SHA, HUD make local announcement about $50 million to help redevelop Syracuse public housing near I-81

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A late Wednesday morning ceremony at Wilson Park in Syracuse included the unveiling of a big check with a big dollar amount.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Wednesday delivered $50 million for the upcoming East Adams neighborhood transformation project.

William Simmons, executive director of the Syracuse Housing Authority (SHA), called it an “exciting” time and one that’s filled with “gratitude” for the SHA’s redevelopment project at both Pioneer Homes and McKinney Manor, both located just west of the elevated viaduct of Interstate 81 (I-81).

“It’s been a process that’s been in the works for over 10 years now and getting to the point where we’re starting to receive some of the federal and state dollars and to make the project come to fruition is very exciting,” Simmons said to open the ceremony.

This funding comes through the HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative program, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) said in a joint announcement back on July 12.

The lawmakers called the grant “one of the largest single federal housing investments in Syracuse’s history.”

Simmons called it “a great deal of opportunity” that’s going to be happening in demolishing the current 675 units and replacing them with more than 1,400 units of mixed-income housing along with the Children’s Rising Center.

“As you can imagine, it’s a project that [is] going to be transformative and very impactful for our residents, for the city of Syracuse, and actually for the region because it’s all happening in partnership with the I-81 infrastructure coming down, so we want to acknowledge all of that,” Simmons said.

He went on to recognize various partners in the project that include the City of Syracuse; Onondaga County; St. Louis, Missouri–based McCormack Baron Salazar, SHA’s developer; Urban Strategies; Blueprint 15; New York State Department of Housing and Community Renewal; and the Syracuse City School District.

Blueprint 15 is a nonprofit organization that’s “working with residents, community partners and local leaders of the old 15th ward to reconnect and rebuild what was once a vibrant and thriving neighborhood,” per its website.

The speakers at Wilson Park also included Richard Monocchio, principal deputy assistant secretary for public & Indian housing at HUD.

“I’ve seen a lot of these projects all over the country, and they are amazing. But it doesn’t happen without that resident, on-the-ground involvement helping us design this and being involved the whole way,” Monocchio said in his remarks. “Not only because it’s the right thing to do … because it brings everybody else that lives here together. We’re giving you something better, and you’re building confidence and you’re building hope.”

The speakers at Wilson Park also included U.S. Representative Brandon Williams (R–Sennett); a representative from Sen. Schumer’s office; and Tara Harris, a Syracuse Housing Authority resident.