At least one Syracuse common councilor still has questions about the proposed redevelopment plan for the former Syracuse Developmental Center site near Tipperary Hill. The Walsh administration has hand-picked The Albanese Organization based on Long Island to develop the residential portion of the 47-acre site.
Director of Strategic Initiatives with the city Jenn Tifft says the potential revenue makes it attractive.
“There’s a lot of things that make this good. It’s not just the monetary return for the city. As a city, we’ve been trying to prioritize the revenue from selling city-owned property. This proposal, not just the residential part, but especially when you factor in the commercial part as well, eight times more in revenue to the city than any other single proposal we received," Tifft said.
Tifft says the organization also has a strong track record of working with state and local governments. Albanese’s initial plan is to build 4 to 5-story buildings with a mix of studio, 1, 2, and 3-bedroom apartments, including affordable units. But before any work begins, there’s a crumbling 600,000 square-foot building that needs to be demolished. The state is covering the $29 million cost. Tifft says Albanese is the right partner to take over the site.
“There’s no question in my mind and in the administration’s perspective that this is the best deal we were proposed for this site,” Tifft said.
Councilor Pat Hogan has his doubts about whether the city has considered all possibilities. He says many potential bidders didn’t know that the state would demolish the building.
“I’m not convinced that this is the best deal we can get, to be quite frank. And, I’m not knocking these guys [Albanese organization] at all. Especially, as I mentioned before, the prohibitive factor in this request for proposals was the clean-up of that massive building,” Hogan said.
Tifft says no other bidder had the foresight to propose demolition as part of their proposals. She says Albanese wants a commitment from the city before committing to more planning for the roughly $75 million project. President Chris Albanese tried to reassure councilors that they have a 70-year track record of successful projects of all types and sizes.
“We’ve never renegotiated a loan. We’ve never been sued on a guarantee of completion…we’ve completed it all. I don’t doubt that there are other developers that could be interested in this. This is a prime site in Syracuse. We deliver. We do what we say,” Albanese said.
Even so, Hogan says he also wants more details about the mix of housing and project financing. The sale of the property is not on next week’s council agenda.
