Hochul highlights $130 million Syracuse redevelopment, 260 affordable apartments

The long-empty Syracuse Developmental Center site on South Wilbur Avenue is being turned into housing, not left as a reminder of what the city lost. After demolition of the 600,000-square-foot former institution was completed, the first phase of a $130 million redevelopment moved ahead with more than 260 affordable apartments planned for Tipperary Hill.

The project covers the former campus at 800-2 S. Wilbur Avenue, a 48-acre parcel that sat vacant for more than two decades before Syracuse took ownership in 2019 through tax foreclosure after the prior owner fell behind on taxes. The building opened in the early 1970s as a state-run facility for people with developmental disabilities and closed in 1998, leaving one of the city’s largest underused properties at the edge of a dense neighborhood.

State officials say the development is meant to do more than add housing units. The full three-phase plan could eventually deliver more than 500 apartments and townhomes, 7.5 acres of green space, an advanced manufacturing facility with office space, and 3,600 square feet of retail and commercial space. Apartments in the mix are expected to serve market-rate, workforce and affordable households, a blend designed to create a new neighborhood rather than a single-use complex.

The state is committing up to $29 million to the project, which local leaders have tied to broader housing and economic pressure coming from Micron Technology’s planned regional investment. As Central New York braces for more jobs and population growth, the Syracuse Developmental Center redevelopment is being positioned as one of the few large sites capable of adding homes and commercial space near the city’s core.

Gov. Kathy Hochul highlighted the project on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, alongside local and state officials including Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, state Sen. Rachel May and Assemblymember Pamela J. Hunter. City and state leaders have cast the project as a major reuse of a long-watched property, one that could finally convert a vacant institutional campus into housing, jobs and public space for Syracuse residents.