Good news for homeowner-occupants in the Westcott Neighborhood.
The University Neighborhood Preservation Association (UNPA) has changed its incentive program for homeowners in its coverage area, shifting from grants helping owner-occupants purchase homes to loans assisting homeowner-occupantsa with repairs and improvements.
Owner-occupants can apply for the UNPA loans, as administered under the Home HeadQuarters umbrella, here: https://www.homehq.org/homeowner-loans-grants#unpa
Homes within the area indicated on the map are eligible for the loans. This is the area first identified in the 1990s when UNPA was created to incentivize owner-occupancy in the face of expanding pressure from student rentals due to increased Syracuse University enrollments.
The pressure has not lessened over the decades, and now more properties than ever in the Greater University-Westcott area are rentals. The erection of massive new “luxury student housing” apartment complexes with thousands of new beds has not released more properties back onto the housing market for prospective owner-occupants, despite increased demand for houses for all income levels in the neighborhood.
Additionally, preliminary observations indicate a new surge in purchase of owner-occupant homes for use as short-term “Airbnb” type rentals. This market appears to be expanding to the east of Westcott Street, the area formally less dominated by rental properties.
According to neighborhood-wide research by WNA’s Andy Leahy, 2024 was the worst year for conversion of owner-occupant houses to rentals — at least since data tracking began in 2018. Thirty houses net became rentals that year. UNPA’s original task to stem the loss of owner-occupied houses may have had some impact over the years, but ultimately its limited resources failed to turn the tide.
UNPA was originally established in the 1990s, and the organization offered forgivable mortgages of generally $5,100 to home buyers, dischargeable without interest or repayment after seven years of occupancy. UNPA was established as a non-profit, using an annual allotment of funds negotiated by the city from Syracuse University as “compensation’ for the university annexing several city streets into its campus, and for other unspecified impacts upon the neighborhood. The amount of funds from the SU and City Services Agreement available to UNPA and other Eastside organizations has decreased over the years, while the costs of home purchases have risen dramatically.
Meanwhile, competition for houses of interest to prospective owner-occupants is high in the neighborhood, and the $5,100 subsidy – even if available – would not make a significant dent in the cost of purchase. Instead, with more limited funds, UNPA has decided to assist existing homeowners with repairs needed to keep up the functionality, appearance and value of their houses. The hoped-for advantage is that these buildings will be in good enough condition to appeal to future owner-occupants when they come on the market again.
The loan program will supply the difference in the cost of a 7-year loan between the full interest rate needed back by Home HeadQuarters and 1%, so the applicant can apply for up to $25,000 — with no income eligibility requirements — and will repay the loan at 1%.
The program is particularly welcome now – when almost 2,000 properties are included in the recently designated Westcott-University Neighborhood National Register Historic District. That allows most homeowners to apply for 20% state income tax credits on repair and improvement work that is approved by the State Historic Preservation Office. In the one year since the district designation, 48 owners-occupants have successfully applied for tax credits for repairs and improvements totaling over 1,300,000. It is expected that this number will be even larger in the second year of the program. Additionally, many applications for state and federal tax credits for improvements to commercial properties (rentals) have been made, and WNA will have these numbers soon.
You can read more about the historic district here: https://www.syr.gov/Departments/Planning-and-Sustainability/Planning-Initiatives/Proposed-Westcott-University-Neighborhood-National-Register-Historic-District
Not all houses in the Historic District are deemed historically “eligible” for tax credits (generally buildings erected after 1940 are excluded), but all owner-occupied houses from any decade are eligible for UNPA home improvement loans. Unfortunately, a few blocks with historically eligible houses located to the north of East Genesee Street and south of Broad Street that were originally proposed for the district were cut out in the final designation. These blocks have many owner-occupied houses. WNA is researching how these properties might be made eligible for tax credit and loans for home improvements.
UNPA also funds a similar program from the same source for the Outer Comstock Neighborhood. Details on the similar Outer Comstock Neighborhood 1% Home Improvement Loan Program can be found in a different sub-section: https://www.homehq.org/homeowner-loans-grants#ocna
Outer Comstock properties are not eligible for historic property tax credits.