SYRACUSE, N.Y. – From a modest home on the southwest side to a 15-story downtown high-rise, these 10 Syracuse buildings share one thing in common: years and years of unpaid taxes.

They are the Top 10 tax-delinquent properties on a roster of more than 2,000 Syracuse buildings that are at least two years behind on taxes. The ranking includes only parcels with buildings. Tax-delinquent vacant lots, of which the city has more than 1,000, were not included in the Top 10.

Related item: A searchable list of all seizable tax-delinquent properties in Syracuse.

City officials are gradually seizing properties that are more than two years delinquent and transferring them to the Greater Syracuse Land Bank, which sells them to new owners. Each property on this list was eligible for tax foreclosure as of April 7, according to city records.

Here are the Top 10:

No. 1: The Winkelman site, 101-13 and 102 Greenway Ave.
Delinquent amount: $2.19 million (2 adjacent parcels combined)
Owner: GSI of Virginia Inc.

This is a property nobody wants. Anchored by an abandoned and fire-damaged 72,000-square-foot industrial facility, the parcel is listed as a hazardous waste site and a waste tire dump by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Hidden behind the Teall Avenue Post Office, the facility was originally owned by D.W. Winkelman Co., a once-prominent regional construction company. The current owner is listed as GSI of Virginia, a defunct company started in 1991 by a Winkelman relative. The delinquent taxes go back to 1984. Because of the environmental issues, the city is unlikely to seize the property.

No. 2. Former Nynex building, 300 Washington St.
Delinquent amount: $2.13 million
Owner: 300 Washington St. LLC

Syracuse officials tried to sell this former telephone company office building last year to a local developer, but the Brooklyn-based owner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection two days before the city was to seize the parcel. The city continues to try to get control over the building. Anticipating a successful outcome, the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council in September recommended a $2.8 million state grant to subsidize redevelopment of the building. The oldest tax liens date back to 2004.
 

No. 3: Symphony Tower complex, 111-13 E. Onondaga St. and 457 S. Salina St.
Delinquent amount: $1.06 million (two adjacent parcels combined)
Owner: Symphony Tower LLC, an affiliate of Hayner Hoyt Corp.

Construction company Hayner Hoyt started renovating this vacant 30-year-old hotel building into 75 apartments in 2007, but stopped after the building’s former owner defaulted on its mortgage. Hayner Hoyt then bought the property, formerly known as the “new” section of the Hotel Syracuse, at a 2012 foreclosure sale, but its ownership has been contested by another lienholder. Hayner Hoyt owns two adjacent parcels, the hotel tower and a smaller building next door that houses the former hotel pool.

No. 4: The former Fields Welding Service, 1208-18 S. Salina St.
Delinquent amount: $643,458
Owner: Leroy Fields

City records describe the building as an abandoned gas station. It last housed Fields Welding Service, a business operated by Leroy Fields, who died in 2011. About three years ago, the city carved out a separate parcel that includes only the billboard in the parking lot, for which somebody pays the taxes, Assessor David Clifford said. Delinquent taxes on the building parcel date back to 1977. The property is unlikely to be seized because of potential environmental liabilities.

No. 5: Hotel Syracuse, 100-108 E. Onondaga St.
Delinquent amount: $267,179
Owner: GML Syracuse LLC

City officials tried last year to seize the historic hotel, but a lienholder paid enough taxes to stave off the tax foreclosure, prompting the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency to approve a plan to take it through eminent domain. Now the property is eligible for tax foreclosure again. City officials say they will continue trying to buy the hotel or to seize it through eminent domain, but they might also commence tax foreclosure. SIDA plans to lease the shuttered hotel to developer Ed Riley, who said he would reopen it as a 261-room convention center hotel.

No. 6: Consolidated Industries factory, 541 Seymour St.
Delinquent amount: $228,886
Owner: Consolidated Industries Inc.

The last owner of this manufacturing facility, Consolidated Industries of Greater Syracuse, went out of business in 2001. The nonprofit organization ran sheltered workshops for people with disabilities. The delinquent taxes date back to 2000.

No. 7: The “Gothic cottage,” 1631 S. Salina St.
Delinquent amount: $195,812
Owner: New Jerusalem Church of God in Christ

Built in 1850, this rare Gothic Revival structure is the oldest home in the South Salina Street Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. For decades, preservationists and city planners have tried to save the house. Syracuse Model Neighborhood Corp., a nonprofit, won a $150,000 state grant last year to rehabilitate the property, but the grant fell short by at least half of what the project would cost, said Paul Driscoll, commissioner of neighborhood and business development.

No. 8: Anthony River factory, 117-29 Fabius St.
Delinquent amount: $195,275
Owner: Anthony River Inc.

Anthony River, a metal finishing company, owns this light manufacturing and warehouse facility. Company officials did not respond to requests for comment. The oldest back taxes are from 2002.

No. 8: Clean All Products, 834-38 Erie Blvd W.
Delinquent taxes: $141,402
Owner: Severino Gonnella

Gonnella, the fourth-generation president of Clean All Products, said he is working to correct the tax delinquency and hopes to have it cleared up within six months. Many of the back taxes piled up while ownership of the business was tied up in probate following the 2009 death of his father, Gonnella said. The oldest tax lien is from 2006. Clean All Products is a supplier of bleach, detergents and pool chemicals.

No. 10: Three-family residence, 168-70 Hudson St.
Delinquent taxes: $107,045
Owner: Ella Mae Potter

Potter, an octogenarian, is widely respected for her anti-crime and community-building efforts on the city’s southwest side. Nearly all of her taxes have been paid since 2004, but she has older tax liens dating as far back as 1982. More than 70 percent of her debt represents interest and penalties on the old tax liens. Potter’s daughter, Robin Potter-Butler, attempted to buy the house at a city tax auction in 2002, but the city rejected her purchase because she was a relative. Potter-Butler sued to gain title to the property, and her lawsuit remains active and unresolved, city officials said.

Contact Tim Knauss at tknauss@syracuse.com or 315-470-3023 or follow on Twitter @TimKnauss.