Syracuse Common Council considering 1st tax break for redevelopment of neglected Maria Regina campus

The Syracuse Common Council is considering a tax exemption for the developers planning to build housing at the Maria Regina campus, a beloved but long-neglected North Side property.

Councilors will meet with city officials about the proposed exemption agreement Tuesday at 11 a.m. in the council’s chambers.

Home Leasing, a Rochester-based developer, plans on buying the property to build 181 units of housing. The proposed term of the agreement would be 15 years with an option for a 15-year renewal.

Under the proposed agreement, Home Leasing would pay the city $550 per unit built instead of its typical property taxes. In all, Home Leasing could end up paying the city $99,550 per year if it builds all 181 units.

If the council approves the exemption, the city will negotiate specific terms of the agreement with Home Leasing. It will have to maintain a specific mix of affordable housing. The mix will likely include affordable housing for people who make 30%, 40%, 50% and 80% of the area’s median income (AMI), according to city Commissioner of Assessment Matthew Oja.

The AMI varies each year and is also based on the size of a household.

The exemption would not go into effect until the first taxable status date — typically Jan. 1 — after a certificate of occupancy is issued, Oja said.

“It would be so important if we could start it as soon as possible and get through roadblocks,” said 1st district councilor Marty Nave. The Maria Regina campus is located within Nave’s district.

Home Leasing officials did not reply to questions for this story.

Home Leasing and city officials first began publicly discussing the firm’s plans to redevelop the Maria Regina in March 2022.

But the last two years have seen progress grind to a halt. In March 2022, Home Leasing told residents the campus would cost $78 million to redevelop. Now, the firm says it will cost more than $100 million to develop.

It still has not formally bought the property. While Home Leasing agreed to buy the Maria Regina campus, the sale will not be finalized until it can finance the entire development.

That may not come to fruition for a year or more. Home Leasing officials have stressed the importance of receiving state financing for the project. The state’s Housing Finance Agency, part of New York State Homes and Community Renewal, put the Maria Regina project in its closing pipeline for the end of 2024 or beginning of 2025, according to Home Leasing officials.

In the meantime, the property will remain with developer Mark Congel, whose ownership of the property has infuriated local residents. Congel bought the campus in 2015 and promised to build housing.

After multiple assessment fights with the city, Congel’s development firm never built the promised housing.

City officials have since 2019 cited Congel’s LLC 15 times for its poor care of the Maria Regina property. Eight of the violations — for poor maintenance of the buildings’ walls, roofs and windows and the accumulation of garbage in the buildings — remain unresolved. The longest-running unresolved violations have been open for nearly 18 months.

The campus’ neighbors said the property often has trash on the lawn and appears run down with broken windows. Some neighbors have contended that people are living in the building.

City officials contracted for companies to take care of the property and later billed Congel, according to city officials.

Until recently, Congel owed about $74,000 in back taxes and maintenance fees. He appears to have paid the city and county since Central Current wrote about the Maria Regina campus in December.

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