Hayner Hoyt begins redevelopment of the former Sibley’s department store in Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Hayner Hoyt Corporation of Syracuse plans to redevelop the former Sibley’s department store building at 400 S. Salina St. in Syracuse, which is now known as City Center.

Work on the project is set to begin on Wednesday, Jeremy Thurston, president of the Hayner Hoyt Corporation said on Tuesday morning. Hayner Hoyt and the nonprofit Red House Arts Center hosted a groundbreaking at City Center.

“We originally were hired as the general contractor and construction manager to redevelop this building about five years ago, and as things went through the process, we were asked to step in and help as partners in the project and we were very honored to do so,” Jeremy Thurston, president of the Hayner Hoyt Corporation, said in his remarks this morning.

The project cost is listed as costing $37 million, per a document on the project at the website of the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency.

The project will turn the 280,000-square-foot building into a mixed-use commercial, retail, and apartment building, Hayner Hoyt said in a news release about the project. Anchor tenants include the Redhouse Performing Arts Center, which has occupied part of the building since 2018, and Hayner Hoyt which will occupy the new portion of the building when it opens in early 2023.

The remaining office spaces and the new residential apartment units are also planned to be available for lease in early 2023 for occupancy.

Schopfer Architects, LLP of Syracuse is the architect on the project. The project design includes a courtyard bordered by glass walls to highlight the ground-level retail spaces, and balconies for the residential-apartment units.

The top-floor office space will have an outdoor balcony overlooking Armory Square. City Center has a 750-space parking garage, making it “very accessible” for office tenants, residential tenants, and visitors, Hayner Hoyt said.