Hochul visits former Syracuse Developmental Center site as demolition starts

She says site is “worse than I thought.”

SYRACUSE — Gov. Kathy Hochul said the condition of the former Syracuse Developmental Center site is “worse than I thought.” “I have seen … abandoned projects all over the state of New York but the scale of this … consumed with just blight, how depressing for a community and neighborhood,” Hochul said. She commented on June 14 while speaking with reporters at Public Service Leadership Academy (PSLA) at Fowler High School on Syracuse’s west side, which is near the Syracuse Developmental Center site. “The children who go to this very school to have to witness this and for their entire lives, had to accept this as the way it has to be. So, that’s why this is so much more exciting because we took a negative, [and are] turning it into an incredible positive,” Hochul told reporters. The governor had earlier announced progress toward the $100 million project to turn the site into a mixed-use development. Demolition work is underway at 800-2 S. Wilbur Ave., which is also not far from the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Following the demolition, the plan is for a project that will include more than 250 new homes, 7.5 acres of green space, and 3,600 square feet of retail commercial space as part of the first phase of construction to redevelop the site, Hochul’s office said in a June 14 announcement. Before speaking with reporters, Hochul provided a project update to a gathering of local officials inside PSLA at Fowler High School. “The demolition and redevelopment of the Syracuse Developmental Center after 25 years of being shut down, shuttered, blighted … we’re getting it done,” Hochul said in remarks that were greeted with applause from the gathering at Fowler. She went on to say, “Visitors to this vibrant community have to witness this … the people [who] live there … going to the zoo, this is what you see. Come on, we’re better than that, right?” The center closed in 1998 and in the years that followed became a structure plastered with graffiti. New York is providing up to $29 million in state funding for the project, which Hochul’s office says will help to support the statewide goals of increasing New York’s housing supply with new market-rate and affordable options and establishing a regional job hub to help drive the local economy. State funding will support pre-development site preparation work, including the demolition and remediation of the existing structures on the site as well as infrastructure investments to expand water and sewer service lines, roads and sidewalks, tree planting, canopy and lighting throughout the site. Mohawk Valley contractor Ritter & Paratore Contracting Inc. has been selected to undertake the demolition/environmental remediation of the existing structures and grading of the site in the building demolition location.

 Walsh, McKenna comments

In his remarks, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh called the property “derelict” and said it was blighted and “significantly tax delinquent” when the City took control of the property five years ago. Walsh told the gathering his mother worked at Fowler for 18 years, so he was familiar with the neighborhood. He would look at the shuttered facility covered in graffiti and think to himself, “What kind of message are we sending to our kids every day when they’re going to and from school and looking up at that building? What kind of message are we sending about how we feel about them and their community and their neighborhood? That wasn’t something I was comfortable with.” He also believes that getting it back on the tax roll and into productive use will be a catalyst for continued investment in Syracuse’s west side. The 47-acre site is ideally suited to meet the growing need for quality mixed-income housing and high-tech manufacturing space in Syracuse. Hochul told the crowd that Walsh had requested help with the project during a meeting at the Gem diner on Spencer Street, not long after she’d had started duties as governor. The redevelopment of the 600,000-square-foot Syracuse Developmental Center is a multi-phase, mixed-use project that will include hundreds of new housing units, an advanced manufacturing facility with office space, vibrant new green space, and retail. Phase I of the project is set to begin in late 2025, the governor’s office said. The state contends the project will help Syracuse and the surrounding Central New York region prepare for the arrival of Micron, whose $100 billion commitment to build a new campus in the town of Clay is expected to create 50,000 new jobs over the next 20 years. In her remarks, Janice McKenna, chair of the Tipperary Hill Neighborhood Association, thanked Hochul, saying that the governor “saw the mayor’s vision for the city” and “helped to make this possible.” “I have complete faith in what’s going to happen here,” McKenna said. She went on to say, “We are proud of our neighborhood, its immigrant history, and we deeply care about its future and this project is going to enhance its future.”