Destiny USA sues Syracuse over 2026 property tax assessment
Destiny USA wants its 2026 land assessment cut from $32.8 million to $4.26 million. That would shift $28.5 million in value off Syracuse’s tax rolls.
A successful challenge by Destiny USA would erase $28.5 million from the mall’s 2026 land assessment, lowering the value Syracuse is using to tax one of its biggest commercial properties from $32,768,500 to about $4,255,257 and shifting more of the burden to the city, the school district and other local taxpayers.
Destiny USA Land Company LLC and related subsidiaries filed suit April 17 after the City of Syracuse denied their January appeal to the City of Syracuse Board of Assessment Review. The case asks for a corrected assessment, a lower tax bill and a refund of any overpaid taxes with interest.
The owners say the city is valuing land that should be treated as brownfield property, not ordinary developable acreage. They argue that parts of the mall site have contamination and remediation problems, including areas with a history of storing oil and other waste, which they say sharply reduce market value.
The dispute covers 12 land parcels. One report placed the city’s value for those parcels at $18,586,000 for the coming year. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation records identify the Oil City/Carousel Center site as a brownfield cleanup site, and court records have described the Oil City Parcel as having hosted petroleum bulk storage tanks, underground pipelines and other industrial uses near Hiawatha Boulevard West and Onondaga Lake.
The challenge comes as Destiny USA, which Pyramid Management Group describes as New York State’s largest shopping center, remains a defining property in downtown Syracuse. Pyramid says the former Carousel Center was rebranded Destiny USA in 2012 and now spans about 2.4 million square feet. The mall is also carrying financial baggage: in April 2025, reports said a Pyramid affiliate defaulted on a $300 million mortgage tied to the property.
The lawsuit is the latest in a line of assessment fights over the mall. Destiny USA filed another tax challenge against Syracuse in April 2022 over nearby land and parking-lot assessments. City auditor Alexander Marion said the city sees the new case as an effort to cut tax obligations unfairly, setting up a broader question of how Syracuse should value one of its largest commercial parcels and how much of the local tax burden should rest on land weighed down by environmental history.
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