Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - It is probably one of the most recognizable changes to Downtown Syracuse. A six-story building on the fringe of Armory Square is about to come to life.
The engineering firm O'Brien and Gere, which will occupy most of the building, is just a few weeks away from moving its business there. In contrast to many companies, such as Excellus, the firm is making its move from suburban DeWitt to the downtown business district.
After several years away from downtown, the firm will occupy a brand new building in the heart of the Salt City. The new location is just a couple of blocks from the historic location where the firm started 65 years ago.
"So you see a little bit of federal style on the gray, terracotta coming off the brick work in Armory Square and then the steel curtain which adds a little bit of newness," said O'Brien and Gere senior officer Ron Panek.
O'Brien and Gere will use floors three, four, and five of 333 West Washington Street. HSBC will put a bank branch and its mortgage department on the first floor, and site developer the Pioneer Companies will take most of the sixth floor. Pioneer says they are still in talks with a couple of potential tenants for the second floor.
The new building incorporates elements like a green roof and other features to make it more environmentally friendly. Company representatives say a heavy reliance on technology and a move away from paper also helps. Additionally, it allows the firm to occupy less room in the new building than it has had at the DeWitt offices it will soon vacate.
While there is still a bit of work to do before move at the end of the month, firm representatives say they'll be ready on time for this major change to their operation and to the make up of Downtown Syracuse.
"It was important to us, an organization being in the environmental market, to have a green building which this will be. We're actually reducing our carbon footprint here in Syracuse by 25 percent," said O'Brien and Gere CEO Terry Brown.
The downtown location will also give the firm more convenient access to their other business partners. "We have a state of the art building, state of the art technology and its going to attract some of the best and the brightest, which we need to sustain our business," Brown said.
The new downtown resident should be good news for the growing and changing face of Downtown Syracuse. Downtown merchants hope the approximately 300 employees will also generate a boost to the economy.
"The amount of growth is amazing down here right now, whether its people living down here, which also has grown quite a lot," said Kitty Hoyne's owner David Hoyne.
"We can have lunch with our friends and go to a restaurant and we can walk and after work we can go out and socialize with our friends without having to hop in a car," Brown said.
Brown noted that firm believes Syracuse must re-establish the urban core that once anchored the city.
"We really need to start building the center core of Syracuse so everyone can benefit in the entire region. I'm a believer if you build it they'll come and I think there is a little bit of that happening right now," he said.
Hoyne said that other new downtown additions, such as Urban Outfitters, along with O'Brien and Gere, are giving new life to Downtown Syracuse.
"People come in and they see there are new things happening downtown that people are making a statement about Syracuse and that's a huge statement," Hoyne said.
O'Brien and Gere is planning to finish work on Thursday, Aug. 26, in DeWitt and start up again downtown with about 300 people on the following Monday morning.
