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REMEMBER THE NEW STADIUM?
6 things to know now
By Tim Knauss
tknauss@syracuse.com
Attorney Irwin Raij, a sports stadium expert who is advising Syracuse University, spoke last week to a Syracuse task force that is examining the potential for a new stadium on the city’s near East Side.
Raij (pronounced RYE) was hired by SU in October 2013 after the university was approached about the possibility of building a publicly financed $500 million sports arena near the former Kennedy Square housing project.
After a whirlwind two months of trying to pull the project together with state and county officials, Raij and the others pulled back after it became clear that Gov. Andrew Cuomo would not allocate money for the stadium in this year’s budget.
But Raij said SU is still evaluating the possibility of building a new stadium, as well as the alternative of renovating the Carrier Dome. Here are six key points he made to the task force, which was appointed by Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner.
1. SU continues to examine the potential for a new stadium to house its football and basketball teams.
But new Chancellor Kent Syverud has said equal attention should be paid to the option of renovating the Carrier Dome.
“We are actively looking at the options, because at some point or another a decision will have to be made what the future is — whether that’s the renovation or a new building. We are actively continuing to research and get our ducks in a row,’’ Raij said.
2. Building a new stadium would require significant public financing.
That likely means waiting until the “next budget cycle’’ to see whether state officials are still interested, Raij said.
“We’re going to have to wait until the next budget cycle to see where the state is,’’ Raij said. “Since this budget cycle has passed, we have not been engaging in
Raij
Stadium still a hot topic active discussions about it. If this were to move forward at some point, there would have to be community support, and there needs to be an engagement with various parties about potential funding sources.’’
3 .The Dome is in “solid shape.’’
But over the long term it will need a lot of work, Raij said. That’s why it makes sense to evaluate the potential for a new building. There was no immediate problem with the Dome that prompted SU to look at building something new, he said.
“The facility is functional. It’s a good facility,’’ Raij said. “Long term, the Carrier Dome is going to have to be maintained very often and very carefully. As great as the facility is, and everything it has brought the community, it is an aged facility.’’
4. The rush to put together a stadium proposal last fall was driven by the state budget process.
Cuomo’s budget proposal in January was the deadline. Raij credited the key participants — County Executive Joanie Mahoney, Cuomo’s office, SU and COR Development Co. — with undertaking a “Herculean’’ effort to beat the deadline.
“We were engaging as quickly as possible, gathering as much information as possible and sharing it with those we were told to communicate with, to try to determine if this was a feasible opportunity,’’ Raij said. “Let’s just say it was hectic. I spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day. Let’s just say, from the 24th to the 31st, I didn’t sleep very much.’’
5. The Kennedy Square area was inviting because it was primed for development around a new stadium.
State and county officials made it clear that public funding required the project to spur economic development. The parties focused attention on a site near the former Kennedy Square parcel, which is now called Loguen’s Crossing. COR Development has a partnership with Upstate Medical University to develop nine acres at Loguen’s Crossing, right next to the proposed stadium site.
“COR was the site developer we were interacting with,’’ Raij said. “We understood that they wanted to build a hotel, a 250-room hotel. We understood they were interested in building a significant amount of retail, and housing. At one point I understand there were over 150 apartments (planned) on the site. That was appealing. I think that was appealing to the state, to the potential state partner. ’’
6. SU and its partners made a mistake by not communicating better with Syracuse officials, including Miner.
The city was not being asked to contribute funding. Raij said the university plans to work with Miner and her task force as it considers future options.
“We spoke with the state often about potential funding sources. We talked to the county about potential funding sources, and financing vehicles,’’ Raij said. “One of the things of building projects like this is, where are the funds going to come from? Because if there’s no money, there is nothing to build. So we engaged with those individuals. We try to do our best with that, and I think what we’ve learned is that we can do better.’’
6 things to know now
By Tim Knauss
tknauss@syracuse.com
Attorney Irwin Raij, a sports stadium expert who is advising Syracuse University, spoke last week to a Syracuse task force that is examining the potential for a new stadium on the city’s near East Side.
Raij (pronounced RYE) was hired by SU in October 2013 after the university was approached about the possibility of building a publicly financed $500 million sports arena near the former Kennedy Square housing project.
After a whirlwind two months of trying to pull the project together with state and county officials, Raij and the others pulled back after it became clear that Gov. Andrew Cuomo would not allocate money for the stadium in this year’s budget.
But Raij said SU is still evaluating the possibility of building a new stadium, as well as the alternative of renovating the Carrier Dome. Here are six key points he made to the task force, which was appointed by Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner.
1. SU continues to examine the potential for a new stadium to house its football and basketball teams.
But new Chancellor Kent Syverud has said equal attention should be paid to the option of renovating the Carrier Dome.
“We are actively looking at the options, because at some point or another a decision will have to be made what the future is — whether that’s the renovation or a new building. We are actively continuing to research and get our ducks in a row,’’ Raij said.
2. Building a new stadium would require significant public financing.
That likely means waiting until the “next budget cycle’’ to see whether state officials are still interested, Raij said.
“We’re going to have to wait until the next budget cycle to see where the state is,’’ Raij said. “Since this budget cycle has passed, we have not been engaging in
Raij
Stadium still a hot topic active discussions about it. If this were to move forward at some point, there would have to be community support, and there needs to be an engagement with various parties about potential funding sources.’’
3 .The Dome is in “solid shape.’’
But over the long term it will need a lot of work, Raij said. That’s why it makes sense to evaluate the potential for a new building. There was no immediate problem with the Dome that prompted SU to look at building something new, he said.
“The facility is functional. It’s a good facility,’’ Raij said. “Long term, the Carrier Dome is going to have to be maintained very often and very carefully. As great as the facility is, and everything it has brought the community, it is an aged facility.’’
4. The rush to put together a stadium proposal last fall was driven by the state budget process.
Cuomo’s budget proposal in January was the deadline. Raij credited the key participants — County Executive Joanie Mahoney, Cuomo’s office, SU and COR Development Co. — with undertaking a “Herculean’’ effort to beat the deadline.
“We were engaging as quickly as possible, gathering as much information as possible and sharing it with those we were told to communicate with, to try to determine if this was a feasible opportunity,’’ Raij said. “Let’s just say it was hectic. I spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day. Let’s just say, from the 24th to the 31st, I didn’t sleep very much.’’
5. The Kennedy Square area was inviting because it was primed for development around a new stadium.
State and county officials made it clear that public funding required the project to spur economic development. The parties focused attention on a site near the former Kennedy Square parcel, which is now called Loguen’s Crossing. COR Development has a partnership with Upstate Medical University to develop nine acres at Loguen’s Crossing, right next to the proposed stadium site.
“COR was the site developer we were interacting with,’’ Raij said. “We understood that they wanted to build a hotel, a 250-room hotel. We understood they were interested in building a significant amount of retail, and housing. At one point I understand there were over 150 apartments (planned) on the site. That was appealing. I think that was appealing to the state, to the potential state partner. ’’
6. SU and its partners made a mistake by not communicating better with Syracuse officials, including Miner.
The city was not being asked to contribute funding. Raij said the university plans to work with Miner and her task force as it considers future options.
“We spoke with the state often about potential funding sources. We talked to the county about potential funding sources, and financing vehicles,’’ Raij said. “One of the things of building projects like this is, where are the funds going to come from? Because if there’s no money, there is nothing to build. So we engaged with those individuals. We try to do our best with that, and I think what we’ve learned is that we can do better.’’
