LISC invests $1 million in Salina 1st project

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The ongoing Salina 1st project at 1081 S. Salina St., just south of downtown Syracuse, will use a $1 million investment from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) for work on the project.

The funds will help pay for design work; energy-efficient elements; professional services; and construction costs, including brownfield remediation and business and residential components, per a company news release about the investment.

Founded by the Ford Foundation in 1979, the New York City–based Local Initiatives Support Corporation describes itself as “one of the largest social enterprises working to revitalize communities and bring greater opportunity to residents.”

The funding comes from LISC’s Black Economic Development Fund (BEDF) for the upcoming five-story, mixed-use building, and one-story business center/maker’s space.

The BEDF is a mission-oriented investment fund focused on investing in Black-led businesses, real-estate developers, and anchor institutions to help close the racial-wealth gap, per the Salina 1st announcement. The BEDF was launched as a response to social challenges that have prevented minority communities from accessing the investment capital needed to spur growth.

“Salina 1st is exactly the type of endeavor the BEDF was built to support. Salina 1st will spur economic activity and ultimately create generational wealth for the Black community in Syracuse,” George Ashton, president of LISC Fund Management, said. “We are impressed with the developers’ commitment to the neighborhood and their persistence in transforming a vacant property into a center of commerce and housing.”

About Salina 1st

In 2019, the Salina 1st partners announced plans for the project that will result in a five-story, mixed-use building and a one-story business center totaling 53,000 square feet.

The partners include African American developers Emanuel Henderson of JHP Industrial Supply Co. and Eli Smith of E. Smith Contractors, along with Gail Montplaisir of Taurus Development Group, a real-estate development professional from Washington, D.C.

The project will include residential, retail, and maker’s space and an incubator with shared offices. With a total development cost of more than $10 million, the Salina 1st project will “embrace, not displace, neighborhood residents and hire within the community.”

Commercial tenants committed to date are JHP Industrial Supply Company, Inc., Economy, SGTR and E. Smith Contractors. Project completion is scheduled for 2024.