Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It would be nice to go on-line one day and read that Syracuse has landed a billion dollar nanotech or microprocessor plant as Albany has. I have read that Albany is the center of nanotech research in NYS (and Syracuse is the center of environmental research), but it has landed more than its share, Semetech, IBM, ADM, GlobalFoundaries, etc. There are a lot of good things going on in Syracuse/CNY, but something like that would be icing on the cake!
The PDF brochure seems to refer to more than that, albeit still plenty dumb - 2500 sq ft retail fronting Warren and 2650 sq ft not fronting anything of retail/office. But yes, fronting Fayette with parking seems... really bizarre.
Hmm, there's a discrepancy between the brochure and the commercial floor plan listed on the website (http://www.merchants-commons.com/wp-...floor-plan.pdf), which shows even less retail. And it's hard to think that the retail/office parcel that fronts the alley would be taken by a retailer.
Either way, too little retail. I won't pretend to know how this guy came by financing (perhaps the numbers didn't work without the office space), but Mr. Hucko does some baffling things with these projects. Take one of the most visible, high-ceilinged retail spaces in the central business district and use it for (non-revenue-generating) automobile storage. Brilliant.
Clarification..you mentioned it was listed in the downtown living tour, have they completed the building conversion? Great location, short walk to Hanover, Clinton and Armory hotspots. Thanks.
One of the websites says they're aiming for delivery in the first quarter of next year. Not sure if the living tour will involve a model unit or just some leasing people with blueprints and renderings.
It is a very good location, not to mention an innovative reuse of a fairly large office building (wonder what Maureen Green would say about that?).
It's just too bad that the state of private investment in Syracuse is such that a developer like Washington Street Partners can keep collecting incentives to produce such mediocre projects. The city and county understandably want to throw money at infill development. Trouble is, that disincentivizes developers who could otherwise get full financing from fully monetizing the square footage of their buildings. In effect, the city and state just subsized a couple dozen parking spaces (which will rent for under a dollar per square foot, if that) while rewarding Fayette Street passersby with a dead street wall for the next couple decades (thereby making it more difficult for the neighborhood to truly be viable).
In effect, the city and state just subsized a couple dozen parking spaces (which will rent for under a dollar per square foot, if that) while rewarding Fayette Street passersby with a dead street wall for the next couple decades (thereby making it more difficult for the neighborhood to truly be viable).
I am not sure if that will be a "dead street" for long. Merchants Commons is along the proposed Connective Corridor which recently was awarding federal TIGER funds for the completion of phase ii and iii of the project. I would guess that is why they are "lavishing" tax incentives on developers, coupled with the demand for housing.
I am not sure if that will be a "dead street" for long. Merchants Commons is along the proposed Connective Corridor which recently was awarding federal TIGER funds for the completion of phase ii and iii of the project. I would guess that is why they are "lavishing" tax incentives on developers, coupled with the demand for housing.
If there's an increased demand for housing, there'd seem to be less reason to give tax incentives and grants to developers.
And dead street walls make for dead streets. It hasn't got anything to do with a Connective Corridor designation and resultant colorful street lights - street activity is spawned by things that draw people in. Blank wall: no activity. A nice example of this interestingly, is Washington Street Partners' last downtown project at South Clinton and Jefferson.
The Post Standard did a nice little overview of some of the new projects that will be visited by the Downtown Living Tour. Too bad they don't seem to actively pursue reporting a lot of downtown projects. It would be nice to know if the Hurbson Building will ever be developed or what the status of the inner harbor or Loguen's Crossing is.
And (missing the point a bit, I know) it's a pretty nice-looking building.
Hopefully it's a successful venture; given how routinely start-up businesses fail, one wonders if this is undercapitalized from the start. For the time being, though, it should be a very nice addition to the neighborhood.
The Post Standard did a nice little overview of some of the new projects that will be visited by the Downtown Living Tour. Too bad they don't seem to actively pursue reporting a lot of downtown projects. It would be nice to know if the Hurbson Building will ever be developed or what the status of the inner harbor or Loguen's Crossing is.
In addition, it'd be good to see some reporting on the Pike Block that isn't just a cut/paste from the developer's promotional materials. Their delivery date has always been a little soft.
Regarding the Inner Harbor, at least the subdivision of the parcels has been before the city. Financing could be years away, but there's some forward progress.
All quiet at Kennedy Square. The Biotech Center is getting closer to opening, bus shelters have in place for awhile, but no sign of demo (or even interior asbestos work) on the older buildings as of a couple days ago.
By the time the "air quality issues" are resolved, all of the "interested" nanotech firms will have established operations in Marcy or Canandaigua. It now makes perfect sense why we haven't heard anything about the nanochip facility that was interested in relocating to CNY. In January, Chuck Schumer stated Syracuse was perfectly suited for the nanochip plant because Salina was the only facility in the state with a foundry certified by the Department of Defense (DOD). It was announced last month, that a nanotech center in Canandaigua recently received the same DOD designation with the assistance of substantial state money and assistance from the Cuomo Administration making it well positioned to land the chip plant proposed by the CA company. Instead of providing additional money to build a new facility on University Hill, downtown or a more desirable suburban area that would enable the Syracuse project to move forward after 2 years of delays, the state would rather spend more money to support the Rochester area by giving what was once a photonics research center in Canandaigua the capability to attract the companies, investment, and jobs that were once planned for Syracuse.
If or when the environmental issues have been resolved, the project (if there ever was one) will be scaled down further to meet a $28 million budget that was based on 2010 dollars. This sounds like another half baked failure like the Center of Excellence and the Biotech Center which was proposed 10 years ago and was delayed for nearly a decade due to a lack of state funding and location challenges.
Last edited by RollsRoyce; 05-08-2012 at 04:02 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
