With $50M HUD grant, SHA to redevelop Syracuse public housing near I-81

SYRACUSE — It was a big check with a big dollar amount that was unveiled during a late-morning ceremony on July 17 at Wilson Park in Syracuse. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) delivered $50 million for the upcoming East Adams neighborhood-transformation project. The funding comes through the HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) 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 five days earlier on July 12. The lawmakers called the grant “one of the largest single federal housing investments in Syracuse’s history.” This award, the first CNI grant ever awarded in New York state, was submitted by the Syracuse Housing Authority (SHA), acting as lead applicant, and the City of Syracuse, SHA said in its July 17 news release about the grant. The grant will “revitalize” a section of Syracuse’s 15th Ward — a 27-block, 118-square-acre area. It will help create a new East Adams Neighborhood with more diverse housing options and greater educational, economic, and health opportunities for current and future residents, per the SHA release. In his remarks at the mid-July event, William Simmons, executive director of the Syracuse Housing Authority, 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,” he said to open the ceremony. 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 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. Besides the plan’s public-housing component, other elements include accelerating economic opportunities through workforce training and business development. This includes transforming new ground-floor commercial spaces and vacant buildings into retail hubs for small, local, minority, and women-owned businesses, per SHA. In addition, a Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) Real Estate Development & Entrepreneurship Incubator will ensure minority entrepreneurs have clear access to these new opportunities, and a Neighborhood Employment and Training Center will connect residents to jobs. The plan also involves placemaking and multi-park improvements, including the development of a new “Linear Park” connecting Roesler and Wilson Parks and a neighborhood museum to celebrate the legacy of the 15th Ward, the SHA release stated.

Partner contributions

Simmons 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, Inc.; Blueprint 15; the 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. McCormack Baron Salazar is a for-profit developer, manager, and asset manager of economically integrated urban neighborhoods, per its website. Urban Strategies, Inc. is also headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. The speakers at the Wilson Park event also included U.S. Representative Brandon Williams (R–Sennett); a representative from Sen. Schumer’s office; and Tara Harris, a Syracuse Housing Authority resident. Williams recalled Simmons as one of the first people he met with after his election to Congress. “Director Simmons was ready to share the incredible vision that you see coming together right now. He was there to share his passion. He was a loud advocate for the residents of the 15th Ward,” Williams said. “He had his diagrams ready, his pictures ready. It was full court press.” Tara Harris, a lifelong Syracuse Housing Authority resident, said she’s “super excited” for the project to win the grant. “I was part of the tour with HUD. They asked great questions, and I always keep it real, so whatever they asked me about my community, I’m going to tell them the truth because nobody can speak about my community as much as I can,” she said. “It was a lot of work, but we are here now, so that’s all that matters. We now see the light at the end of the tunnel.” Harris said she encouraged a lot of her neighbors to come to community meetings. “Everything that is coming our way will be for generations to come. This is our future,” Harris added in her remarks.