Onondaga County, developer McCormack Baron Salazar and Syracuse Housing Authority officials are at odds over a two-year-old $7 million commitment by the county to the redevelopment of public housing.
In private, the three organizations have been trying to settle whether the $7 million commitment by the county should be an in-kind contribution or a cash contribution. SHA and the city included a commitment letter from County Executive Ryan McMahon in their application for the $50 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — a critical pot of funding to the project.
The 2024 letter said the county would contribute infrastructure work that included “new water mains in roadways, source/outfalls connections, and a portion of the internal infrastructure needed to support the new housing development and more walkable streetways.” The county has said the $7 million was only ever put forward as an in-kind contribution…