Salina, NY – A local developer plans to convert a vacant shopping center along Route 11 into an apartment complex with about 150 units.
The city bought the 5-acre site earlier this year for $1.8 million with the hope of selling it back to someone who could reinvest in the property, which includes a former Big Lots and a shuttered Pizza Hut, Salina’s former supervisor Nick Paro said in December.
Now Steve Case, who owns Acropolis Development, is working with the city to buy the site for $1.6 million. The purchase is not final, but Case told syracuse.com | Post-standard housing is a key part of his vision.
“The need for housing is huge and this is a great place for it,” he said. “There’s definitely going to be a big housing component.”
Paro said the sale comes with certain requirements, namely the demolition of the Big Lots store and new construction that includes housing, business and retail.
“If the city did not have control over the property, it is likely that a private investor would buy it and use it in a way that would not be beneficial to the city or its residents,” he said.
That way, the city can speak into what surrounds the new Salina Community Center, Paro added.
“The city will make the money back by increasing property values and increasing tax revenue from new construction,” said Paro, a Republican who lost in November. Democrat Raul Huerta is now the town supervisor.
Case’s past projects include the redevelopment of The Whitney Lofts on South Salina Street in Syracuse.
The city contract stipulates that construction should begin within one year of the closing date and include at least 150 housing units or a mutually agreed-upon housing plan, Paro said.
Case said he has to consider building heights and parking requirements and see if he can do more than 150 housing units.
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