Hotel Syracuse
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Hotel Syracuse
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| Location | 500 S. Warren St., Syracuse, New York |
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| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Built | 1924 |
| Architect | Post, George B. & Sons |
| Architectural style | Renaissance |
| NRHP Reference # | 08000141 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | March 5, 2008 |
The Marriott Syracuse Downtown, formerly known as the Hotel Syracuse, is a historic hotel built in 1924 and located at 500 South Warren Street, Syracuse, New York. It closed in 2004 and is currently being restored for a planned reopening in June, 2016.[2]
Contents
Architecture
It is significant in that it is "an excellent example of an early 20th century modern hotel designed by one of the leading hotel designers of the day." It was designed by William Stone Post of George B. Post & Sons of New York City in 1921.[3]
Early History
1927 - American Aviator Hero Charles Lindbergh visited the hotel to talk about his historic - first trans Atlantic - flight from New York to Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis.
In 1983 the hotel was expanded with a new tower wing and renamed The Hilton at Syracuse Square.[4]
The hotel eventually left Hilton in the 1990s and returned to its original name.
In 2004, Downtown Syracuse suffered a major blow when the Hotel Syracuse closed. The 790-room hotel found itself battling bankruptcy.
Failed Renovation Plans
In December 2004, the city announced that a million-dollar payment by the chief creditor of the Hotel Syracuse would settle the unpaid property taxes dispute. This allowed the hotel to emerge from bankruptcy.
In August 2005, the Israeli firm GMUL agreed to buy the Hotel Syracuse and its garage, and renovate the property into a new four-star hotel and condos. More detailed plans became public in December 2005,[5] listing the following plans for the complex: 54 condominiums located in the 1983 tower, 155-room business hotel, 150 Apartments, Restoration of banquet facilities and street-level store-fronts, Rehabilitation of the complex's parking garage, Pool and gym
In May 2006, the Hotel Syracuse was sold to another Israeli company, AMERIS Holdings Ltd, as part of a larger package deal, which included other assets acquired from GMUL. AMERIS Holdings Ltd, controlled by Levi Kushnir and his son Elad, has a large portfolio of development across the globe and specifically in the USA. The new owners reconfigured some of the previous plans. Rather than selling condominiums in the tower, the condo portion of the project was to be shifted into the historic building. When ownership changed in 2006, Ameris Holdings ltd. reopened the banquet facilities, which had been closed for several years. Shortly after, the garage was fully renovated (Opened September 1, 2007), and the complex hosted some large-scale events, including the Syracuse Film Festival in April 2007. In July 2007, work began on converting the 1983 tower to apartments. Then-mayor Matt Driscoll committed to turning Onondaga Street near the hotel complex into a park, in order to push the development along. Hotel Syracuse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.[1]
Ameris went bankrupt later in 2008, however, and work on the apartment tower was halted when about eighty percent complete. The 1983 tower, renamed Symphony Tower, was eventually severed from the rest of the building and sold to the Hayner Hoyt Corporation for $1.4 million in 2012.[6] As of 2014, that sale was still the focus of ongoing litigation, and the Symphony Tower remains vacant.[7]
Current Restoration
On April 14, 2013, Boston-based Pyramid Hotel Group made an offer of an undisclosed amount to the City of Syracuse to renovate and reopen the Hotel Syracuse. The City of Syracuse began a seizure process against the hotel's Israeli owners, GML, for $500,000 in unpaid back taxes.[8]
Ed Riley, senior vice president of project management for Pyramid Hotel Group, said that if the deal were to go through, the hotel would be reopened with 260-280 rooms. He estimated that a renovation would take 14–16 months, and cost over $60 million. Riley said the hotel's rooms are too small and badly outdated. They would need to be renovated and enlarged, with all-new bathrooms installed, he said. He said the hotel's spacious lobby and its ballrooms need updating but are in relatively good shape and would be preserved. Many city officials have been pushing for a hotel to complement the 99,000 square foot Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center. The Hotel Syracuse is located just a block and a half away and many feel that a revamped Hotel Syracuse could serve the purpose of being the convention center hotel.[8]
In 2014 Ed Riley finally acquired the Hotel Syracuse. As of June 22, 2015, work on the $57 Million Dollar restoration project had already begun[9] The Hotel is slated to open for business in the Spring of 2016 with 261 guest rooms and all major historic spaces returned to their former grandeur.[9] On June 26, 2015, the hotel was renamed 'Marriott Syracuse Downtown', which will be its official name when it reopens.[10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/syrmc-syracuse-marriott-downtown/
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=ZdiBONHPnJcC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=%22hotel+syracuse%22+hilton+1924&source=bl&ots=qXevhvQfBt&sig=hyAkHJrzAv5EKEl0cYVYJ7z5E2A&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZVgwU9vCHeyQyQGozYHIAg&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22hotel%20syracuse%22%20hilton%201924&f=false
- ↑ Knauss, Tim (December 16, 2005). "Condos, ballrooms for Hotel Syracuse". The Post-Standard, p. A1.
- ↑ http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/syracuse_company_buys_symphony.html
- ↑ http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/court_ruling_may_speed_up_redevelopment_of_former_hotel_syracuse_tower.html
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 http://www.syracuse.com/business-news/index.ssf/2015/06/hotel_syracuse_lobby_being_restored_to_former_grandeur.html
- ↑ http://wrvo.org/post/hotel-syracuse-renamed-rebranded-still-historic
