The 300 block of South Salina Street is undergoing a makeover. Now that the bus hub has been moved, and construction of the Pike Block is underway, city officials hope downtown Syracuse will begin to return to its former prosperity.

The bus hub at the corner of South Salina and East Fayette streets was moved to a new location in early September. In doing so, unsightly rows of buses, loiterers and noise are now absent from the 300 block of South Salina Street, said Syracuse Common Councilor Bob Dougherty.

Dougherty said he recalls driving on South Salina Street and seeing five to seven buses lined up in two different directions, all waiting at the same time.

“You would drive along and you wouldn’t be able to see the stores through the buses,” he said. “It was really terrible for commerce, and it just looks bad.”

Merchants are happy because people can now see their shops, he said. He already noticed a new influx of people venturing onto South Salina Street now that the buses are gone.

Since the location of the old bus hub was on a public corner, there was little anyone could do about people loitering in the area, Dougherty said. A decrease in loiterers will make shoppers and students feel safer when spending time on the 300 block.

The removal of the bus hub has made way for even bigger projects like the Pike Block. The Pike Block is a redevelopment that will take four vacant historical buildings and turn them into one residential area.

VIP Structures, an architecture firm that has called downtown Syracuse home since 1975, is responsible for the project. With the market improving and Armory Square doing well, now was the perfect time to take on this project, said David Nutting, CEO and chairman of VIP Structures.

“We’re in interesting times,” he said. “People actually want to live downtown and work downtown. We’re right in the middle of that wave that’s really going to get stronger.”

To receive historical tax cuts, VIP Structures must be sensitive to the historical buildings, which include the Witherill, Chamberlin, Wilson and Bond buildings.

The exteriors will be mostly preserved, while the interior will be a combination of refinished wood floors, columns, new apartments, modern meeting spaces and conference rooms. With the addition of a courtyard at Armory Square, the space becomes not just a building, but also a community, Nutting said.

“It’s got that weird eclectic style that happens when you put apartments in old buildings,” he said.

The first floor will be cleared for retail space, although Nutting said he believes there will be more restaurants and coffee shops than clothing stores. And offers are still rolling in. Nutting is already amid more than a dozen active conversations with businesses that want to set up shop at the Pike Block.

Although the building will make a huge difference downtown, he said, the apartments are, unfortunately, expensive. Apartments start at $1,100 a month, and the most expensive apartment is $2,500 a month, according to the Pike Block’s website.

“We would love, someday, to start doing projects for people with normal incomes,” he said. “When the demand rises, hopefully we can.”

The project started more than a year ago, but didn’t really get going until April, Nutting said. The first apartment should be ready in January and the last at the end of June.

Dougherty said there was also talk about renovating One Lincoln Center, which is across from the Pike Block. He wants the city to add bike lanes, so traffic will slow down and bikers will get off the sidewalks.

There is also discussion of publicly displaying art at Perseverance Park, so it looks more like a park and less like concrete, Dougherty said.

“This is all going to make South Salina Street like it used to be,” he said. “A main street for the city of Syracuse.”

 

Published on September 12, 2012 at 1:21 am

Contact Sarah: seschust@syr.edu