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The Syracuse City Common Council’s Neighborhood Preservation Committee reviewed the Syracuse Housing Study, a multi-year framework that aims to improve housing conditions in the city of Syracuse, during its Monday meeting.

The Common Council hosted members of czb, a planning firm working with Syracuse to develop the housing study, who presented the study’s findings over the past 18 months and their strategy to take action.

The study found in a survey of more than 35,000 residential properties in Syracuse that about one-third of these structures show visible signs of “deferred maintenance,” said Peter Lombardi, czb’s director of revitalization planning. The study also found that in a “typical existing apartment,” rent would need to be raised to about $1,800 to catch up and maintain maintenance — a level that exceeds what most Syracuse households can afford, he said.

“That’s an important marker of what the affordability gap means for Syracuse,” Lombardi said.

The study is a two-part effort aiming to identify and develop responsive strategies to combat the housing crisis in Syracuse, an issue with broad economic, health and fiscal impacts, according to its website.

Additionally, the study found an imbalance between the cost to maintain housing in Syracuse and the level of willingness and ability to pay for housing in the city.

“If you’re making (neighborhoods) better condition, making neighborhoods more desirable, you’re boosting cost, boosting rent, boosting the housing crisis and that opens up the affordability gap,” Lombardi said. “Combined, the two gaps represent a roughly billion dollar problem to solve.”

Charles Buki, founder and president of czb, said the market gap is a result of decades of disinvestment in neighborhoods, while the affordability gap is a result of low incomes in Syracuse.

Buki said the plan’s strategy is comprised of three components, which focus on investing into communities, creating stabilization and continuing efforts to improve housing — including Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh’s Resurgent Neighborhoods Initiative, the Community Grid Vision Plan, the East Adams neighborhood development, land-banking and code enforcement.

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Buki said “vulnerable middle areas” of the city, such as its Westcott neighborhood, will see investments with the goal of revitalizing their communities.

The project introduced a “cluster approach” to prioritize action for sections of the city. These clusters offer a “manageable area for intervention,” Buki said. The two groups include Asset Clusters, areas of the city deemed “vulnerable,” and Legacy Clusters, areas of the city deemed “severely challenged.”

The Legacy Clusters include vacant properties and land. The project found that buildings in this cluster are older and not built to the same standards as those in the Asset Clusters. The project’s goal is to stabilize these areas and get them ready for the private market, which is estimated to take a decade of work, Buki said.

Asset Clusters are taking priority, with goals to revitalize these areas and grow investments to compete with other areas in the region, said Michelle Sczpanski, the city of Syracuse’s deputy commissioner of neighborhood development.

The project emphasized that Legacy Clusters will not go overlooked, Sczpanski said, and funding will continue to be allocated toward developing Syracuse’s Northside, Near Westside and South Side areas.

The council plans to hold another meeting in the near future to further discuss the project, 2nd District Councilor Patrick Hogan said.

“The city can’t do everything in all places, but progress can be made by doing the right things in the right places,” Lombardi said.

Published on April 30, 2024 at 1:08 am