CAZENOVIA — On May 5, the Village of Cazenovia Board of Trustees approved the final report of the Cazenovia College Redevelopment Study.
The Cazenovia College Board of Trustees announced in December 2022 that, due to financial concerns, the historic institution would permanently close following the spring 2023 semester.
The village and the Cazenovia Area Community Development Association (CACDA) engaged MRB Group — an engineering, architecture, and municipal planning company — and sub-consultant EDR to support a redevelopment study for the former Cazenovia College campus and facilities.
The study began in January 2024. The scope was adjusted throughout the process, but it ultimately focused on the current condition of the campus, including its buildings and infrastructure; market analyses to inform viable reuse scenarios; and planning for future redevelopment.
The village received state and federal grants to help cover the cost of the study. The Town of Cazenovia and Village of Cazenovia also contributed, and CACDA provided in-kind assistance via Lauren Lines’ administration of the grants and active role in the plan’s development.
Now that the board has accepted the report, CACDA can apply for final reimbursements from the grants.
Before the vote, Tracy Verrier of MRB Group presented some report highlights and responded to questions from the board and the public. Sam Gordon of EDR was also present.
Campus condition
According to Verrier, an architect and structural engineer conducted visual assessments of 16 buildings, and a mechanical, electrical, and plumbing consultant looked at the mechanicals for 14 buildings.
“Generally speaking, the types of issues that they found were not super concerning,” Verrier said. “They didn’t think anything was going to fall down, but there are things that are going to need to be addressed with the buildings because they are old and have been subject to the elements for many years.”
Some of the common issues identified include rusting and corrosion on building floor structures; roofs that have exceeded or are approaching their anticipated useful life; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems that have exceeded or are approaching their anticipated useful life; code violations related to the electrical system; wear to masonry and exterior woodwork; and accessibility features that do not meet modern accessibility guidelines.
“For being old buildings, the architects and structural engineers were pretty happy with what they found,” said Verrier. “It’s not perfect; there are going to need to be investments made, but most of the buildings are certainly salvageable. We are not talking about a situation where buildings need to be coming down necessarily.”
Historic building review
Verrier reported that Joy Hall and the Jephson Campus buildings are listed on State and National Registers for Historic Places (S/NRHP). Those buildings and the three “Lincklean houses” are part of the Village Historic District.
In 2023, the NYS Historic Preservation Office identified the main campus as a potential additional historic district eligible for listing on S/NRHP. In 2024, Part 1 Application Cover Sheets were submitted for 18 buildings, initiating the process of potentially establishing a Cazenovia College Historic District and listing on S/NRHP.
The next steps are to submit the Historic District Nomination and full Part 1 applications for each building. If approved, the buildings will be eligible for state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.
According to the report, developers who decide to use such tax credits must coordinate with state and/or federal agencies to ensure the preservation of historic features.
“It is also a really great way to help fund a really tough renovation,” said Verrier. “Historic buildings [are] hard, they are expensive. Trying to put a sprinkler or an elevator in a historic building is a nightmare, so the historic tax credits [would] really come in handy for developers that do want to preserve the campus.”
Parking potential
According to Verrier, a primary barrier to potential reuse is the limited parking on and around the campus outside the lot at the athletic center.
“People aren’t going to want to walk to the athletic center if their office is on campus or their home is on campus,” she said.
EDR was tasked with developing conceptual options for additional parking on and around the campus.
“[It was important to try] to make sure that that is being balanced with the community experience of the campus,” Verrier said. “We didn’t necessarily just want to say, ‘Hey, pave the quad;’ that’s not going to work for the community, so what are the options to create additional parking for new uses? These are all concepts. It doesn’t mean that all of them are going to happen. It doesn’t mean that any of them are going to happen. These are simply ideas at this point. The decision to implement them will be based on the future uses and the parking requirements for those uses.”
Between campus-owned parking, on-street parking, and potential shared parking, there are just over 600 existing spaces on and around the campus; most are by the athletic center.
According to Gordon, EDR identified almost 200 potential additional spaces on campus-owned properties. Some are by the athletic center, and others are in new small-scale “pocket” parking lots tucked in between and behind buildings on the main campus.
EDR also developed concepts requiring cooperation with neighboring property owners to create shared parking opportunities. One idea involves removing Sigety Hall, replacing it with additional parking, and connecting that new lot with privately-owned lots to the south. Another idea calls for reconfigured and shared parking with St. James Roman Catholic Church.
EDR’s Potential Parking Concepts map also features some pull-around areas/drop-off zones.
The final report includes images showing current pedestrian views alongside renderings of what the conceptual new parking and driveway areas would look like from each view. The views are from outside the main campus, looking toward campus buildings and features.
The report notes that the study explored the potential for diagonal parking along the streets surrounding the campus core area. Ultimately, however, it was determined that diagonal parking would be unsafe and/or infeasible due to the street widths and traffic patterns.
Reuse recommendations
Based on market analyses, building conditions, and public input, the report recommends a multi-purpose reuse of the campus, with the most viable uses being housing, retail that supports tourism and quality of life, office uses, and community uses.
Regarding housing, the report points specifically to middle market rental units targeted to young professionals and the area’s workforce; high-end rental units targeted to new regional workers (e.g. Micron management), high earners leaving the Syracuse market, and adults looking to downsize; the return of some campus buildings to their original single-family use; and senior housing, particularly units with medical or supportive services.
Data suggests that the campus could support tourism and quality of life retail uses such as restaurants, bars, entertainment businesses, arts and cultural facilities, traveler accommodations, and specialty food stores.
The report recognizes that the campus could be well-suited for offices related to healthcare, particularly physician and dentist offices; individual and family services, such as counseling, youth centers, and supports for the elderly and the disabled; and employment services, such as recruiting and placement services.
It also acknowledges that New York’s statewide effort to grow semiconductor and high-tech industry clusters could bring new economic development opportunities to Cazenovia.
“The Cazenovia campus is well suited to support these emerging industry clusters through ancillary services, research, and/or training,” the report says. “It will be critical to have ongoing connection to and collaboration with regional partners to understand and plan for these prospects as they arise.”
Special use buildings
To offer insight into what reopening the college’s athletic center and theater for public use might entail, MRB reviewed four similar athletic facilities and the financials of three theater facilities throughout New York State.
MRB also conducted a visual architectural inspection of Cazenovia’s Stephen M. Schneeweiss Athletic Complex and Catherine Cummings Theatre. The facilities were determined to be in good condition, but they require some improvements to address safety and building integrity. The minimum estimated costs of the recommended building improvements are $538,000 for the athletic complex and $36,500 for the theater.
“It’s really hard to run a community athletic center,” said Verrier. “It relies on multiple sources of funding and a really strong operational structure, typically a non-profit, although there are some for-profit entities.”
According to the study findings, crucial revenue sources for such centers are memberships, program fees, facility rentals, donations and grants, and investment income. Some also have endowment-like accounts that contribute to ongoing financial sustainability.
The key takeaways from the review of NYS community theaters are that programming costs more than it makes; the theaters rely on donations, rentals, grants, and investment income; and expenses increase year after year.
“The income they are bringing in from their programs is not enough to sustain the theater,” Verrier said. “It’s also a really hard thing to make work, but it is not impossible. There are great examples of great theaters that are making it work, but there is a lot of reliance on community support, beyond just buying tickets to events.”
Mayor Kurt Wheeler announced that the final report link will be posted on the village website as soon as it is received from MRB. It will also be available at 9fresh.co and futureofcazenovia.org.
9 Fresh update
Following the presentation, Kate Brodock, general partner of 9 Fresh, provided an update on the local effort to acquire and redevelop the campus.
9 Fresh is a team of local investors that was, until fairly recently, under contract to purchase all the Cazenovia College-owned properties.
During the final stages of due diligence, 9 Fresh asked for an extension to ensure the thorough completion of the process; that request was denied. As a result, it had to pull its original bid.
Brodock reported that her team is days away from resubmitting its bid.
“We are hoping that it will be successful,” she said.
Wheeler added that, to his knowledge, there are no other active bids at present.
The Village of Cazenovia Board of Trustees typically meets on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the village municipal building at 90 Albany St.
