CENTERSTATE CEO WORKS TO ADDRESS HOUSING NEEDS

With Micron Technology’s planned development in Central New York, CenterState CEO is engaged in addressing the project’s anticipated challenges and opportunities. Among them, it is focused on the growing housing demand that will be created by Micron, its suppliers and other projects resulting from continuing economic growth in the region. With the creation of more than 9,000 direct jobs, 9,431 indirect supplier jobs and 32,474 induced jobs over the next 20 years, the need for housing exists at every level.

CEO’s Strategic Planning and Policy team is monitoring data and trends to help identify and advance strategies to address current and impending challenges, such as an often slow permitting processes; years of exclusionary zoning practices and home rule; availability of skilled trades talent; financial unrest to finance housing; supply chain issues; and a pending eviction crisis. CNY Fair Housing recently released a new report on Exclusionary Zoning in Onondaga County that also reveals substantive findings to consider.

For the region to be able to absorb the anticipated demand for housing, a muti-dimensional strategy is needed, including renovation of existing units, re-purposing of older commercial property, the development of town centers championed by Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, and infill development on sites with existing infrastructure in place to support new development. To support Micron and its supplier’s growth, the pace of approvals and new projects must quicken, and sources of financing must be identified. A goal is to deliver new units without driving up the price of existing housing or undermining the region’s quality of life, valuable open space, recreational areas and agricultural land.   

CEO is working with partners at every level on this issue, including Onondaga County (O-CHIP); the City of Syracuse (ReZone Syracuse); and New York State (New York Housing Compact); among others, to help develop strategies and create solutions. It is also in contact with developers who are considering building new units in the area, talking to municipalities about their housing needs, and identifying sites where new housing could be built in the community.