The Downtown Syracuse Farmers Market kicks off this week. It’s one of the signature events of the summer, sponsored by the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, which is celebrating a milestone of its own this year.
For 50 years, the Downtown Committee has been dedicated to creating a thriving and prosperous city center. It was there to help reimagine a dreary warehouse district into Armory Square. Karyn Korteling owns the buildings that now house Pastabilities Restaurant and Pasta’s Daily Bread. And she remembers those old days before Armory Square was a vibrant community.
“I moved into the apartment above the restaurant in back in 1985,” said Korteling. “And that was the only place to rent an apartment downtown.”
4,500 people now call downtown home, with a residential occupancy rate of 99%, according to statistics from the Downtown Committee. Merika Trier has been executive director of the nonprofit for 14 years. She said that residential growth downtown will continue with several new projects on the books, including repurposing the Chimes building, Jefferson Building, and City Hall Commons, all historic structures destined for mixed use, including apartments.
Trier said there’s more development to come, but it won’t involve refurbishing older buildings.
"We don't have a lot of vacant properties left to be redeveloped,” Trier said. “What we do have opportunity now for is new construction on some of our vacant parcels. So whether it's surface parking lots or underutilized land, there's opportunities for us now to focus on redeveloping those spaces to better connect all the different neighborhoods and create a vibrant walking environment."
Korteling believes the entrepreneurial spirit can take off from there.
“Wherever we can plug in some new fun ideas that people have, we have a new hotel coming to Warren Street. That'll be tremendous and wonderful for us to have more people on the streets just looking for things to do,” said Korteling.
Trier said the next 50 years will be exciting downtown. The Micron project will push more growth, and then there’s life after the Interstate 81 project removes a viaduct that has stunted downtown for decades.
“We've got that long-desired opportunity to finally connect downtown and University Hill,” Trier said. “And I see a huge opportunity for the growth of downtown out from our city center, whether it's over towards the university, all the new entertainment destinations that are being built in the Inner Harbor. So I see a huge opportunity for downtown to grow."
