Housing Visions, HCR formally begin work on Salina Crossing

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Housing Visions Consultants, Inc. and New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) have formally started work on the Salina Crossing development project.

Salina Crossing is a mixed-used development that will create 49 housing units for low-income households and nearly 6,000 square feet of commercial space.

The two organizations on Friday morning held a ceremony at 900 North McBride St., where the Otisca Building, which once housed a brewery, previously stood.

They also distributed a news release with project details later in the day.

The $14.8 million project will serve the residents of two “distinct” neighborhoods that Salina Street, a street that spans the Northside and Southside of Syracuse, connects, the release stated.

The development will “substantially” rehabilitate four existing buildings and construct six new buildings to “remove blight and catalyze further investment” in Syracuse’s Northside and Southside neighborhoods, the organizations said.

Besides 900 North McBride, the Northside properties include a second North McBride Street property, two on North Townsend Street, and one on Hawley Avenue.

The Southside properties include three on McLennan Avenue and two on South Salina Street, according to a fact sheet on the project.

“We’re able to take on several vacant buildings on the South Side, tax delinquent, demolish them. We’re going to replace … with some high quality housing, as well as some mixed use commercial space,” Benjamin Lockwood, vice president of business development at Housing Visions, said in his remarks at the event.

The plans include a new, mixed-use building at 2223 S. Salina St. with apartments and 1,200 square feet of commercial space, a leasing office, and resident community room.

Altogether, the project seeks to turn 10 “dilapidated” properties and vacant lots into 49 housing units and 5,895 square feet of commercial space, according to the release.

The completed development will provide a mix of 27 one-bedroom, 11 two-bedroom, 6 three-bedroom, and 5 four-bedroom units.

Five units will accommodate persons with mobility impairments, and two additional units will be adapted for those with hearing and/or vision impairment.

People with traumatic brain injury (TBI) will have access through priority leasing to eight units in Salina Crossing, the organizations said.

Holmes King Kallquist & Associates, Architects has designed the development to meet Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) and NYSERDA Energy Star certification.

NYSERDA is short for New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Housing Visions Consultants, Inc. will serve as the general contractor on the project.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal in 2014 awarded the Salina Crossing development $900,000 in annual low-income housing tax credits as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $1 billion House NY initiative “to build and preserve affordable housing and revitalize communities.”

The City of Syracuse also provided $800,000 to help fund Salina Crossing.

Other funding partners include New York Housing Trust Fund Corporation and the Community Investment Fund, both of which are part of HCR; Chicago, Ill.–based National Equity Fund, Inc.; and Cleveland, Ohio–based KeyBank, which ranks third in deposit market share in Central New York.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com