ITHACA, N.Y. — New York State will contribute $38 million to support SouthWorks, a massive project to redevelop the former Morse Chain Factory site in Ithaca.
The funding for SouthWorks was announced by Governor Kathy Hochul’s Office on Dec. 23. It’s a part of over $463 million awarded by New York to support economic development projects across the state.
The Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council submitted SouthWorks as a candidate in a state competition called Advancing Collaboration for High-impact Initiatives for Economic Visions (ACHIEVE).
ACHIEVE funding was aimed at “high impact, transformational projects” to help spur economic growth and tackle the statewide housing crisis.
Mayor Robert Cantelmo, a member of the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council, said, “Ithaca winning this is an enormously huge deal.”
He added, “With the backing of the state we have a real opportunity to help not just transform this old site and build a brand new neighborhood but also kind of serve as a model and a blueprint for New York’s underutilized and legacy industrial sites.”
SouthWorks is one of the largest development proposals in Tompkins County history. The proposal aims to transform a 95-acre dilapidated industrial site into a new neighborhood, including about 915 units of housing, an innovation hub to nurture start-ups, as well as industrial, retail, and commercial space. The SouthWorks site straddles the border of the town and city of Ithaca
The SouthWorks project has been championed by local developer David Lubin. His company, L-Enterprises, partnered with Xylen Projects, USC Builds and Philadelphia-based SHIFT Capital to realize the SouthWorks development.
Previous construction costs projections put a price tag on SouthWorks at around $588 million. The project’s construction schedule was projected to take about 15 years.
SouthWorks is already slated to receive substantial public financial support. Public support for SouthWorks has been hailed as critical in order to rehabilitate the large swath of land.
The project received a $1 million state grant in July to support infrastructure work.
In October 2024, The Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), an independent authority with the power to grant local tax breaks, approved a complex local property tax break agreement for SouthWorks.
The agreement was estimated to abate about $63 million in local property taxes over the course of 20 years, as well as $22 million in sales and mortgage recording taxes. However, the long time horizon on the tax break agreement, as well as its unique structure, could lead the agreement to being much larger than originally projected.
The successful development of SouthWorks would introduce tens of millions of dollars of new property taxes to local coffers.
Cantelmo said he was proud to celebrate the funding SouthWorks received.
“This crucial state investment will transform and revitalize a long-blighted industrial site and build a new neighborhood for our residents,” Cantelmo said.
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