Plans for a new fitness center and bookstore complex, in the works since 2006, may come to fruition as early as summer 2011.

Thomas Valenti, a partner of the Cameron Group LLC, presented the plans to a branch of the Syracuse Common Council on Wednesday. The proposed complex, which would go up on University Avenue in between Harrison and East Adams streets, would also include retail stores and cost $20 million to complete, Valenti said. 

The presentation to the Economic Development Committee was not one that could result in direct action, as the property’s tax-exemption status is still in question.

‘Right now there is nothing on our agenda to support or reject this project,’ said Kathleen Joy, chair of the Economic Development Committee.

SU owns the property, and the Cameron Group would lease it from the university and cover all initial construction costs, Valenti said. SU would then re-lease the fitness center and bookstore. This means SU wouldn’t have to pay anything up front, Valenti said. 

But once SU’s property is leased to the Cameron Group, it loses its tax-exempt status. A payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement is one way the portion of the building used by the university could remain tax-exempt. 

A PILOT agreement is a structured tax payment that comes up with a different tax formula to ensure the city receives payments similar to those brought in by property tax, Joy said. The portion of the property used for retail — not the bookstore or fitness center — would remain taxable, and the city could generate sales tax from it, she said.

Wednesday’s presentation was little more than informational. First, the Cameron Group must present a PILOT proposal to the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency. SIDA would have to approve the proposal, and then the Common Council would vote. But for now, Joy said she just wanted to keep the project on people’s minds.  

‘I am prepared to roll my sleeves up, sharpen my pencil and get to work on crafting a PILOT agreement that is going to be acceptable to everybody,’ Joy said.

The mayor’s administration also thinks the property should be taxable, as the complex will increase the need for city services, such as police and basic utilities, in the area, Joy said. Part of an ideal PILOT agreement would also require an upfront payment of $250,000 from the Cameron Group that would compensate for lost property taxes, she said.

But the administration is not keen on the idea of a PILOT agreement at this point, said Bill Ryan, director of administration for the city and chairman of SIDA. Both SU and the Cameron Group have a lot to gain monetarily from the proposed construction. But the proposed construction project provides little for the city because it would not generate property tax revenue from the fitness center and bookstore, he said.

The Cameron Group has a lot of work to do with SIDA, and the proposed start date for the construction of summer 2011 is somewhat premature, as there are hurdles Valenti has to overcome to make that happen, Ryan said. 

‘I don’t think summer is realistic at all,’ Ryan said. 

The Cameron Group and SU began discussing construction of the new bookstore and fitness center in 2006, said Valenti, the Cameron Group representative who presented Wednesday. The proposed facility would be 54,400 square feet, and the fitness center would occupy 47,700 square feet, according to an article in The Daily Orange on Oct. 1, 2009. 

If the project goes through, the plan as of now is to completely move the bookstore in the Schine Student Center to the new space, said Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs, in an e-mail. The university has not yet decided what would be done with the space in Schine, but it could be used to expand space for student groups, he said. 

Although the construction project is still very much a concept with no definite plans, Valenti said he hopes to see it finished by fall 2012. The bookstore and fitness center, along with the retail space, could help spurn further development in the area surrounding the university, Valenti said.

‘As far as I’m concerned — SU, Upstate, Crouse, the VA — that area and the people in that area are our greatest assets in this community,’ Valenti said. ‘Our city should be doing everything that it possibly can to promote development, not stifle it.’

kronayne@syr.edu

Published on March 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm