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Downtown Syracuse to Offer More Affordable Housing Options Downtown Syracuse To Offer More Affordable Housing Options

The center of the city is hoping more people will move into the area.

By Fernando Garcia-Franceschini

New building in Downtown Syracuse
© 2019 Fernando Garcia-Franceschini

(Reporter)
Syracuse has seen an uprise in luxury apartments in recent years, specifically closer to Syracuse University.
Places like The Marshall have attracted more students to live there rather than other areas of the city.

(Michael DiGiorgio: Syracuse University Student)
I also found that the quality here was a lot better than nearby landlord-owned houses.

(Reporter)
This rise in complexes has caused vacancy rates to spike in nearby neighborhoods, but not Downtown.

(Alice Maggiore: Downtown Committee’s Communications Director)
In the last ten years, the residential population here in the center of the city, that number represents a 70 percent increase since 2009.

(Track 4)
Cue Downtown Syracuse with a population of over four-thousand people.
Even though they have an occupancy rate of 99 percent, the Downtown Committee says they still want to get more people to move down there.

(Alice Maggiore)
We are seeing more of a desire for there to be affordable housing or a mixed-income housing so that Downtown can really appeal to everyone.

(Reporter)
For that reason, Downtown is seeing an increase in more affordable housing, like The Lofts at Witlock, fronting both Salina and Clinton Streets. Prices are expected to start at eight-hundred dollars.

(Alice Maggiore)
Right next to that building, where there’s a parking lot right now, the community has been talking a lot about the Salt City Market.

(Reporter)
Right next door at Salt City Market, the first floor is a dining hall, but floors 3, 4, and 5 will be open to housing, several of them being affordable.
At the end of the day, Maggiore hopes places like the market will only attract people to live Downtown.

By Fernando Garcia-Franceschini SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – More and more luxury apartment complexes keep making their way to Syracuse.

Syracuse University graduate student Michael DiGiorgio decided to live in Campus West because of the short walk to campus and the security.

“The fact that I have to use my key three times to get to my apartment lets me know that I’m safer here than in other places,” he said. DiGiorgio also looked at some landlord-owned houses before deciding and said the apartment complexes offered more and were in better shape.

This boom in luxurious apartment complexes has caused vacancy rates to go up in other neighborhoods in the city, but not in Downtown Syracuse.

According to Alice Maggiore, communications director at the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, in the past ten years there has been a 70 percent increase in the number of people who live in Downtown Syracuse. Right now, there are over 4,000 residents and counting.

But the job is not over. Maggiore said the committee wants more people to come live in the area, especially focusing on college students.

“Right now the two types of population that live here are young professionals and people who are starting to nest and are maybe retiring,” Maggiore mentioned.

She recognized that there is a need for more affordable housing downtown, so there are new options for people looking for a place to live.

First up are The Lofts at Whitlock. These 26 units are located between South Salina and South Clinton Streets and monthly rents prices range from $800 to $1,600.

“Right next to that building, the community has been talking about the Salt City Market,” she said. “It serves as a sort of dining hall with different cuisines from around the world and it’s so nice to have something like that in Syracuse.”

The first floor of the Salt City Market serves as a dining hall and the second floor hosts offices, but floors three, four, and five will be used for housing. Some of those units are expected to be more affordable than some of the other options Downtown. Opening is scheduled for next year.

The Downtown Committee has a guide online for people considering to live in Downtown Syracuse.

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