Syracuse Housing Authority and McCormack Baron Salazar Break Ground on $100 Million Affordable Senior Housing Development
The Syracuse Housing Authority and McCormack Baron Salazar have broken ground on a $100 million, 125-unit affordable senior housing development in Syracuse, New York, marking the second major phase of the East Adams Neighborhood Transformation Plan. The project, named The Simmons, will rise four stories on a formerly vacant site at South State Street and Burt Street — a parcel that previously served as a parking lot for SUNY Upstate Medical University — and is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2028.
New York State Homes and Community Renewal is a capital partner on the development, which is structured entirely as affordable housing for residents age 62 and older. All 125 apartments will be affordable to households earning up to 60 percent of the area median income, and each unit will carry a Section 8 project-based voucher administered by the Syracuse Housing Authority.
Project Details and Unit Mix
The Simmons will contain 120 one-bedroom apartments and five two-bedroom apartments across a single four-story building. The development will include a community room, library, and fitness center, along with outdoor seating areas, landscaped open spaces, walking paths, and terraces. Eight units will be designed to accommodate residents with mobility disabilities, and three will be configured for residents with sensory disabilities.
The building is planned as an all-electric structure using geothermal heat pumps and energy-efficient appliances. The site is participating in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Brownfield Cleanup Program, which, upon project completion, would make the development eligible for approximately $11 million in brownfield tax credits administered by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
The project is located close to Syracuse University and within reach of public transportation, restaurants, and a pharmacy.
Financing Structure
McCormack Baron Salazar and the Syracuse Housing Authority closed on approximately $100.5 million in Phase 2 financing. The capital stack includes federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits from New York State Homes and Community Renewal expected to generate more than $45 million in equity, along with $36 million in direct HCR subsidy. Sen. Charles Schumer cited more than $33 million in federal support tied to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. Rep. John W. Mannion secured $850,000 in federal Community Project Funding for the broader East Adams transformation effort. The anticipated $11 million in brownfield tax credits would be available after the project reaches completion.
The development cost implies approximately $800,000 per unit — a figure that reflects new construction, infrastructure, and environmental site cleanup costs and is not a market valuation or sale price.
Relocation Priority and Broader Transformation Plan
The Simmons is the second phase of the East Adams Neighborhood Transformation Plan, a multi-phased reinvestment strategy led by the Syracuse Housing Authority that aims to build or preserve approximately 1,500 homes across multiple SHA properties. The broader plan calls for one-for-one replacement of approximately 672 units from McKinney Manor and Pioneer Homes across 11 phased developments.
Leasing priority at The Simmons will go first to seniors relocating from Pioneer Homes, which is slated for future demolition and redevelopment. Former residents of McKinney Manor — demolished in 2025 — will receive the next priority, followed by other SHA seniors. The project provides a designated relocation destination for seniors affected by the ongoing modernization program at a time when the replacement pipeline is constrained: McKinney Manor has already been razed and Pioneer Homes is scheduled for future redevelopment.
The development is also tied to the state's plans to remove the elevated Interstate 81 viaduct, which divided the former 15th Ward and contributed to long-term disinvestment in the surrounding neighborhood. The transformation plan is intended to establish new housing and public-realm connections alongside the highway corridor's reconstruction.
East Adams Phase 1, known as The Langston, is currently under construction and will replace the former McKinney Manor complex with 132 total homes, including 117 affordable apartments across two mid-rise buildings and four townhome buildings, at a total development cost of approximately $102 million.
Statements from Project Partners
"Phase 2 represents what the East Adams Transformation is ultimately about: ensuring longtime residents can remain part of this community as it grows and changes," said McCormack Baron President and CEO Vince Bennett. "For our seniors, that means the opportunity to age in place in a beautiful, safe, high-quality home in the neighborhood they know and love. MBS is proud to help deliver that promise."
"Today's groundbreaking is an important milestone for SHA and, most importantly, for the residents who have been part of the East Adams Transformation from the beginning," said Syracuse Housing Authority Acting Executive Director Jalyn Clifford. "Generations of families have called this neighborhood home, and it's important that as we move this transformation forward, we honor that history and the people who helped shape this community."
New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said the project "will bring 125 modern, affordable apartments for seniors to this important, but long-neglected Syracuse neighborhood" and described it as part of "comprehensive efforts to create the integrated, vibrant community that generations of residents will be able to enjoy and deserve."
The development is named in honor of recently retired SHA Executive Director William J. Simmons. Under Governor Kathy Hochul's five-year $25 billion Housing Plan, New York State Homes and Community Renewal has created or preserved more than 2,600 affordable homes in the city of Syracuse to date.
Market Context
The Simmons is structured for a segment of the affordable housing market with unusually deep public-sector support: every unit carries a project-based voucher, while layered tax-credit equity, state subsidy, and brownfield incentives provide the capital necessary to make new construction financially viable at rents affordable to households at or below 60 percent of area median income. That financing structure is particularly important for deeply affordable senior projects, where rents alone typically cannot support the full cost of new development.
The city of Syracuse is a certified Pro-Housing Community under the state's Pro-Housing Community Program, which provides certified localities with access to up to $750 million in discretionary state funding. More than 450 communities across New York hold that designation.
Sources
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