SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA) on Tuesday approved a tax exemption for a 209-room hotel adjacent to Destiny USA.
Destiny USA will build the 183,000-square-foot facility at 311-71 Hiawatha Boulevard in Syracuse.
The project will have a $48 million budget. Destiny USA projects it will generate 225 construction jobs and 70 permanent jobs beyond construction, according to Destiny USA executive David Aitken.
The company estimates the seven-story hotel will be ready for occupancy in 2017, according to Aitken.
OCIDA forged a PILOT agreement with Destiny that reportedly could save the company up to nearly $7 million in taxes over a 12-year period.
Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner opposes the tax break for the project.
Miner issued a statement following the OCIDA vote, saying it’s “another commitment of public dollars to a project that is simply folly.”
“This type of trickle-down development, which OCIDA continues to support time and time again, does not benefit our citizens and instead takes money away from the poorest people in our community to further enrich wealthy developers. As a community, we need to support meaningful economic development which provides good-paying jobs that can help break families out of the cycle of poverty,” said Miner.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com