federal housing investments in Syracuse’s history” resulting in what is referred to as the East Adams transformation plan. The project also involves related community improvements, including enhancing green space, workforce training, the Children Rising Center, education opportunity, and business development. “Today the federal government is making one of the single largest housing investments in Syracuse’s history. I am proud to deliver a whopping $50 million to create and preserve hundreds of units of much-needed affordable housing in Syracuse,” Schumer said in the announcement. “This isn’t just an investment in new affordable housing, it is a critical investment in our families via education, workforce training, and business development. An investment in building a vibrant Syracuse for when the walls of I-81 come down.” Schumer’s office describes Syracuse’s East Adams neighborhood as bounded by I-81 to the east, East Adams Street to the north, Midland Avenue to the west, and Colvin Street to the south.

Project specifics

This federal funding will help increase the availability of quality housing by helping pay for the construction of a large, multi-generational, mixed-income community with “affordable, modern, accessible, high-quality, and energy-efficient housing,” per Schumer’s office. More specifically, SHA will replace an estimated 672 units of distressed public housing at McKinney Manor and Pioneer Homes. Additionally, SHA and partners will use the grant funding on services to ensure that all current residents of McKinney Manor and Pioneer Homes public-housing units will have first priority to return to the newly constructed units once complete. In addition, the grant money will “enhance access to quality education” by helping pay for the Syracuse City School District’s efforts to improve student performance, building a pipeline of students for the new STEAM High School, and “fast-tracking” development of the Children’s Rising Center, an early learning and parental empowerment center that will address the lack of quality and affordable childcare in and around the East Adams neighborhood. The grant funding will also help “accelerate economic opportunity” by expanding workforce training and small-business development in the East Adams neighborhood. More specifically, the plan aims to enhance workforce-development initiatives already underway at SUNY Educational Opportunity Centers with the creation of a new, SHA-managed East Adams Skill & Enrichment Academy, which will increase Section 3 job opportunities on major local projects like I-81. Additionally, the plan seeks to create a new Black Indigenous People Of Color (BIPOC) real-estate development and entrepreneurship incubator in collaboration with CenterState CEO and other key workforce partners. The grant funding also seeks to “expand neighborhood connectivity and visibility” by investing in new infrastructure along key travel corridors to make new connections between the East Adams neighborhood and opportunities across the city. The corridors include South Salina Street, East Adams Street, Montgomery Street, South Townsend Street, and I-81. For example, the effort will include bolstering the Children Rising Center and plans for a new Linear Park connecting Wilson and Roesler parks, which will establish a neighborhood greenway and linkages to new amenities for SHA residents and visitors of the new East Adams neighborhood. The initiative will also include placemaking efforts to celebrate the legacy of Syracuse’s 15th Ward neighborhood, including a new museum with exhibits honoring Pioneer Homes’ role in public housing. Schumer and Gillibrand are also both currently pushing for further funding for the Children Rising Center and YMCA in the neighborhood, per the announcement.