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Record of Proceedings

Syracuse City Assessment Review Hearing Summary - February 17, 2026

Public Meetings — Tuesday, February 17, 2026

BodySyracuse, New York

SessionPublic Meetings

DateTuesday, February 17, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:14:52

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:01

I was gonna say you don't know Kevin Rowe.

0:04

No.

0:05

Our our path of that gone.

0:46

Yeah, whenever whenever you're ready.

0:48

Sure.

0:49

Are we waiting for car?

0:51

No.

0:54

Oh, yeah.

0:55

Always a pleasure.

0:56

Good to see you as well.

1:02

So it's just two properties, 115 North Warren, 101 South Salina.

1:08

Would you like them uh done in any particular order?

1:12

Nope.

1:12

No, this makes no difference.

1:14

Okay.

1:14

All right.

1:15

So then uh we'll do it in the order of what's on the sheet, which is uh uh one fifteen North Warren Street and James Street.

1:24

Okay.

1:26

And I will uh whenever you're ready, I'll square you in.

1:29

I'm ready.

1:30

Okay.

1:31

Uh state your name for the breakfast.

1:32

Kevin Rowe.

1:33

Do you affirm to tell the truth and give accurate information to the best of your ability?

1:37

I do.

1:37

Okay, great.

1:39

All right.

1:41

So let's go ahead.

1:44

Just uh read some information in okay again.

2:12

This is one fifteen North Warren Street.

2:15

Uh this is uh two hundred and twenty-one space parking lot.

2:20

Uh we have a current tenant of assessed value of one million twenty-five thousand dollars for the land value of one million twenty-five thousand dollars, and that would be a market value of one million nine hundred and seventy-one thousand one hundred and fifty-four dollars.

2:47

Uh petitioner believes the fair market value is two hundred and eight thousand, I'm sorry, four hundred thousand dollars, which would be an assessed value of two hundred and eight thousand dollars.

2:57

Uh so let me turn it over to you just for a little background.

3:03

Okay, yeah, this is uh parking lot um according to the north fringe of the downtown area.

3:11

Um which is uh one of the problems since uh they've had with this parking lot.

3:18

This is this is in litigation pending for several years already.

3:21

So um uh we're gonna submit the income and expense statements, and income expense statements are reflect um uh uh net operating income probably after you know bad back depreciation and so forth in the thirty to thirty-five thousand dollar range or something, which is um you know probably cap that out.

3:43

It's um it's not a million dollars.

3:46

Um so um, but one of the problems is it it's it's near the Samaritan uh uh society place.

3:55

The it and our my client or Anne would say we support that facility, but it has created problems with vandalism, so they have to have a full-time security guard.

4:05

Um did you swear in it?

4:07

Yes, okay, yes, okay, sorry.

4:09

Um and since COVID the occupancy of the building has gone down, they're not in an area of this of the city that gets a lot of daily traffic for other buildings.

4:20

Um there it's just kind of a fringe parking lot.

4:25

It's a big kind of bigger than they need for the building.

4:28

Um exactly is it's the brewer brewer Hoover Brewer building, NBT drive-thru is there?

4:36

Yes.

4:37

That's what I thought.

4:38

Yeah across from the old newspaper.

4:40

Across from the other side of that hair salon, I think there's a small parking lot associated with that hair salon on the other side of the street.

4:48

So that's really yes, yes.

4:50

That's really the um the scoop on this is the the income they you know, it's not like they're turning people away, but the income is.

4:56

I think he's come in before on this.

5:00

Yes, yes, yeah.

5:01

It's it's there's litigation pending on this one for a few years.

5:05

And and uh so is the person uh the the security company uh doing what uh try trying to uh is is the vandalism minimized since but it's just an expense they have to incur sure uh for the but it's not uh something where uh uh they're dealing with uh continual break ins and what you have because of that.

5:30

No, it's just it's just this expense.

5:32

It's just an expense they have to incur.

5:34

What kind of they move parking lot well break ins.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Property Tax Assessment█████████████████████████████████████████████54%

Pending Litigation███████████████18%

Miscellaneous█████████11%

Procedural█████6%

Affordable Housing███3%

Parking Management███3%

Property Disposition███3%

Engineering And Infrastructure██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Syracuse City Assessment Review Hearing Summary - February 17, 2026

The Syracuse Board of Assessment Review held a hearing on February 17, 2026 to consider property tax assessment grievances. The board heard testimony on several properties, with some petitioners appearing and others absent. Decisions were made on dismissals and continued litigation.

Properties Presented by Petitioner Kevin Rowe

115 North Warren Street (parking lot) - Petitioner claimed a fair market value of $400,000 (assessed value $208,000) vs. the city's current market value of $1,971,154. Kevin Rowe argued that the lot suffers from vandalism, requires a full-time security guard, and has lower occupancy post-COVID. The property is in litigation.
101 South Salina Street (former M&T Bank building) - This property has been redeveloped with approximately 119 apartments and commercial space. The petition is a placeholder to preserve the challenge to the exemption base, contingent on a pending 2022 assessment litigation. No immediate action was taken.

Properties Presented by Petitioner Rebecca Spino

2321 Erie Boulevard East (self-storage facility) - In litigation. Petitioner's fair market value claim is $1,000,000 vs. city's $6,301,923. Ongoing discovery regarding purchase price and canalions.

Properties in Litigation – Lafayette Road Apartments

A group of parcels (181, 161, 131, 127, 301 Lafayette Road and rear parcels) representing a 760-unit apartment complex in poor condition. Petitioner Kevin Rowe stated the property is in receivership with new management. The challenge is filed protectively. City submitted information on each. No immediate decision; continued for follow-up.

Properties with No Petitioner Appearance – Dismissed with Prejudice

The city attorney requested dismissal with prejudice for all properties where the petitioner or counsel failed to appear. The board granted each motion. Properties included:

325 Spencer Street (vacant land), 345 Spencer Street, 365 Spencer Street, 375 Spencer Street – all part of an industrial warehouse property.
919 East Genesee Street (mixed-use student housing) – market value claimed $9,548,076 vs. city's $95,480,769.
3023 Erie Boulevard East (Chuck E. Cheese) – petitioner claimed $266,519 vs. city's $2,665,192.
1011 East Water Street (industrial warehouse) – petitioner claimed $2,141,920 vs. city's $3,461,538.
1702 East Colvin Street and 1800 East Colvin Street (student housing complexes, ~432 beds each) – various claims.
1915 Erie Boulevard (Family Dollar) – petitioner claimed $1,303,002 vs. city's $1,846,154.
94563 South Salina Street (Family Dollar) – petitioner claimed $888,171 vs. city's $1,419,231.
A medical office building (address not specified) – petitioner claimed $672,880 vs. city's $6,728,846.
A 136,114 sq ft self-storage facility – petitioner claimed $1,593,077 vs. city's $15,930,769.
808 East Fayette Street (190-unit multifamily) – petitioner claimed $37,467,760 vs. city's $56,451,923.
613-617 Erie Boulevard West (self-storage) – petitioner claimed $6,500,000 market value, with corrected assessed value of $3,380,000 vs. city's $4,314,000.

Key Outcomes

Dismissed with prejudice: All properties where no petitioner appeared (14 matters).
Continued for follow-up: Lafayette Road complex (petitioner to provide additional information by the next hearing deadline).
Preserved for litigation: 115 North Warren Street, 101 South Salina Street, and 2321 Erie Boulevard East remain in active litigation.
Next hearing: Scheduled for Tuesday, February 17, 2026 (note: the transcript indicates this date, but the meeting itself occurred on February 17, 2026; this may be a scheduling discrepancy).

Meeting Transcript

I was gonna say you don't know Kevin Rowe. No. Our our path of that gone. Yeah, whenever whenever you're ready. Sure. Are we waiting for car? No. Oh, yeah. Always a pleasure. Good to see you as well. So it's just two properties, 115 North Warren, 101 South Salina. Would you like them uh done in any particular order? Nope. No, this makes no difference. Okay. All right. So then uh we'll do it in the order of what's on the sheet, which is uh uh one fifteen North Warren Street and James Street. Okay. And I will uh whenever you're ready, I'll square you in. I'm ready. Okay. Uh state your name for the breakfast. Kevin Rowe. Do you affirm to tell the truth and give accurate information to the best of your ability? I do. Okay, great. All right. So let's go ahead. Just uh read some information in okay again. This is one fifteen North Warren Street. Uh this is uh two hundred and twenty-one space parking lot. Uh we have a current tenant of assessed value of one million twenty-five thousand dollars for the land value of one million twenty-five thousand dollars, and that would be a market value of one million nine hundred and seventy-one thousand one hundred and fifty-four dollars. Uh petitioner believes the fair market value is two hundred and eight thousand, I'm sorry, four hundred thousand dollars, which would be an assessed value of two hundred and eight thousand dollars. Uh so let me turn it over to you just for a little background. Okay, yeah, this is uh parking lot um according to the north fringe of the downtown area. Um which is uh one of the problems since uh they've had with this parking lot. This is this is in litigation pending for several years already. So um uh we're gonna submit the income and expense statements, and income expense statements are reflect um uh uh net operating income probably after you know bad back depreciation and so forth in the thirty to thirty-five thousand dollar range or something, which is um you know probably cap that out. It's um it's not a million dollars. Um so um, but one of the problems is it it's it's near the Samaritan uh uh society place. The it and our my client or Anne would say we support that facility, but it has created problems with vandalism, so they have to have a full-time security guard. Um did you swear in it? Yes, okay, yes, okay, sorry. Um and since COVID the occupancy of the building has gone down, they're not in an area of this of the city that gets a lot of daily traffic for other buildings. Um there it's just kind of a fringe parking lot. It's a big kind of bigger than they need for the building. Um exactly is it's the brewer brewer Hoover Brewer building, NBT drive-thru is there? Yes. That's what I thought. Yeah across from the old newspaper.

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