Council committee hears plan to sell three city parcels for Rescue Mission mixed-use project

Syracuse City officials and representatives of the Rescue Mission Alliance of Syracuse discussed a proposed purchase-and-sale agreement for three city-owned parcels on West Onondaga and Seymour Street that would allow the Rescue Mission to build an approximately $11 million mixed-use development with warehouse space, upper-floor offices and ground-floor retail, including a 3:15 shop storefront.

The proposal, described at an Economic Development Committee meeting, would pair the Rescue Mission’s adjoining property with three city parcels the city seized years ago for tax delinquency. City staff said the project was selected for a portion of state Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding and that design work has included a CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design) review.

Why it matters: The project aims to activate a long-vacant corner near the Near West Side and downtown, create entry-level warehouse jobs and consolidate some Rescue Mission operations downtown. Committee members pressed staff and the Rescue Mission on implementation details — security, funding timing, tax-exempt status, permitting and a single city point of contact — because the MOU under discussion is informal and the DRI funds are reimbursable and tied to state contracting and paperwork.

City staff described the proposal as a mixed-use building with a second-floor Rescue Mission office and first-floor retail, plus a warehouse area to process donated goods. “This is an exciting mixed use development they've proposed,” a city staff member identified in the meeting as Matt said. Eric, a city staff member coordinating the project, said the city helped design the building and that it went through the CPTED process to reduce opportunities for criminal activity. “The city has also been really involved in the actual design of the building. It's also gone through what's known as our CPTED process, that…