State Tower completes skyscraper restoration

Real Estate Weekly,  Dec 31, 2003  

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State Tower Associates recently completed a major restoration of the first skyscraper built in Syracuse.

The 23-story State Tower Building at 109 South Warren Street remains the tallest building in the city at 313 feet. Designed by New York architects Thompson and Churchill, the skyscraper is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

The refurbishing project included a complete renovation of the building's historic art deco lobby and an upgrade of the building's three main entrances. The original design work in the lobby was done by Rambusch Decorating Co., which was founded in 1898 and today has offices in Jersey City, New Jersey, and a studio in Manhattan.

Kushner Companies, a leading private real estate organization, owns the State Tower Building in partnership with Anthony Fiorito, an architect and real estate developer, and Robert Kelly and William Dutch of Kelly & Dutch Real Estate, Inc.

The partnership recently celebrated the renovation with more than 200 guests, including many of the building's 150 office and retail tenants, community leaders such as Mayor Matt Driscoll and Irwin Davis, executive director of the Downtown Committee of Syracuse and the Metropolitan Development Association.

Since acquiring the 165,000-square-foot property a decade ago, State Tower Associates of Syracuse has invested nearly $5 million in renovations. Phase Two of the building's upgrade--set to begin shortly--will include renovation work around the first-floor retail properties.

In State Tower's approximately 2,200-square-foot lobby, brass work was stripped of painted designs, polished and repainted with the same designs. Marble pilasters (decorative columns) were straightened and the original chandelier was rewired, brought up to code and restored. New art deco-style panels were added to the 26-foot-high ceiling along with enhanced lighting to showcase the designs. To repair the existing floor, a thin layer of marbled flooring was laid in a similar color and design.

The building's exterior also received a facelift. Two worn wood awnings have been replaced with larger art-deco style brass canopies. Additionally, entrances at South Warren and Water streets now feature brick facades, and granite walls were added at Warren and Genesee streets to highlight existing marble and brass elements.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Hagedorn Publication
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