New headquarters for the Syracuse Community Federal Credit Union will open at 1816 Erie Boulevard East. This 1994 vintage medical office building was sold December 29, 2021 by its original owner for $600,000, negotiated by Karen LaRocca and Richard Robb of Sutton Real Estate. Edward Kiesa of CBRE represented the buyer.

Plans for the building include adding drive-thru banking services by extending a driveway to accommodate vehicle circulation; erecting a canopy for weather-protected services; and interior alterations to accommodate back-office and retail banking with an opening this year.

Real Estate Salesperson Kristen Nave helped arrange the transaction of 1,900 square feet of office space at The Foundry building at 432 North Franklin Street in Franklin Square. She worked alongside Bill Anninos of CBRE/Syracuse to help Dakota Wealth Management, an independent investment-management firm serving high-net-worth individuals, lease the space.

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Karen Cannata-LaRocca and Kristen Nave represented the Landlord in the lease of 3,370 SF Office Space at 5750 Commons Park Drive, East Syracuse, NY 13057. Carole Iseneker from Pavia Real Estate represented the tenant, Mohawk Valley Retina.

Karen Cannata-LaRocca represented the seller in the sale of 6528 East Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville, NY 13078, which sold for $105,000.00

Cannata-LaRocca handled the sale of 112 Leo Ave, East Syracuse, NY 13057, representing the seller, John Adamy. The property consists of approximately 2,592 SF on a .83 acre lot. The buyer, Samphier Smooth Floors, bought it for $135,000.00

Steve Saleski and Karen Cannata-LaRocca brokered the sale of a three multi-family property portfolio – 9 Genesee St., Camillus, NY 13031, 308 Case St., Solvay, NY 13209, and 200-206 Ulster St., Syracuse, NY 13204 – totaling $ 780,000.00

The original owners of Strathmore Coatings have sold their remaining property – 1816 West Fayette Street on Syracuse, NY near west side – to Learning Tree LLC of Syracuse.

Strathmore opened its paint manufacturing plant and retail shop in the 1870 vintage building in the 1950’s. Prior to this time, it had been used for a variety of uses including fire truck manufacturing and a local post office. Along the original Erie Canal and railroad, it was an industrial hub in a workmans neighborhood that still exists and known as Tipperary Hill for the original Irish residents.

The property sold for $315,000 in a transaction requiring diligent work and commitment by both parties and their representatives. Sutton Real Estate Salespersons Karen LaRocca and Richard Robb and Scott Dumas of SmartCore Consulting represented the seller and buyer.

As a thirty year practitioner of public land planning and now working in commercial real estate, I am in a unique position of seeing how these practices complement one another.  At first thought, these practices have little in common beyond their subject matter – land and the ways it’s used by people.

I knew the language of real estate but not the tools or techniques that make it work. In contrast, I studied land use planning and practiced at several towns and county. I hoped to make a smooth transition from public service to real estate sales with a lot of support from the Sutton team, training seminars and requisite study for state licensing!

Similar Goals – The prime objective of the real estate industry is to seek the highest and best  use for land while the guiding light of public land use planning is the highest and most compatible  use of land. “Highest and best use” or HBU is a phrase we fundamentally understand: maximize the use of land to maximum value!

HBU serves many masters from appraisal, land assessment and taxation and, for the real estate industry, a benchmark of the market.

Public Land Planning – Plans alone do not ensure that what is planned will be carried out. Creative communities in past centuries experimented with defining areas of different uses –  zoning land – and assigning uses permitted in each. Compatible uses would adjoin like uses identified on a zoning map and detailed in a code. Typical zoning codes include allowed uses, parcel sizes, dimensions, building heights and size, parking requirements, etc.  Just 95 years ago (1926) the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged zoning as a legitimate use of municipal authority and communities nationwide adopted zoning as a way to control  development.

In practice, public land use planning is fundamentally a negotiation for the use of land by society – its citizens, business and government. Ideally, a negotiation proceeds through a series of meetings guided by a community’s “master” or “comprehensive” plan. Governmental bodies such as planning boards, zoning boards and legislative bodies interact with applicants and citizens to find a legally permissible and publicly acceptable plan for land improvement. Interaction in a public setting is intended to reach decision(s) acceptable to most parties. Negotiation, when done well contributes to the common good.

I like to think that my dual experience helps me better serve my customers and clients.  Whether through general real estate advice or conferring on right-to-build issues and general regulatory process, more knowledge is always a plus.

Richard T. Robb 

Licensed Real Estate Salesperson