Hotel Syracuse - Excellence in Historic Renovation

Posted May 17, 2017

Built in 1924, the 12-story Hotel Syracuse was considered the largest and most prestigious hotel in Syracuse, New York. In 2004, Hotel Syracuse closed its doors and would not reopen until 2016 as the Marriott Syracuse Downtown. In 2014, visionary and Developer Ed Riley, Syracuse Community Hotel Restoration, proposed a $57 million renovation and restoration bringing the Hotel Syracuse back as a full-service hotel.

CHA was contracted to be the environmental engineer for the restoration of this last grand hotel in Syracuse. The project involved property transaction due diligence, assessing site conditions and remediation where applicable. The historic elements of this 12-story hotel were brought back to life through a complete building renovation.

“Often the environmental group works at the very beginning of projects to ensure an environmentally friendly and safe space for other site activities to occur. After that, we typically don’t revisit the project,” said Chris Mullin, principal engineer, CHA Consulting, Inc. “We had an exceptional opportunity to witness our early efforts bloom due to the location of this project, immediately adjacent to our Syracuse Office. It was exciting to watch the rebirth of a historic Syracuse monument through all stages of construction.”

The Marriott Syracuse Downtown, formerly known as the Hotel Syracuse, was selected by the Preservation League of New York State to receive the 2017 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award. The annual Excellence in Historic Preservation Award recognizes the completion of outstanding restoration projects and elevates the visibility of projects that serve as inspiration to others. The preservation league of New York State’s annual Excellence in Historic Preservation Awards was held on Wednesday, May 10th at the New York Yacht Club in New York City.