When New York tears down the 1.4-mile elevated Interstate 81 in Syracuse, it will leave behind at least 10 acres of vacant land that could become anything – housing, storefronts, parks or a grand welcome-to-Syracuse entrance.

City officials, neighborhood activists, housing advocates and union officials for the first time are publicizing their priorities, exploring ideas and revealing their differences about how that land should be controlled and developed.

It could forever change the landscape in downtown Syracuse and in the residential neighborhood south of downtown.

Mayor Ben Walsh’s administration sees the vacant land as an opportunity to build desperately needed affordable housing.

City officials are strongly considering a new concept that essentially puts the government back in the business of building and operating public housing. This time, however, it relies on a financial model that attracts both low-income and high-income tenants and does not rely so much on government funding.

The New York Civil Liberties Union and other neighborhood activists, however, want to remove the city from decision-making. They are asking the state Department of Transportation to sell the land directly to developers, leaving the city in a position to bid on it like anyone else.

For now, the state owns the land. State officials say they cannot talk about what happens with it until lawsuits over rebuilding I-81 have ended. They previously said they intend to create a working group that would include the city, the NYCLU and others.

Joe Driscoll, who oversees the I-81 project for Walsh, said the city has been “slow cooking” the idea of using government as the lead developer on the vacant land. They have been consulting for about six months with Paul Williams, director of the Center for Public Enterprise in New York, a new think tank interested in energy and housing.

Other U.S. cities are buying into the idea despite skepticism that government can overcome the mistakes of the past and be trusted with managing apartments – a kind of socialized housing more popular in Europe.

The model mimics private real estate development in that high-end rents subsidize low-income units.

Small amounts of public money go into a revolving loan fund that can pay for construction and maintenance costs. That’s different from the current public housing model that relies solely on public money and the whims of Congress and has been criticized for concentrating poverty.

Driscoll points to Montgomery County, Maryland as an example. A public housing authority there is set to build about 9,000 new mixed-income apartments. About 30% will be affordable and the rest will be rented at market rates.

Community groups on the South Side of Syracuse have been advocating for the state to put the vacant land in some kind of land trust. City officials have also been entertaining this idea for years.

The NYCLU says a land trust for the property near Martin Luther King Elementary School should be set up for the Black community living near the viaduct.

The value of a land trust is to keep the land affordable for future generations. A trust would own the land and lease it to builders on something like a 99-year-lease. It stops the next generation of political leaders from converting the property to market-rate housing or commercial space as the neighborhood becomes more and more attractive.

The NYCLU and eight other groups are planning to rally at noon Tuesday in front of the State Office Building to call on the state Department of Transportation to return the land to the 15th Ward community - the Black community divided by the original construction of the highway in the 1950s and ‘60s.

The groups have grown to distrust city officials after a recent rezoning process they said prioritizes developers over Black Syracuse residents.

Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, director of the NYCLU’s Racial Justice Center, said she is disappointed the city rezoned some of the residential neighborhoods near the highway to accommodate high-density, multi-story buildings that could have a mix of apartments and commercial space. She said she expects the city will eventually zone the vacant land in the same way to match the rest of the neighborhood.

She said that kind of zoning does little to protect residents who need affordable housing.

She also said city officials have not demonstrated that current residents will not be displaced. This sentiment goes beyond the 10 or more acres of newly vacant land.

As the highway comes down, the Syracuse Housing Authority and the city have a $1 billion plan to rebuild the neighborhood.

That includes tearing down outdated public housing and using a private developer to develop mixed-income housing in its place. In addition, the city’s Land Bank has also slowly become the largest landowner on the South Side as homes fall into disrepair and tax delinquency. Eventually, whole city blocks will be ready for new development in places that used to be homes and businesses, mostly Black-owned.

“We’ve expressed these concerns for several years in terms of how are we going to ensure residents who live there are not priced out,” Owens-Chaplin said.

Owens-Chaplin said the groups plan to send a letter to the state DOT, asking them to sell the vacant land to developers and cut out the city. They believe the state is in a better position to require new development to be affordable.

“This is something that’s coming from the ground up,” she said. “This is something residents have brought to us for several years. They’re pretty fed up with the city.”

Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens said city officials have been adamant that the land be transferred to the city’s control. Before it is developed, the city would rezone it, go through an environmental review process and community meetings.

That’s why, she said, it is important for the city officials to take control of the land.

“So that we can entertain and go through a public process and look at what development needs to happen,” she said. “Understanding, without question, that it is an opportunity to restore what was lost, particularly for the southern end.”

Owens and Driscoll said both a land trust and the so-called “public developer” concept could happen.

Driscoll said city officials and the NYCLU have the same end goal in mind: Create more affordable places for people to live.

“Our focus when we have meetings every day and when we talk about this project is how do we create this in a way that’s equitable and in tune with the neighborhood,” Driscoll said. “How do we maximize investment with minimizing displacement?”

The city is suffering from a housing crisis. There are more than 1,000 families on a waiting list for relocation to safe rental housing.

In a show of unity, Syracuse common councilors ask the state to give back land that could be developed after the elevated I-81 is removed. Aug. 14, 2023. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com

City councilors also feel strongly that the city should control the land. They stood on the steps of City Hall last Monday to demand that the state transfer the land to the city.

Helen Hudson said she had not yet heard about the public developer concept Walsh’s staff is considering. She said she likes the idea of developing a land trust to control it.

Hudson was also not clear why the NYCLU was planning a rally.

“What the controversy is is beyond me,” she said. “We are looking to recover the land that was taken from us.”

Land is expected to be freed up in two very different areas. On the north end, near the Erie Canal Museum, are several acres that are now used as parking lots under the elevated highway.

The drawings the state submitted as part of the environmental review process are hypothetical. They show a new “Canal District” near the Erie Canal Museum on what is now a parking lot under the viaduct.

The drawings show a park with a pedestrian walkway and a fountain as well as rough sketches of tall buildings. It would be bordered by Salina Street to the west, Water Street to the south and State Street to the East and Willow Street to the north.

The mule driver’s monument, which is on the historic location of the towpath, would be at the heart of the district. There could be an interpretative towpath leading to Clinton Square, state documents show.

The redesign of I-81 in Syracuse will leave vacant land near MLK Elementary School. The state DOT released this drawing.

On the southern end, several acres are expected to become vacant near MLK Elementary School, where the state’s original plans were to build a street roundabout. Neighborhood advocates convinced the state to move the roundabout north, away from the school.

The state owns the land. The state’s hypothetical drawings, for now, show trees and grass in that area.

In previous interviews, state officials have said, they intend to transfer the land to the city. They are highway engineers, not developers.

In Rochester, the state transferred vacant land freed up by the Inner Loop project to the city and the city chose developers.

Read more about I-81 and redeveloping the neighborhood:

It is the largest landowner on Syracuse’s South Side. What’s its plan for that vacant land?

$1 billion plan for Syracuse neighborhood near I-81 revealed: housing, high school stadium, other surprises

What can Syracuse learn from Rochester about rebuilding a neighborhood split by a highway? 7 tips

Black leaders in Syracuse angered and mystified by lawsuit that halts years of work on I-81

A clear direction for the new I-81 in Syracuse: After 15 years of talk, we know where we’re going

Syracuse redefines what makes a home: granny flats, row houses and other affordable housing

Contact Michelle Breidenbach | mbreidenbach@syracuse.com | 315-470-3186.