Construction is expected to start on Syracuse University’s $62.5 million National Veterans Resource Complex by December or January, university officials announced Monday.

The project’s anticipated completion date has now been pushed back to the spring 2020 semester. SU initially expected to finish NVRC construction by the spring or summer of 2019. 

Officials on Monday publicly provided the first concrete timeline detailing NVRC construction since the project was announced in 2015. 

Mike Haynie, vice chancellor of strategic initiatives and innovation, said the NVRC will be open to students in spring 2020. 

Haynie and other high-ranking SU officials detailed the plans at a public forum held near downtown Syracuse at the Syracuse Center of Excellence. A handful of residents attended the meeting.

The NVRC will serve as a regional veterans community hub, housing SU’s Office of Veteran and Military Affairs and the Army and Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, among other programs.

The building will be located at the intersection of South Crouse and Waverly avenues.

Officials expect the NVRC to generate $300 million in “regional economic activity.”

Construction was pushed back because NVRC fundraising efforts took longer than expected, Haynie said. SU had to meet fundraising benchmarks before taking the project to Board of Trustees members for approval, he added. The vice chancellor did not detail what those benchmarks were.

A state grant awarded as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Upstate Revitalization Initiative covered about $12.5 million in project costs.

Joe Alfieri, head of SU Campus Planning, Design and Construction, said university officials are expected to present NVRC plans before the city Planning Commission on Oct. 16.

The commission needs to review design plans to make sure the building is compliant with a set of zoning codes specific to college areas in Syracuse called the Planned Institutional District, Alfieri said.

Officials will review the NVRC’s anticipated height and parking options, among other things, he added.

If approved by the Planning Commission, Alfieri said SU must apply for two city permits before construction starts: a sitework and foundations permit and a building permit.

“The first (permit) would allow us to start the excavation, the foundations,” Alfieri said.

SU has held two NVRC pre-development meetings with officials from the Syracuse Fire Department, Department of Public Works, Department of Engineering and Water Department, Alfieri added.

Those meetings focused on how the NVRC will connect to city utilities such as water mains, sewer lines and the stormwater management system.

At the forum, Syracuse Common Council member Nader Maroun said he supports the NVRC, recalling how his father was a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II, making the project a personal matter. Maroun also said the NVRC complements the nearby Syracuse VA Medical Center.

“We certainly will do our part to help with this project,” said Maroun, who represents District 5. “You have our guarantee.”

Maroun’s district includes the NVRC location and portions of Marshall Street and Waverly Avenue. 

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Haynie on Monday also provided some details on how SU exactly thinks the NVRC will generate $300 million in “regional economic activity.” 

The NVRC will bring an additional 5,000 annual “hotel nights” to central New York, Haynie said, generating $2.5 million in additional local room occupancy and sales tax each year. SU anticipates the building to produce $22 million in “outside financial influx” from travel and tourism, Haynie added.

SU’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families will be housed in the NVRC. IVMF, a national organization, could host events at the building and draw people to Syracuse, Haynie said.

“This is fantastic,” said Maroun near the end of the forum. “This is a fantastic project.”

Published on September 18, 2017 at 11:43 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek