Legislation would provide grants for waterfront redevelopment

SYRACUSE — Proposed federal legislation would award grants of up to $500,000 to local government and nonprofit organizations redeveloping abandoned waterfront properties.

“I don’t think [the legislation] has any chance [of passing] before the election, but after the election there is an opportunity because this kind of idea isn’t a Democratic or Republican idea,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said at a press conference on the legislation Friday at the Syracuse Inner Harbor. “It’s a very good common sense idea that creates opportunities for economic growth in a very productive way.”

The bill would provide grants to municipalities and nonprofit organizations working on waterfront brownfield restoration that can’t take advantage of tax credits, added Eugene Leff, Department of Environmental Conservation deputy commissioner.

The legislation would help finish a project by COR Development of Fayetteville to redevelop the Inner Harbor.

The project could create more than 8,000 temporary jobs and 4,300 permanent jobs. It would generate more than $570 million in short-term economic development and $260 million in yearly economic impact, according to a news release from Gillibrand’s office.

The proposed development would occupy 1.4 million square feet and feature an Onondaga Community College satellite campus, a Syracuse University (SU) rowing facility, a 100-room hotel and banquet facility, 120,000 square feet of office space, 229,000 square feet of retail shops and restaurants, 432 apartments, 80 townhomes, an SU tennis center, and a 750-car garage, Gillibrand said.

“How fast we can go and how many phases we can implement is really dependent on the legislation,” Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said. “If we can get the legislation, we can go faster and do more, but we are committed to moving forward and doing as much as we can with the current tools that we have.”

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