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The $10M fund to spruce up Syracuse homes and businesses

John Marino
/
Flickr.com

Syracuse will soon be reviewing proposals that aim to make improvements to the city's near southwest side with the help of state grants. The deadline to submit plans for a piece of the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative fund is April 15. Mayor Ben Walsh said the projects must meet certain criteria.

“Were looking for projects that are intended to promote local businesses, spur job creation, create affordable housing, enhance public transit, infrastructure in green spaces. Will it make more retail space available? Will it beautify our cleanup of public space or activate an area that is currently inaccessible?”

The project area is called the Southwest Gateway, and includes the neighborhoods bounded by West Onondaga and Clinton Street, south to Martin Luther King Drive. The minimum request for a project is $100,000, but improvements to individual homes or businesses might not cost that much. Gustafson said that’s where a rehabilitation fund can be created.

“A lot of these homeowners may need access to improve or rehabilitate one or two properties, but they alone may not reach the threshold. So, I do want to reiterate that rehabilitation funds that are managed are a good use of that so that they can then apply to the city or the agency that would be responsible for managing that fund, and then use that to repair or rehabilitate several properties at once.”

Mayor Ben Walsh said the $10 million pot of money presents a unique opportunity.

“Very excited to extend the investment that we’ve seen in our urban core and extend it throughout our neighborhood business districts. South Avenue and West Onondaga among our highest priority.”

Officials said purchase and acquisition costs are not eligible for DRI. Proposals can be emailed to BUSINESS@SYRGOV.NET by 5 p.m. on April 15.