Prominent downtown Syracuse tower a finalist for development award By: Rick Moriarty, Syracuse.com, January 3, 2018

Syracuse, N.Y. — A vacant downtown Syracuse office building that was turned into a mixed-use structure with apartments, office and retail space, is a finalist in the Urban Land Institute’s 2018 Excellence in Development Awards.

Icon Tower at 344 S. Warren St. is one of three finalists in the Excellence in Repositioning or Redevelopment category of the Urban Land Institute New York’s awards.

This is the third year of the statewide competition, which recognizes real estate leaders who demonstrate the strongest commitment to planning, design, sustainability and resilience, market success, and community impact.

A total of 19 finalists have been selected in eight categories. The winners will be announced at the Awards for Excellence Gala at Gotham Hall in New York City on April 10.

The Syracuse tower went vacant in 2006 after its tenant, the Excellus BlueCross BlueShield insurance company, moved to DeWitt, a Syracuse suburb.

The Icon Cos. redeveloped the building and reopened it last year with 89 apartments, office and retail space.

“By incorporating innovative and creative design, Icon Tower is now one of the centerpieces in the revitalization of Syracuse’s central business district,” the Urban Institute said.

“Featuring great city views, the ground floor is home to a thriving 5,000-square-foot restaurant, the second-floor features 20,000 square feet of Class A office space, and what had once been a 2,000-square-foot mechanical room is now a glass enclosed 24/7 rooftop fitness center.”

Completed in February 2017, all 89 apartments were leased within six months, bringing increased pedestrian traffic and new businesses to the Warren Street corridor, a previously dormant neighborhood, the institute said.

“Icon Tower not only exemplifies the resurgence of Syracuse’s central business district, but it serves as a model for the adaptive reuse of underutilized and vacant buildings in urban centers throughout Upstate New York,” it said.

Icon Tower is one of only two Upstate New York buildings among the finalists in the competition. The other is the Roswell Park Cancer Institute’s Scott Bieler Clinical Sciences Center in Buffalo. The other finalists are all in New York City. Here is the full list of finalists:

Excellence in Housing Development:Market Rate

One John Street – Brooklyn, NY (Alloy Development Holdings LLC, Monadnock Development Inc., and DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners) 300 Ashland – Brooklyn, NY (Two Trees Management)

Affordable

CAMBA Gardens – Brooklyn, NY (CAMBA Housing Ventures) 461 Dean Street (B2) – Brooklyn, NY (Forest City New York)

Excellence in Repositioning or Redevelopment:

Empire Stores – Brooklyn, NY (Midtown Equities, HK Organization, and Rockwood Capital) Walker Tower – New York, NY (JDS Development Group) Icon Tower – Syracuse, NY (The Icon Companies)

Excellence in Mixed-Use Development:

250/252 East 57th Street Redevelopment – New York, NY (World Wide Group and Rose Associates) 35XV – New York, NY (Alchemy Properties)

Excellence in Institutional Development:

The House at Cornell Tech – New York, NY (The Hudson Companies, Inc., Cornell University, and The Related Companies) Scott Bieler Clinical Sciences Center – Buffalo, NY (Roswell Park Cancer Institute)

Excellence in Civic Space:

Moynihan Train Hall & James A. Farley Building Redevelopment – Phase 1 – New York, NY (Empire State Development and Amtrak) Washington Square Park House – New York, NY (NYC Department of Parks and Recreation)

Excellence in Retail Development:

195 Broadway Master Retail Redevelopment – New York, NY (L&L Holding Company) City Point – Brooklyn, NY (Acadia Realty Trust and Washington Square Partners)

Excellence in Office Development:

The Bridge at Cornell Tech – New York, NY (Forest City New York) 4 World Trade Center – New York, NY (Silverstein Properties)

Excellence in Hotel Development:

1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge & Pierhouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park – Brooklyn, NY (Toll Brothers and Starwood Capital Group) Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown and Private Residences at 30 Park Place – New York, NY (Silverstein Properties)