DeWITT — Gexpro — a distributor of electrical parts and components for the construction, industrial, and energy services markets — recently renewed its lease of 14,000 square feet of warehouse, storefront, and office space at 6460 Deere Road in the town of DeWitt.

Bill Anninos of CBRE/Syracuse represented the tenant, Gexpro — a subsidiary of Rexel — in this transaction. Anninos also brokered the original lease in 2006 when the company was operating as GE Supply, which was subsequently acquired by Rexel and renamed Gexpro. 

Gexpro says it carries everything from lighting components, motors, circuit breakers, and tools to electrical wiring, conduit, automation products, and solar panels. It has 80 warehouse storefront locations across the U.S. In upstate New York, it has the DeWitt location and one near Albany.

CICERO — NuFlorz, Inc., a contractor providing epoxy flooring and concrete resurfacing, recently purchased the 8,430-square-foot commercial building at 6445 Terminal Road in the town of Cicero for $400,000.

Donald R. French and Larry Van Der Bogart of CBRE/Syracuse were the exclusive listing brokers in the transaction, according to a CBRE news release. Jane Chase, of Acropolis Realty Group, represented the buyer, which is relocating from Nedrow. The building was previously occupied by Commercial Roof & Sheet Metal.

The sale of the 4.71 acre property closed on March 12, according to Onondaga County’s online property records. The new owner is listed as 70 Services, LLC of Manlius. The prior owner was Kenneth Saya. 

SYRACUSE — Construction work on the upcoming 115,000-square-foot National Veterans Resource Center (NVRC) at Syracuse University is well underway with a timeline that stretches through much of this calendar year.

Rochester–based LeChase Construction Services, LLC, which operates an office at 609 Erie Boulevard West in Syracuse, is serving as the construction manager on the project.

The endeavor has a total cost of 

$62.5 million. New York City–based SHoP Architects handled the design work on the project.

Syracuse University officials on May 15 gave local media members a tour of the construction site which is bordered by Waverly Avenue, South Crouse Avenue, and Marshall Street near the Syracuse campus. The NVRC should be ready to open in early 2020, Syracuse University and LeChase officials said.

Despite some “challenges” with winter-weather conditions, the construction effort “is going very well,” Michael Wooden, project superintendent with LeChase Construction, said in speaking with reporters at the construction site on May 15.

He noted that crews have started working on the building’s exterior façade. 

“It’s going to be a pretty cool building,” said Wooden.

More than 30 subcontractors are involved in the project, Jennifer Miglioratti, media contact for LeChase Construction Services, said in an email reply to a CNYBJ inquiry.

Some of the subcontractors included Mattessich Iron, LLC of Memphis, N.Y., which is doing some of the steel work on the project and Huen Electric of DeWitt, which is handling the project’s electrical work.

The NVRC will “leverage a public-private sector partnership model to nurture academic research, actionable programming, and collaborative thought leadership positioned to impact veterans and their families” on campus, in New York, and across the nation. 

Its five-year impact will include generating $300 million in regional economic activity and creating more than 300 direct and indirect jobs, Syracuse University contends. 

Personnel will begin moving into this building in December with a formal opening sometime in early spring 2020, Michael Haynie, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation and founder and executive director of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), said in addressing reporters during the May 15 media event.

In discussing the upcoming building’s characteristics, Haynie called it “the most accessible building that Syracuse University has ever built.” 

The entire building will have ramps for accessibility and its auditorium won’t have any steps. 

“Each floor will have tactile maps for folks with sight impairments so they cannot just get to the building but also understand what is represented on each one of those floors,” said Haynie.

The NVRC’s tenants will include Syracuse’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families; Office of Veteran and Military Affairs; Army Reserve Officer Training Corps; Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps; Student Veterans Resource Center; Regional Veterans Resource Center; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs “Vet-Success on Campus;” National Center of Excellence for Veteran Business Ownership; and flex office space for local, county and state government veterans representatives and community-based veterans’ organizations.

The venue will also include a research center, a veteran business outreach center and accelerator, and a regional cultural center and museum.        

SYRACUSE — Developers of the Whitney Lofts, a mixed-use redevelopment project that targeted 321 and 323 S. Salina St. in downtown Syracuse, have formally opened the project.

The $3.5 million development created 16 new apartments, a tenant fitness center, private terraces on two of the units along the back, said Ryan Benz, project developer and a licensed real-estate salesperson with Acropolis Realty Group of Syracuse. 

“I along with my partner, Steve Case, Shashank Bhatt, and my wife, Leigh-Ann, are extremely proud to be here today to open this project and most importantly to celebrate the continued downtown resurgence,” Benz said to open his remarks at the May 24 formal-opening event. 

The project began “more than two years ago,” he added. It takes its name from the Whitney Department Store which once operated in 321 S. Salina St.

Rich & Gardner Construction Company of Syracuse is the contractor on the project, while Dalpos Architects & Integrators, also of Syracuse, is the designer. 

The Whitney Lofts include Oh My Darling and Clementine, a full-size restaurant and grab-and-go breakfast and lunch counter, respectively, which opened on the ground floor in March. 

Operated by Ryan Benz and Leigh Ann Boatman-Benz, together the restaurant space occupies 5,500 square feet. In addition, a speakeasy called “The Fitz,” opened in the basement of the building in April. The Fitz was “designed with the Landmark Theatre in mind,” per a news release about the project.

“We believe a robust downtown market is critical in continuing the positive momentum and believe that with additions like the Whitney Lofts along with our beautiful new restaurant Oh My Darling, we’ll continue to attract most importantly new employers to come back downtown and will continue this tremendous momentum,” said Benz.

The speakers at the formal-opening event also included Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh.

“Downtown isn’t just about one demographic anymore … You have empty nesters. You have millennials. You have everything in between. It’s just really exciting to see,” said Walsh.

Crediting assistance

In his remarks, Benz credited the assistance of local, state, and federal agencies as they pursued the Whitney Lofts project.

He noted the work of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y) and his office in helping the developers navigate the historic tax-credit process. Schumer helped them first announce the project in September 2017.

Schumer’s staff worked with state officials and those at the National Park Service, which allowed the developers to remove the “blighted” façades that dated to the 1960s to reveal the building’s original historic windows.

“Without their support and that of the [New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation] and the National Park Service, this project would not have been possible,” said Benz. 

The Central New York Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) had recommended the projects for $320,000 in state funding, which Benz called “another critical component.”

“[Community Preservation Corp.] provided a $3.6 million construction loan and a SONYMA-insured $3.5 million permanent loan through its partnership with the New York State Common Retirement Fund,” said Benz. SONYMA is short for State of New York Mortgage Agency.

CenterState CEO led the regional advocacy efforts for the historic preservation tax credits and also guided the developers through the application process for the REDC funding.

The Downtown Committee of Syracuse Inc. submitted the paperwork to establish the South Salina Street Historic District, Benz noted. 

“[The Downtown Committee’s] work [is] why we stand here today, paving the way for future developers to use the tax credit as we did as an economic-development tool,” he added.