SYRACUSE — The Redhouse performing-arts center is getting ready to move to its new home inside the building at 400 S. Salina St. in Syracuse now known as City Center. City Center was named to “reflect its place in the business and cultural center of Syracuse,” according to a news release from Cornerstone Real Estate […]
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SYRACUSE — The Redhouse performing-arts center is getting ready to move to its new home inside the building at 400 S. Salina St. in Syracuse now known as City Center.
City Center was named to “reflect its place in the business and cultural center of Syracuse,” according to a news release from Cornerstone Real Estate Opportunities of Syracuse.
In its history, the structure was once home to Sibley’s department store before it closed in the late 1980s.
“We’re hoping to move in by mid-February,” says William Hider, president of the board of trustees of the Redhouse, a nonprofit arts organization. “And we’re hoping to have our first production here in mid-March.” Hider spoke with CNYBJ inside City Center on Jan. 19.
The Redhouse will be a primary tenant in the building that’s under redevelopment to make it a mixed-use facility. The intention was to expand the Redhouse, according to Hider.
“[We] have a place to stay, a bigger place, and have some income coming in for an endowment so we don’t have to raise … as much money all the time,” says Hider. “This does both for us.”
The Redhouse has occupied its current location at 201 S. West St. in Syracuse since the mid-1980s, according to Hider.
Besides being a tenant, the Redhouse is also a part owner in the building to which it is moving. The Redhouse, along with Gary and Jeremy Thurston, co-own the nearly 250,000-square-foot structure at 400 S. Salina St.
The Thurstons, known locally for leading the Hayner Hoyt Corporation of Syracuse, are the majority owners in the partnership, says Hider.
Interior work
The work on the project started in the spring of 2017. The project is roughly $30 million “for everything,” according to Hider.
Its finish date “depends on when the tenants come,” he notes.
“The Redhouse portion and the garage portion will be done shortly. The building and the office part may be a year away,” says Hider.
Hayner Hoyt is the general contractor on the project, and Schopfer Architects LLP, also based in Syracuse, is handling the project design work.
The Redhouse plans to borrow money from a consortium of area banks including Pathfinder Bank (NASDAQ: PBHC), M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB), and NBT Bank (NASDAQ: NBTB) to help finance the project, according to Hider.
The Redhouse is using a $1.3 million grant from the Central New York regional economic-development council (REDC) for the renovation of its space in the building. The REDC also awarded grants of $1.6 million for the renovation work on the building’s parking garage and $2.5 million for the renovation work throughout the rest of the building beyond the space that the Redhouse will occupy, he adds.
“And we hope that this area … that this will spur the rest of Salina Street … down to the hotel … for future development,” says Hider.
Pursuit of tenants
Besides the Redhouse, the pursuit of tenants, such as a restaurant, continues, says Brian Rossi, who described himself as a project manager with Cornerstone Real Estate Opportunities. Rossi is also the chief operating officer of Bell Tenant Champions at 120 Walton St., a sister company to Cornerstone.
“[We’re] looking at colleges, obviously any of the SUNY programs are targets for us, local schools that have music, arts, [and] culinary institutes that have a shared ability to share some of the services and space that Redhouse has to offer,” says Rossi.
The tenants will also include a credit union or a bank, and another anchor tenant for the upper floor of the City Center.
Building history
City Center was the site of a famed Vaudeville theatre and opera house from 1920 until 1967, according to the Cornerstone news release.
Known for its Vaudeville acts and musical performances, RKO Keith’s was designed by Thomas Lamb who built the Syracuse Loew’s State Movie House right across the street, which is now known as the Landmark Theatre.
The Vaudeville theatre and most of the 400 block was demolished in 1967 to make way for the Sibley’s department store. Sibley’s occupied the space until closing its doors in 1988, according to the news release.
Since that time, various call centers and offices occupied the building, including National Government Services and Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.
Excellus moved out in 2013 and the building has been vacant since then.
