Syracuse Construction Update (New York, Walton, Clinton: bars, land, offices)

[CUPlanner]

Civic group cheers Tops Markets' plan to open store in Valley Plaza | syracuse.com

Tops hopes to open store on Southside, pending tax breaks. The southside really needs a full line grocery store. I think it is a great idea.

Good to see, that area is critically underserved. It would be nice if it was closer to the heart of the Southside and to Downtown. Anyone know what ever happened to the plan to put a grocery store in the vacant building at the corner of South Ave and Bellevue Ave?

[ToeJam]

I don't mind the idea as long as tax dollars are not used. They want to take a risk on the South Side, they will have to use their own money.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by CUPlanner

Good to see, that area is critically underserved. It would be nice if it was closer to the heart of the Southside and to Downtown. Anyone know what ever happened to the plan to put a grocery store in the vacant building at the corner of South Ave and Bellevue Ave?

I'm not sure, but would have been a great idea to use the old Loblaw's grocery store at that corner. Another area could have been the old Great American market that was located near the CENTRO bus garage. I even remember when there were Chicago Markets on South Ave. and one Downtown where there are medical offices near Townsend Tower apartments, if I'm not mistaken.

[phaelon56]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

I'm not sure, but would have been a great idea to use the old Loblaw's grocery store at that corner. Another area could have been the old Great American market that was located near the CENTRO bus garage. I even remember when there were Chicago Markets on South Ave. and one Downtown where there are medical offices near Townsend Tower apartments, if I'm not mistaken.

The Harrison Plaza location near Rte 81 and the apartment towers was originally either a Tops or an A&P if I recall correctly (yes - we had both of those chains here in the 1970's.) I thought it was a good idea to make use of the building at Bellevue and South Ave but that was going to be a community driven project that was fraught with financial difficulties and challenges. I also believe there that the right grocery store, if situated in Valley Plaza, will provide an opportunity to draw from the Valley and Onondaga Hill in addition to pulling in customers from the South Side. The vast majority of folks with cars on the far South Side and in the Valley would be unlikely to shop at a store located at South and Bellevue but might go regularly to valley Plaza. To make it work financially you really need more than just foot traffic from the near South Side.

Yes - I feel personally invested in seeing a successful grocery store on the South Side. My grandfather owned O'Neill's Cash Store at the corner of South and Cortland Aves but he went broke in the late 1930's due to the lingering effects of the Depression.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by phaelon56

The Harrison Plaza location near Rte 81 and the apartment towers was originally either a Tops or an A&P if I recall correctly (yes - we had both of those chains here in the 1970's.) I thought it was a good idea to make use of the building at Bellevue and South Ave but that was going to be a community driven project that was fraught with financial difficulties and challenges. I also believe there that the right grocery store, if situated in Valley Plaza, will provide an opportunity to draw from the Valley and Onondaga Hill in addition to pulling in customers from the South Side. The vast majority of folks with cars on the far South Side and in the Valley would be unlikely to shop at a store located at South and Bellevue but might go regularly to valley Plaza. To make it work financially you really need more than just foot traffic from the near South Side.

Yes - I feel personally invested in seeing a successful grocery store on the South Side. My grandfather owned O'Neill's Cash Store at the corner of South and Cortland Aves but he went broke in the late 1930's due to the lingering effects of the Depression.

I think the Tops can work in Valley Plaza, as people from the Valley, South Side, Onondaga Hill and even Nedrow and the Southwood/Jamesville area might shop there. It would be the closest big grocery store for many people in some of those areas and could provide jobs gor younger and older folks.

[ToeJam]

Green Hills covers most of that territory now and there is a Wegmans and a Price Chopper in the other direction. From a business point of view, a store in Valley Plaza is set up for failure.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by ToeJam

Green Hills covers most of that territory now and there is a Wegmans and a Price Chopper in the other direction. From a business point of view, a store in Valley Plaza is set up for failure.

There was a store there for years until a year or two. So, it might work due to size, as Green Hills is smaller and the same with Aldi in Nedrow. Wegmans and Price Chopper might be a bit too far. Same with the Tops on Nottingham Road.

[ToeJam]

There also used to be a Payless Shoe Source in that plaza that closed. Payless does well all over the country, but couldn't make it in that plaza. The only way that plaza will be a success is if there is a large store there and if the police keep their field trailer there and actually put officers in it. Only then will the other storefronts fill.

I would be interested to know if the P&C in Valley Plaza closed in relation to P&C's money problems or if it was for other reasons.

[phaelon56]

I spent about two years living on Belle Ave just off Salina and a block north of Ballantyne Road - back in 1995 to 1996. I shopped regularly at that P&C back then and it was by far the worst of any of their stores in the Syracuse area. Not clean, poorly staffed, mediocre selection etc.

I think a well run Tops could succeed there but probably not without some tax breaks and incentives.

[RollsRoyce]

Upscale Apartments Added to Upper Floors of North Side Building

Work has been completed on several apartment units in the Zipper Building, an historic structure at 401 North State Street near the campus of St. Joseph's Hospital. Woolley-Morris, an architectural firm with offices in Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Princeton, NJ purchased the underutilized building in 2007. The firm has since relocated their offices to the ground floor.

401 North State St Unit# A, SYRACUSE, New York - Prudential CNY Realty (http://www.prudentialcnyrealty.com/401State-StNorthSYRACUSENew-York/S248989/CNYIS - broken link)

Woolley Morris Architects : Home