Syracuse Industrial Development Agency Board Meeting - November 18, 2025
Syracuse Industrial Development Agency Board Meeting - November 18, 2025
The Syracuse Industrial Development Agency (SIDA) Board of Directors held a meeting on November 18, 2025, at 8:00 AM. The meeting included approval of previous minutes, consideration of three local access policy waivers for a tenant at 400 South Salina Street, the sale of three agency-owned parcels to the Greater Syracuse Land Bank, and an amendment to project resolutions for the SDC project at 800 South Wilbur Avenue.
Approval of Minutes
- The minutes from the October 21, 2025 board meeting were approved unanimously via motion by Dirk, seconded by Ricky.
New Business: 400 South Salina Street (City Center) – Local Access Policy Waivers
- Three waivers were requested for the build-out of Five Iron Golf, a tenant at 400 South Salina Street. Each waiver required a separate vote.
- First Waiver – Funk Bowling: A Missouri company manufacturing duckpin bowling machines. Cost: $80,000 (3% of project costs). No local vendors available in the six-county area. Motion to approve by Ricky, seconded by Dirk; carried unanimously.
- Second Waiver – Captive Air: A Missouri company manufacturing air vent and exhaust hoods for the kitchen. Cost: $100,000 (4% of project costs). Local labor will install the equipment. Motion to approve by Ricky, seconded by Ken; carried unanimously.
- Third Waiver – Strut Systems Installation: A company based in Buffalo, New York, providing structural strut supports for golf simulators. Only bidder on specifications. Cost: $15,000 (less than 1% of project costs). Motion to approve by Ricky, seconded by Dirk; carried unanimously.
Disposition of Agency-Owned Parcels to the Greater Syracuse Land Bank
- Eric presented a request from Caitlin Wright, Executive Director of the Land Bank, to sell three long-held parcels located within the East Adams neighborhood: 1216 South State Street, 1218-20 South State Street, and 211 Raynor Avenue.
- Appraisals determined values of $4,000 for the Raynor Avenue parcel (formerly a single-family home) and $35,000 for the two South State parcels (appraised together), totaling $39,000. The Land Bank offered the appraised value.
- The Land Bank intends to combine these parcels with adjacent land bank and city-owned parcels to create a 1.3-acre site for potential multifamily housing redevelopment. Blueprint 15 submitted a letter of support.
- A SEQR review was completed; a negative declaration was issued (no significant environmental impact).
- Board members discussed the parcels' history (acquisition predated creation of the Land Bank in 2009-2010) and their potential for redevelopment aligned with the East Adams transformation.
- Resolution 1 (SEQR): Motion to approve by Ricky, seconded by Steve; carried unanimously.
- Resolution 2 (Authorizing Purchase and Sale Agreement): Motion to approve by Ricky, seconded by Steve; carried unanimously.
Executive Session
- The Board voted to enter executive session to discuss a potential disposition of property interest. Motion by Ken, seconded by Ricky; carried unanimously. The session lasted from approximately 8:40 AM until shortly before adjournment.
Amendment to SDC Project Resolutions
- Upon returning from executive session, the Board considered an amendment to prior resolutions concerning the SDC project at 800 South Wilbur Avenue.
- The project involves two multifamily high-rise buildings (financed through tax credits) and separate condominium units. The underwriter for the tax credits required that the condominiums be removed from the project definition to satisfy single-purpose entity financing requirements and avoid cross-ownership conflicts.
- The City of Syracuse had already approved a similar amendment to its purchase agreement with the developer.
- The Board formally amended its prior resolutions to remove the condominiums from the project definition.
- Motion to approve by Steve, seconded by Ricky; carried unanimously.
Adjournment
- With no further business, a motion to adjourn was made by Ken, seconded by Ricky; carried unanimously. The meeting ended shortly before 9:00 AM.
Meeting Transcript
8 o'clock. Good morning. Yeah. I don't know where. Well, I guess Eric's gonna represent Caitlin for the moment. Um, I'd like to call to order a meeting of the board of directors of the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency. We'll start with a roll call of the board. I'm Kathy Murphy. Dirk's on our board. Ricky Brown. Thank you very much. Proof of notice was properly served and posted. Our minutes of our last meeting held on October 21st were included in the packet. Are there any discussion items, changes, comments on the minutes? If not, is there a motion to approve? So thank you, Dirk. Second. Ricky, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed abstention. Motion carries. Thank you. First item, new business, 400 South Salina, City Center. Project Susan. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. The first resolution in your agenda uh relates, as Kathy indicated, to 400 South Salina Street. They are finishing the build out for um Five Iron Golf, which is one of their tenants, and they are seeking three waivers from your local access policy. The first one is for funk bowling. It's a Missouri company. They um manufacture the duck pin bowling machines that are going to be installed. I'm saying that as if I know what a duck pin bowling machine is. Well, as I'm sure you all know what it is, that they manufacture those. There's no local vendors in the area in our sixth county area that make or sell those machines. Um the cost of that contract is $80,000 and represents about three percent of the project costs. You want to do you want me to go through all three of them and then we'll vote? We need separate votes. Yes. You you need separate votes if someone is offended by one or more of them. But otherwise, so let's just do one at a time now. Okay, give everybody a chance if they have a comment or request. Oh boy. Um questions or comments on the first request. Hearing none, is there a motion to approve? Motion made by Ricky. Second. Opposed abstention, motion carry. Thank you. Uh the next um vendor is Captive Air. It's a Missouri company.
openpublica.com