Millions of dollars in promised investment and the planned rezoning of Syracuse is creating an opportune moment to discuss the redevelopment of one of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods, city leaders say.

The creation of Blueprint 15, a nonprofit working to foster development in Syracuse’s Southside, marks the starting point of those discussions, said Sharon Owens, deputy mayor for the city. Owens is on Blueprint 15’s board, and the nonprofit works in partnership with the city.

Blueprint 15, along with the Syracuse Housing Authority, is looking to redevelop the East Adams area — adjacent to Interstate 81 near Syracuse University — across more than 100 acres and 27 square blocks, according to the organization’s request for proposals. Blueprint 15 refers to the 15th Ward, a once-prosperous predominately black neighborhood that was decimated by the construction of I-81 in the mid-20th century.

The replacement of the aging I-81 viaduct and a city-wide initiative called ReZone Syracuse have pushed organizations around the city — including the SHA, the Allyn Foundation and the Department of Neighborhood and Business Development — to begin to talk about development, Owens said. Blueprint 15 will help bring those separate conversations into one coordinated movement, she said.

“They are all parallel in nature.” Owens said.

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Blueprint 15 was first announced by Mayor Ben Walsh in his 2019 “State of the City” address. The project, which is in its beginning stages, is working to reinvigorate Syracuse’s Southside by focusing on three areas: mixed-income housing, education and community wellness.

The decision on what will replace the I-81 viaduct is vital for the future of the neighborhood, Owens said. The New York State Department of Transportation is still working on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement that will provide recommendations on how each option — a community grid, a rebuilding of the viaduct or a new hybrid tunnel — will affect the city. The DEIS was initially expected to be released in January. But that month passed, and now there’s no release date.

Although Blueprint 15 has not come out in support of any of the options for the interstate, two important players in its formation, the mayor’s office and the Allyn Foundation, have publicly supported the community grid option, Owens said.

Also critical to the development process is ReZone Syracuse, the effort to update Syracuse’s zoning ordinances, Owens said. The project released its consolidated draft in March 2018, and the Syracuse Common Council will vote on it soon, she said.

Some Southside land that Blueprint 15 is looking to help develop would be affected by the rezoning plan, said Bill Simmons, the executive director of SHA.

The ReZone Syracuse draft sets regulations requiring development projects to build in a block pattern that connect to adjacent streets.

Reconnecting street grids will help to decrease isolation and improve foot and vehicular traffic in a Southside area sandwiched between I-81 and South State Street that’s owned by SHA, Simmons said. He referred to that stretch of land as the East Adams area.

Simmons also said that a “recently booming” downtown population has increased demand for mixed-housing in the East Adams area.

Syracuse’s downtown population increased by more than 77 percent in the last decade, Alice Maggiore, communications director for the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, said in a November 2018 interview.

There are currently about 1,000 residential units in the East Adams area, but that number could double to 2,000 because of downtown growth, Simmons said.

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Blueprint 15 is in its beginning stages and no plans have been drawn, Owens said. She added that the nonprofit is currently searching for a CEO.

But the SHA has been working on redeveloping the East Adams area since it developed its plan four years ago, Simmons said. As of now, the agency is reviewing applications for a master developer to organize the development project.

Blueprint 15 is receiving consultation from Purpose Built Communities, a national nonprofit that works to grow neighborhoods through land development and community engagement.

“The Purpose Built model guides us to pull together what they call a ‘community quarterback,’” Owens said.

Blueprint 15 will be funded by various sources, Owens said, although she did not specify what those sources would be. The Allyn Foundation provided funding that helped to get the nonprofit off the ground, she said, and Purpose Built will not provide funding.

Purpose Built has worked with 21 neighborhoods in addition to Syracuse’s Southside. In Alabama, Purpose Built helped Woodlawn United in its efforts to build 64 townhouses and 12 single-family homes, said Clark Virden, director of development and external relations at the Woodlawn Foundation.

“It’s like being a part of a fraternity,” Virden said of Woodlawn’s relationship with Purpose Built.

Owens said she wants to make it clear that the people who live in the neighborhood are their primary concern.

“The most impacted individuals are the ones who eat, sleep and play in that footprint,” Owens said. “And the people in that footprint are a huge part of this conversation.”

Published on March 3, 2019 at 10:23 pm

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