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Syracuse University recently purchased multiple properties on Marshall Street, syracuse.com reported. The storefronts include Lucy Blu bar, Manny’s clothing store and Mediterranean Combo restaurant.

The purchase cost the university just over $14 million and includes 7 to 8 properties adjoined over two parcels, CNYMediaMatters reported. The new storefronts join various acquisitions by the university in recent years, including The Marshall apartments, Hotel Skyler and the retail spaces housing Faegan’s Cafe & Pub and Varsity Pizza.

SU paid almost six times the combined full market valuations of the properties as assessed by the city’s Department of Assessment, according to CNYMediaMatters. The restaurants and other businesses now housed on university property will continue operations and remain on the tax rolls, Sarah Scalese, SU’s senior associate vice president for communications, said in a statement to The Daily Orange.

Properties acquired by SU do not automatically come off the tax rolls, and remain taxable if used for commercial purposes, according to syracuse.com. Under New York state law, the university can claim full or partial tax exemptions for the properties used for student housing and classes.

Before its most recent transaction, SU had spent a total of over $143 million over the past four years to acquire 11 new properties near campus, syracuse.com reported.

Some of the recent acquisitions, including the Marley Education Building acquired in 2022, have been renovated and prepared as classrooms. The Marley Building, formerly the Harry and Lillian Marley Education Center, was previously owned by Crouse Hospital.

Scalese said the university has no immediate plans to make changes to the newly-acquired spaces.

Published on March 4, 2025 at 7:31 pm

Contact Duncan: digreen@syr.edu