Common Council unanimously passes 15-year housing development tax exemption
Syracuse’s Common Council unanimously approved a 15-year tax exemption for the Parkside Commons Housing Development Corporation. The decision clears the way for the corporation to create and “rehabilitate” nearly 400 affordable homes. Steven Wright | Contributing Photographer
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The Syracuse Common Council unanimously voted to approve a 15-year tax exemption for the Parkside Commons Housing Development Fund Corporation at its regular Monday meeting.
The decision clears the way for the corporation to create and “rehabilitate” nearly 400 affordable housing units. The project will rehabilitate housing in six buildings on East Fayette Street, as well as build two new buildings with nearly 200 units of affordable housing.
The Parkside Commons Phase 1 Housing Development Fund Corporation is a non-profit registered with the Department of State. The agreement includes a 15-year tax exemption with a 15-year renewal option, and an annual 10% payment of gross revenue by the corporation to the city.
Although the resolution was passed unanimously, council members Rasheada Caldwell, Jimmy Monto and Corey Williams made comments urging “continued communication” between the developers and the neighborhoods surrounding the project sites.
Caldwell acknowledged the need for a housing project in a community that has been “forgotten about” but expressed concern for those living nearby who had not consistently received information about the project.
“I’m eager to see a new housing project, but my concern is making sure that we stick to working with the community and having conversations,” Caldwell said. “No one in the surrounding areas has heard from the developers.”
Monto agreed with Caldwell and acknowledged the city’s mistakes with previous housing projects. The project developers have been receptive to increased community involvement by holding more town meetings, Monto said.
Monto said he wants the council to “keep an eye on” the project to ensure the voices of those affected are heard and the project is successful.
“We have made some terrible housing decisions in this city in the past 5 years, and I’m hoping that this time we can get it right,” Monto said.
Williams said the corporation must better communicate with the Neighborhood Preservation, Housing Support & Re-development committee regarding the project’s finances, after the corporation mistakenly reported a different figure in the shelter-rent agreement than what it reported during the committee meeting.
“There’s a roughly six hundred thousand dollar gap (between the statements) and I believe there are some efforts required by the city after that development is complete in order to recoup the missing money,” Williams said.
The project expects to begin renovations this year.
Other Business
- The council passed a resolution to fully revoke permission granted to Flock Group Inc. to create, operate and maintain a citywide deployment of Flock Safety Automatic License plate reading cameras. The revocation comes after worries that Flock is collecting personal data that may violate rights to privacy. The council made a decision to restrict Flock Readers in January.
- The council approved Syracuse University’s request to convert Stadium Place and Standart Street from one-way streets into two-way streets. The changes to Stadium Place will only apply to the streets between Van Buren Street and East Raynor Ave, and the changes to Standart Street will apply between Fineview Place and Stadium Place.
- A bond-ordinance was passed to approve the sale of $4 million in city bonds to build a new salt barn at the Department of Public works. The construction of the new barn was approved under the 2026-27 Salt Barn Capital Improvement Program.
