Tourism and convention business have served as a key driver of revenue and growth with respect to the local economy. Key to that success has been an abundance of diverse and quality hotel rooms and meeting space. In recent years, we have seen a significant number of hotels come offline and subsequently jeopardize our ability to attract new convention business or accommodate visitors and tourists to the area.
Further compounding the issue are the massive investments being made by Micron at the White Pine Commerce Park as well as the numerous supply chain companies expected to follow suit. In 2025 another major tourism attraction will be coming online with the Onondaga County Aquarium at the Inner Harbor. These are just a few examples of the clear and immediate need for new, quality hotel rooms in Onondaga County. To incentivize this private sector investment Onondaga County has created the Onondaga County Hotel Initiative.
The Onondaga County Hotel Initiative will be seeded with $4,000,000 and award grants ranging from $50,000 to $750,000 to developers to assist in closing funding gaps in new hotel construction and/or incentivize existing hotels to add rooms to their current hotel stock in Onondaga County. Criteria will be established to grade each proposal including, but not limited to, type of hotel, how quickly it will come online and location.
Onondaga County Community Development will operate the Onondaga County Hotel Initiative and funding awards will be made on a rolling basis.
Developers will submit documentation showing they have a viable project and the financing to proceed. After initial review of the developer’s submission, a meeting with the developer and the Onondaga County Hotel Initiative review team will be held. The review team will consist of the Director of Community Development, a representative from the Office of the County Executive, the Onondaga County Economic Development Legislative Chair as well as representatives from Visit Syracuse, CenterState CEO and ASM. Developers who are awarded this funding will be notified by Community Development and the disbursement of funds will be determined between the county and the developer.
Information on proposed projects to be considered for this funding may be submitted electronically at: cd@ongov.net.
If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Marty Skahen, Director of Community Development, at martinskahen@ongov.net or 315-435-3558.
Thank you |
