The Equitable Towers are among the best known landmarks in downtown Syracuse — the home of the company formerly known as AXA.

The company's lease for the buildings ends in 2023. But that doesn't mean they'll be abandoning Syracuse. Equitable is planning to build a three-story, 125,000-square foot building. It would cost at least $50 million to build and keep 500 jobs in Syracuse.

"And that's gonna have a really good impact I think on not only the neighborhood where they're located, but also certainly the assets and the amenities that all of their employees take advantage of," said Jen Tifft, deputy commissioner of Syracuse Neighborhood and Business Development.

Keeping them in town would come with incentives — a mortgage tax exemption of more than $300,000 and sales tax exemptions of almost $3 million.

"They could have decided to make the move elsewhere. So the fact that they did decide to commit here I think is a really important win for our city and our community," said Tifft.

Nothing is final yet, but if the project happens, it will be in the Inner Harbor, abandoning the current towers.

"We're also pretty excited though that there's a willingness to invest in the Inner Harbor, which is an area that has a lot of vacancy and has a lot of room to grow and a lot of potential," said Tifft.

Ground likely wouldn't break until 2021 on an expected two years of construction.