Development in and Around Syracuse Discussion

[OrangeTarheel]

I don’t know anything about development in Syracuse but here in North Carolina I’ve seen several large projects slow down considerably. A couple different possible things that are common between here and NY:

- the economy is bad with lots of unemployment and underemployment - not having BLS data helps mask how bad it’s getting. As someone who hires I can tell you there are lots of people getting axed and while its sometimes due to federal budget cuts that’s just one part of it.

- the reality at the federal level is that the new administration wants companies to bend the knee or make a donation to them. If not you end up on the naughty list which makes for a very uncertain operating environment. Just look at the gifts being made to the administration in an attempt to win favor. I don’t mean this as a political post it’s just the reality of this administration.

Other things mentioned here also seem possible. One consequence of my second point is that companies will start locating overseas rather than deal with such uncertainty. We are already seeing a serious brain drain after the federal administration decided to pick fights with research universities over grant money. High tech companies surely see this administration’s attitude towards science and that has to affect their calculations as well.

 

[Newhouser]

i think we’ll eventually see someone demolish some of the empty department stores and build new housing to help fulfill a local need.

But the mall itself will not “shut down” as you put it. Typical negative Syracuse thinking. Way to keep up the good work, pal.

Hey pal how is that progressing with Great Northern and Shoppingtown? Obviously the space will be repurposed (its too big to sit empty), but as I said the mall will not exist and a new store in a dying mall is not news in a growing city. Sorry you disagree.

 

[FasterCuse]

NY puts off implementing law that would ban natural gas in new homes and buildings

The law was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

www.syracuse.com

The All-Electric Buildings Act had been scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. Now it’s on hold.

The agreement to suspend implementation was made in a federal court case brought by a coalition of builder associations, gas equipment sellers and others seeking to overturn the new law. The state attorney general’s office agreed to a stipulation filed in court today that requires the state to suspend implementation until the court case is resolved.

Honestly, glad to see this put on hold. Electric heat pumps may be the future, but they're still not ready for some areas in upstate where temperatures routinely drop in the single digits and feet of snow accumulate. Also, with electric prices on the rise this would cash strap a lot of families. First priority should be getting nuclear back off the ground and electricity prices down.

 

[OburgOrange]

Honestly, glad to see this put on hold. Electric heat pumps may be the future, but they're still not ready for some areas in upstate where temperatures routinely drop in the single digits and feet of snow accumulate. Also, with electric prices on the rise this would cash strap a lot of families. First priority should be getting nuclear back off the ground and electricity prices down.

I have a heat pump on my place n SC. It barely, and I mean , barely keeps the place warm in the winter down there! Unless heat pump technology has drastically improved, I can’t see it as a viable alternative

 

[oldpinepoint]

Honestly, glad to see this put on hold. Electric heat pumps may be the future, but they're still not ready for some areas in upstate where temperatures routinely drop in the single digits and feet of snow accumulate. Also, with electric prices on the rise this would cash strap a lot of families. First priority should be getting nuclear back off the ground and electricity prices down.

There is a laundry list of reasons why this is stupid legislation

 

[richmondcuse03]

I have a heat pump on my place n SC. It barely, and I mean , barely keeps the place warm in the winter down there! Unless heat pump technology has drastically improved, I can’t see it as a viable alternative

They have definitely improved over the last five years but whether they're ever good for a climate like Upstate NY is a legit question. They work best from an efficiency perspective when paired with a furnace that kicks in at a certain temperature. That way you get the efficiency gains between 35-60 degrees and below that, you're better with another fuel source. Costs a little more to install but better in long run.

We installed a mini ductless split unit in a sun room recently that works great but we don't care about the room when it gets super cold and can also shut it off from rest of house. It was a far better solution than tapping into other heating sources in rest of house.

 

[oldpinepoint]

They have definitely improved over the last five years but whether they're ever good for a climate like Upstate NY is a legit question. They work best from an efficiency perspective when paired with a furnace that kicks in at a certain temperature. That way you get the efficiency gains between 35-60 degrees and below that, you're better with another fuel source. Costs a little more to install but better in long run.

We installed a mini ductless split unit in a sun room recently that works great but we don't care about the room when it gets super cold and can also shut it off from rest of house. It was a far better solution than tapping into other heating sources in rest of house.

When I was shopping last year for a new heating sources that was my experience. So my basic thought was, you are telling me in Syracuse to have a heat pump I’ll need to buy a furnace for temps below 30 degrees. Why wouldn’t I just get the furnace and traditional AC condenser . The cost for a heat pump was about double to install and the best which is Mitsubishi can be more than that. There are a lot of cheaper made knock offs from china that I couldn’t find good reviews on that all of the HVAC’s are selling. The efficiency gains didn’t make up for the cost increases.

 

[donniesyracuse]

- the economy is bad with lots of unemployment and underemployment - not having BLS data helps mask how bad it’s getting. As someone who hires I can tell you there are lots of people getting axed and while its sometimes due to federal budget cuts that’s just one part of it.

“We have the best economy we’ve ever had.”

 

[Cusefan0307]

They have definitely improved over the last five years but whether they're ever good for a climate like Upstate NY is a legit question. They work best from an efficiency perspective when paired with a furnace that kicks in at a certain temperature. That way you get the efficiency gains between 35-60 degrees and below that, you're better with another fuel source. Costs a little more to install but better in long run.

We installed a mini ductless split unit in a sun room recently that works great but we don't care about the room when it gets super cold and can also shut it off from rest of house. It was a far better solution than tapping into other heating sources in rest of house.

There’s newer heat pumps that are built to work in cold weather, but are very expensive. The best work on geothermal energy. Massachusetts has gone all in on heat pumps. Heating costs in the state are much more expensive there than most states for a variety of reasons. Supposedly they have 100,000 customers that have moved to them permanently. They’ll be an interesting test case.

Massachusetts heat-pump owners are about to get cheaper electricity

 

[Cusefan0307]

Honestly, glad to see this put on hold. Electric heat pumps may be the future, but they're still not ready for some areas in upstate where temperatures routinely drop in the single digits and feet of snow accumulate. Also, with electric prices on the rise this would cash strap a lot of families. First priority should be getting nuclear back off the ground and electricity prices down.

There will be a new Nuclear Plant built in NY likely within the next 5 years and likely on Lake Ontario in Oswego.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

There will be a new Nuclear Plant built in NY likely within the next 5 years and likely on Lake Ontario in Oswego.

It takes 5 years just for an environmental impact study, then another 10 years to actually build.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Congel Destiny USA pie in the sky part 2

The absolute dumbest comparison ever and I keep seeing it. Anyone making this knows nothing.

 

[oldpinepoint]

There’s newer heat pumps that are built to work in cold weather, but are very expensive. The best work on geothermal energy. Massachusetts has gone all in on heat pumps. Heating costs in the state are much more expensive there than most states for a variety of reasons. Supposedly they have 100,000 customers that have moved to them permanently. They’ll be an interesting test case.

Massachusetts heat-pump owners are about to get cheaper electricity

Geothermal is not remotely affordable. I looked at that too.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Geothermal is not remotely affordable. I looked at that too.

To make it affordable I think it will have to be community based. There's a pilot just getting off the ground in CNY shortly.

 

[721Comstock]

Geothermal is not remotely affordable. I looked at that too.

Ditto and ditto.

The break-even point is somewhere between 10-20 years.

 

[Cusefan0307]

It’s being published November 17th.

Here is the EIS for Micron just released today.

https://ongoved.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/11-18-25-OCIDA-Special-Meeting-Board-Packet.pdf

 

[FrancoPizza]

Took a walk into ikea this afternoon. It felt like the floor plan was put together by a kindergartner. There was zero flow and I got lost just trying to figure my out. I’ll be shocked if it makes it to the end of its lease. I’m guessing the full-size stores have more room to breathe and a MUCH better flow?

I don’t like being critical in this regard but what were they thinking?

 

[oldpinepoint]

Took a walk into ikea this afternoon. It felt like the floor plan was put together by a kindergartner. There was zero flow and I got lost just trying to figure my out. I’ll be shocked if it makes it to the end of its lease. I’m guessing the full-size stores have more room to breathe and a MUCH better flow?

I don’t like being critical in this regard but what were they thinking?

My guess is their lease is pretty flexible. Destiny needs ikea way more than ikea needs destiny

 

[Cusefan78]

I have a heat pump on my place n SC. It barely, and I mean , barely keeps the place warm in the winter down there! Unless heat pump technology has drastically improved, I can’t see it as a viable alternative

It has. I have one at my cottage near Kingston Ontario. I have it set to 49 and it stays there all winter. I remotely raise it to 70 the night before I head up and it has no problem getting the place to temp. The one I bought has something called super heat where it can produce heat to -24 degrees. The issue is it loses efficiency the colder it is outside.

 

[Cusefan0307]

This is going to be about two miles from my house and a big reason electricity rates are going to continue to go up throughout the country.

Prominent Syracuse developer plans an electricity-gulping data center in suburbs

The statewide electric grid has been inundated with connection requests from energy-intensive data centers.

www.syracuse.com

 

[richmondcuse03]

It's just crazy...our grids are already strained, rates are expensive...and we're just letting all these data centers get built for AI over ordinary people.

 

[upperdeck]

Took a walk into ikea this afternoon. It felt like the floor plan was put together by a kindergartner. There was zero flow and I got lost just trying to figure my out. I’ll be shocked if it makes it to the end of its lease. I’m guessing the full-size stores have more room to breathe and a MUCH better flow?

I don’t like being critical in this regard but what were they thinking?

is it any different than the one in Toronto?

 

[whobut03]

It's just crazy...our grids are already strained, rates are expensive...and we're just letting all these data centers get built for AI over ordinary people.

Don’t worry, wind and solar energy right!? (Eye roll) lol

 

[721Comstock]

Don’t worry, wind and solar energy right!? (Eye roll) lol

Don’t worry, we’ll just keep on tapping into the unlimited supply of dead dinosaur juice.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Don’t worry, wind and solar energy right!? (Eye roll) lol

I'm for lots of new energy sources. I'd be all in on a mixture of Nuclear, Solar and Wind, depending on where you are. And more distributed battery storage systems for grid reinforcement. Oklahoma is great at wind for example. Super cheap installs and accounts for a big part of their grid. Just depends where. The costs on some of this stuff have drastically come down. Lot of cool stuff in Nuclear happening too.

Natural gas is great as a transition fuel but at some point, the other stuff becomes cheaper and we should go with what's the cheapest depending on where you are (pipelines, grid, etc.).

Grid investments are a necessity.