Syracuse, N.Y. – The proposed new state budget includes $3 million to help launch Syracuse’s largest housing subdivision in decades, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday.
Hochul announced during a visit to Syracuse that the $263 billion fiscal year 2026 state budget agreement she has reached with lawmakers includes $3 million to extend sewers to the former Lafayette Hills country club on Lafayette Road.
A California developer, Kassie Smith of KS Global Development, has proposed building nearly 300 homes, a 9-hole golf course, man-made lakes and public walking and biking trails at the former golf course, which closed in 2013.
But Smith told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard last month the project needed $3 million in government assistance to extend sewers from East Seneca Turnpike down Lafayette Road to the development site. The assistance would help make the project financially feasible, she said.
The former golf course is split between the city and the town of Onondaga.
Construction would occur in three phases, with the first two phases consisting of 263 single-family homes and townhomes, man-made lakes, parks, a fitness center, a community clubhouse and pool, and an integrated walking and biking trail system on the Syracuse side of the property.
The third phase would be built on the Onondaga side of the site and include a 9-hole executive golf course, at least 25 “estate” homes, many of which would overlook the golf course, a fitness center, and a large clubhouse with a restaurant and lounge and event space for weddings and other occasions.
Syracuse and Onondaga County officials have been eager to see more homes built to accommodate an expected increase in the area’s population once Micron Technology builds its planned semiconductor plant in Clay.
Residential and commercial growth spurred by Micron could bring up to 64,000 new residents to the region, according to Micron’s draft environmental impact report.
Hochul came to Syracuse to tout more than $500 million in the budget agreement to make home ownership more affordable statewide.
The governor also announced that the budget includes $2.3 million for a proposed 245-room hotel, to be named Onondaga Hotel, at South Warren and East Fayette streets in downtown Syracuse.
Syracuse Lodging Associates LLC, an affiliate of Indianapolis-based hotel developer Sun Development & Management Corp., is the developer of the project.
Hochul also trumpeted a previously announced $450 million included in the budget agreement for a new emergency department and annex at state-owned Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse.
She had previously proposed $200 million in her budget to get the project started but decided to give Upstate the full amount it was seeking after touring the hospital’s outdated and crowded ER.
“I thought about it and realized I don’t want to delay the opportunity to have this world class emergency room to be built as soon as possible,” she said. “This community deserves it. This area has to have a better facility because it serves all of upstate.”
Dr. Mantosh Dewan, president of Upstate Medical University, called the $450 million state funding “critical” for the hospital.
“We have been working in a facility that was built in 1965 and renovated in 1990,” he said. “It’s too small and it’s truly uncomfortable for patients. Patients are being treated in the hallways.”
Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | X | Facebook | 315-470-3148
