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The Syracuse Planning Commission approved plans for a new, nine-story apartment building at 411 and 413 University Ave. — less than a half-mile north of Syracuse University — syracuse.com reported Monday.

The commission voted 4-0 to approve the building proposal on July 29. Now, the 47-unit structure will join several new privately-owned luxury apartment complexes, many primarily housing students, and on-campus residence options in the university area.

The complex’s units will include five studios, one two-bedroom, 32 four-bedrooms and nine five-bedrooms, according to plans submitted to the city by New York City-based developer Gem Street Holdings and Mosher Architects. The building’s developers expect the apartments to primarily house students, though it will also accept non-student tenants, syracuse.com reported.

The commission voted 4-0 to approve Gem Street Holdings’ building proposal. The ruling followed a review and recommendation by the city’s Landmark Preservation Board earlier that month.

With the vote, the city approved both the project’s site plan and a resubdivision of the 411 and 413 University Ave. lots. Two homes, adjacent to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central New York and across the street from the historic Grace Church, will be demolished to make way for the structure, syracuse.com reported.

The new complex’s amenities will include a study room, a fitness center, an underground parking garage accessible from University Avenue and 11,481 square feet of commercial space, according to the project site plans.

The proposed apartment building is the latest housing addition in a slew of student housing options announced in recent months – though many have been university, not private, initiatives from SU’s Strategic Housing Plan.

Luxury developers have been “flocking” to the surrounding university area for years, including a six-story building on 404 University Ave. — in part funded with investment from former Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim — unveiled in 2016. The complex, now U Point Syracuse, sits across the street from the new building site.

During the 2023-24 school year, SU announced plans to turn 727 S. Crouse Ave., now Milton Hall, into student housing, construct a new 450-student residence hall at 700 Ostrom Ave. and demolish Marion and Kimmel Halls for more “modern” student housing.

Last November, the university announced that the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conference Center, now Orange Hall, would be converted into student housing for the fall 2024 semester. In the spring, SU purchased Hotel Skyler to maintain a hotel close to university property.

The developers have not yet released an official timeline for the construction of the new complex.

Published on August 14, 2024 at 8:25 pm

Contact Griffin: gbrown19@syr.edu