Hart Lyman Companies and Conifer Realty Announce Major Great Northern Mall Redevelopment Updates

Clay, N.Y., March 14, 2024 — The Hart Lyman Companies and Conifer Realty today revealed the next step in their plans to radically redevelop, rename, and redefine Great Northern Mall. After careful review and extensive consultation with town and county leaders, a site application was submitted to the Town of Clay today and renderings were released publicly that include new housing, medical facilities, professional offices, a Clay Community Center, hotels and unique retail, dining and entertainment options. 

Hart Lyman and Conifer’s planned development of 215-acres incorporating the area formerly Great Northern Mall will create a vibrant town center. This more than $1.0 billion investment will transform the area into a thriving community with a walkable town center, entertainment district, health and wellness campus, and premier residential community. The mall site will establish a dynamic, engaging environment where people can seamlessly live, work, shop, and dine.

 The project numbers are impressive, and include:

• Over 600,000 square feet of retail, community, grocery, restaurant and entertainment space
• More than 790,000 square feet of medical and office space
• Over 750 hotel rooms
• And most impressively, several mixed-use clusters, each featuring 300-500 new housing units with options for all members of the community who wish to call Clay home.
  

The large scope of the visionary project will require a substantial investment, reflecting the developers’ commitment to creating a regionally first of its kind town center. Complete with lifestyle amenities located in one place, it will provide residents throughout the Syracuse MSA with a recruitment tool for area businesses to address our area’s housing shortage and accommodate expected growth from the Micron project. 

With hopes of finalizing permitting and approvals quickly, construction is slated to begin in Q4 of this year.

"This project is transformative for the Town of Clay and our region,” said Guy Hart, Jr., Managing Partner of the Hart Lyman Companies. “Our goal is to reverse decades of sprawl and segregation between housing and lifestyle amenities that isolate people from each other and stifle a sense of community and building relationships between neighbors. It will enable our community to redevelop a blighted mall into a truly unique and dynamic environment. Over the many months since we acquired the property, we brought on a best-in-class team of professionals to design an ambitious project. This site doesn’t just provide housing, it provides better housing and a recruitment tool for healthcare institutions, businesses that locate here and anyone who points to the inspiration it evokes. By providing housing, a new Town of Clay Community Center, medical facilities, and hotels, we will establish a premier site for Central New York that will accommodate future growth and create a unique living environment."

"This is a significant milestone as we work to transform Great Northern Mall. With our partners at Hart Lyman, and in collaboration with local leaders and stakeholders, we are on an exciting journey to revitalize this space into a vibrant community hub that will help to breathe new life into our region,” said Sam Leone, president, Conifer Realty LLC. “This project is not merely about revitalizing a mall; it's about providing much needed high-quality, housing supply and choices and laying the foundation for a thriving community that meets the evolving needs of our area and fosters growth and prosperity for years to come."

“We are pleased to support this bright new chapter for the Great Northern Mall and to have a hand in delivering a top-tier live, work, play district to the residents of Clay and the wider region,” said Paul Odland, member of the Board of Conifer Realty and Founder & CEO of Belveron Partners. “This development will provide a wealth of economic possibilities and create jobs while holistically responding to current and future housing needs, namely a wider array of high-quality options and increased supply."

The new Town of Clay Community Center will be a public venue where residents go for a variety of purposes, including socializing, participating in recreational or educational activities, gaining information, and seeking support services.

Town of Clay Supervisor Damian Ulatowski, heralded the announcement, “The redevelopment of the former Great Northern Mall is a priority for the Town and this ambitious plan by Hart Lyman and Conifer will improve the quality of life for all the residents of Clay.” “With space for a Clay Community Center, housing, entertainment, and healthcare facilities, it will provide our residents with options they have never had before."

The extensive redevelopment plan is inspired by Ryan McMahon’s vision of a county interspersed with vibrant “town centers” and articulated by Onondaga County’s Comprehensive Plan. 

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said, "We have always known the former Great Northern Mall site offered incredible potential to become a premier, center driven development. Thanks to the vision and partnership from Hart Lyman Companies and Conifer Reality, that potential will soon be realized." McMahon continued, "This redevelopment will establish a dynamic, engaging environment that will add much need housing units as well as retail, office, grocery, restaurant and entertainment space. This transformational project is an important part of our efforts to ensure we maximize the opportunity in front of us and look forward to more exciting announcements in the future."

About Hart Lyman Companies

The Hart Lyman Companies, LLC (HLC) is a real estate investment and development firm with over 50 years of commercial real estate development and leasing experience.  Since inception, the firm has developed and operated a diversified portfolio of office, industrial, retail and residential properties in the Eastern United States. HLC and its related companies have developed millions of square feet of commercial property in hundreds of projects totaling over $1 billion. HLC is headquartered in Syracuse, New York.