Mayor Walsh Announces Highest Annual Permitted Construction Value
Published on February 14, 2025
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh announced the City of Syracuse Central Permit Office reported 2024 marked the highest permitted construction value total in Syracuse history. The $413.5 million record includes both residential and commercial building permits and represents the projected value of construction work for permits requested annually. The value eclipses the previous high of $399.7 million in 2022.
“Reaching this level is another clear indicator Syracuse is surging,” said Mayor Walsh. “Investment and construction are strong. To respond to this growth, our Central Permit Office continues to implement process changes and develop creative strategies to improve timelines for permit approvals. I am proud of the collective efforts being made across City departments to have greater collaboration, increase efficiencies, and drive progress toward a brighter future.”
The City’s Central Permit Office (CPO) handles between 4,000 to 5,000 permits each year. To better manage the influx of permitting activity, the CPO recently increased its capacity by bringing on third-party firms to help review design plans for compliance. The office is working with these firms to shorten turnaround times for the City’s plan review process, and applicants can also select to pay for an expedited review from these same firms to fit their needs.
The implementation of digitizing permit applications has also helped the office handle the increased workload. Using the City’s Online Application Portal, residents and businesses can submit applications online, search required approvals before starting a project, send questions to City staff, upload plan documents, and pay with a credit card. The portal provides 24-hour electronic access to anyone doing residential and commercial work in the city and is designed to create a workflow leading to quicker application approvals and meetings or inspections getting scheduled.
Some of the projects that were permitted this past year include the Tech Garden expansion, the Chimes Building, the Almus Olver Towers Renovation, the Airport’s SYR Terminal Expansion, Starbucks on Tipperary Hill, the Standard at Syracuse student housing, and Syracuse University’s Catholic Center.
This year, the CPO will be moving all commercial and residential applications online. To learn more about how to use the portal and for a full list of online applications, visit goto.syr.gov/onlineapplications.