NWSI hosts Dec. 16 open house to celebrate renovation of first large-scale commercial/residential project

The Near Westside Initiative (NWSI) will host a holiday celebration and open house on Thursday, Dec. 16, from 5:30-7 p.m. to celebrate the completed renovation of the former Lincoln Supply Warehouse, now called the Lincoln Building. The event will take place on the first floor of the Lincoln Building, 109 Otisco St., Syracuse. Parking is available behind the building, off of Tully Street.

The evening will include a brief press conference highlighting the Lincoln Building’s renovation and completion, an announcement of the building’s commercial and residential tenants, a ceremonial lighting of the building, general merriment and a toast to the NWSI’s successes in 2010, as well as hopes for 2011.

“At the beginning of our efforts to revitalize the Near Westside, neighborhood residents told us that tackling the abandoned warehouses on their side of West Street was the signal they needed to believe in this initiative,” says Marilyn Higgins, president of the NWSI board of directors and vice president of Syracuse University’s Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development. “Hundreds of residents are taking part in neighborhood events and participating in the revitalization. This beautiful renovation has contributed mightily to the mounting excitement and enthusiasm that we now see in the neighborhood.”

The NWSI’s first large-scale commercial/residential project, the Lincoln Building is a complete renovation of the 100-year-old former Lincoln Supply Warehouse. The four-story building features 30,000 square feet of mixed-use commercial and residential space and has green building technologies, including energy-efficient geothermal heating and cooling, high efficiency fixtures and appliances, a revolutionary green screen to help cool the building and storm water retention strategies that eliminate all site water from entering the city and county sewer systems. The NWSI will soon apply for LEED certification of the building by the U.S. Green Building Council. The green building technologies were provided to the project through the interest and support of the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (SyracuseCoE).

The first and second floors of the Lincoln Building contain first-class office space, which has already been leased to commercial tenants. The third and fourth floors have been transformed into 10 live-work artist lofts. The loft-style apartments are roughly 1,150 square feet and feature brand new appliances, large work areas, a high-quality kitchen space and in-unit washers and dryers. Ample on-site parking is also available.

The building renovation was designed by the firm of Brininstool + Lynch, based in Chicago. The firm coordinated consulting engineering services provided by Syracuse’s C&S Companies for civil, mechanical, electrical and plumbing; Palucci Engineering PC of Syracuse for structural; Earth Sensitive Solutions, LLC of Skaneateles for geothermal field design; and UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research, and Real Estate in SU’s School of Architecture, for landscape architecture. The contractor for the project was the firm of Rich and Gardner Construction Company of Syracuse.

“The completion of the Lincoln Building marks the unmistakable fact that the Near Westside community is starting to see a radical transformation, where longtime community members and new neighbors are coming together to revitalize this community,” says Maarten Jacobs, director of the NWSI. “The rapid leasing of our commercial and residential spaces demonstrates the fact that the Near Westside is a desirable place to live and work in Syracuse.”

Members of the general public and the media are invited to attend the Lincoln Building holiday open house. For more information, contact Jacobs at (315) 443-0320 or mjacob01@syr.edu.