Ithaca, New York. Onward and upward, especially in the two most densely populated areas of Ithaca, Collegetown and Downtown. The second part of this month’s three-part Architectural Renewal Gallery series focuses on ongoing projects in these two communities. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and read on.
For those of you who missed the first part, you can check out Cornell’s plan, which you can read here.
Visum Development Group will complete its latest project in Collegetown, Bronze at 238 Dryden Road. With the development of the Campus project, the project is not particularly large. Originally planned for eight two-bedroom apartments, the living space on the ground floor appears to have been reconfigured with the addition of a ninth apartment, a one-bedroom apartment, although it looks much the same from the outside. I’m curious if wood slats in the corners will be the end product, but aside from that and the new unit’s ground floor tweaks, it looks exactly like the STREAM Collaborative design.
The apartment has Wi-Fi, dishwasher, washer-dryer, dressing room, balcony and necessary furniture. You can view the floor plan here. The ad touts “Instagram chic Scandinavian style,” which is a clear sign that marketers are working on it. Rent is between $1,600 and $2,200 per month, which is quite expensive in the Ithaca/Tompkins market in general, but maybe a little below average for a new Collegetown apartment. Developers aren’t building in Collegetown because they think it’s prettier, they’re doing it because they know rich Cornell students will pay dearly to build shiny new homes so close to campus.
The official opening date of the project is August 2022, but from experience, developers usually place tenants in their other properties or hotels, as deliveries are delayed by several weeks. On college campuses, deadlines are tight. But many construction issues, from the availability of materials to weather conditions, remained outside the control of the crew. Plumb, Level & Square of Lansing is doing their best to finish the building as soon as reasonably possible. Plumb, Level & Square of Lansing is doing their best to finish the building as soon as reasonably possible. Plumb, Level & Square of Lansing делает все возможное, чтобы закончить строительство как можно скорее. Plumb, Level & Square of Lansing are doing their best to complete the construction as soon as possible.兰辛的Plumb, Level & Square 正在尽最大努力尽快完成这座建筑。兰辛的Plumb, Level & Square Компания Plumb, Level & Square в Лансинге делает все возможное, чтобы завершить строительство как можно быстрее. Plumb, Level & Square in Lansing is doing everything they can to complete construction as quickly as possible.
As for the building itself, there was some fiber cement attached when these photos were taken about a week ago, but the corrugated metal siding and dark brick trim on the bottom is not yet complete. An external roofing membrane (probably synthetic rubber/EPDM) was also not used and no balconies were installed. It may seem like a big deal, but it only takes a few weeks to get the job done. Note that the plan calls for trellises to cover some of the windowless spaces flanked by vines.
Ironically, Visum’s Lux buyers decided to repaint its yellow accents navy blue, while the faded orange roof tiles on the front balcony were repainted brick red. When you buy it for $63.25 million, you can paint however you want.
Moss does not grow on rolling stones. As well as the architectural designs of John Novarra and Phil Prujansky. Construction work is in full swing on Catherine Commons on both sides of the intersection of Catherine Street and College Avenue.
Residential development consists of three high-rise buildings on the Ekaterininskaya Severnaya site and three multi-story buildings on the Ekaterininskaya Yuzhnaya site, a total of six buildings with a total area of ​​265,000 sq. m. legs. The buildings will feature approximately 360 residential units (a net increase of 339 bedrooms over the previous 11 apartments on site), 2,600-square-foot commercial space, a 1,600-square-foot ADA-compliant private fitness center, and a small parking lot for company vehicles. The project also includes streetscape improvements, several ADA-compliant plazas, pedestrian zones, and public bus stop infrastructure. The city approved the project in March.
As with the Cornell North Campus residential addition, ikon.5 was the project architect and Welliver was in charge of the addition. Local firm TWMLA, a landscape architect, is working to integrate the building’s enhanced pedestrian capabilities with the College Avenue redevelopment project. Novarra and Prudjansky’s company, Integrated Acquisition and Development, acted as a non-owner co-developer of the North Campus project, receiving a significant development fee in exchange for lead development on Cornell’s behalf.
Currently, Welliver and his construction team are installing a retaining wall foundation on the southern site and excavating the foundation and retaining wall on the northern site. The cylindrical piles in the first photo are steel tubes used for reinforced concrete piles that can serve as foundations to support the weight of Building 1, which will be nine stories (technically eight stories, with a partially exposed basement). lighter and will use the traditional and cheaper shallow slab foundation as in the second photo. As shown in the last photo, the retaining wall structure consists of steel I-beams with a wooden lagging between the beams and the concrete foundation of the retaining wall immediately behind it.
By August 2024, it is planned to implement projects worth $39.1 million. Surprisingly, the building itself lacks updated renderings, largely because the choice of color for the façade panels is constantly changing. Here you can feel the modern square design from above.
Downtown Ithaca is busy with its own share of construction, with a focus on the Green Street garage lot. A development team led by Marriott co-owner Jeff Rimland of Rimland Properties is rebuilding the eastern third into the Ithacan mixed-use complex.
As planned, the $64.3 million Rimland project will renovate the eastern third of the garage with two levels of public parking (approximately 130 spaces), private ground-level parking for building residents (34 parking spaces), and ten-story residential buildings with approximately 200 units. , mostly with one bedroom, about 40 studios and 40 with two bedrooms. 10% of the units will be listed with an average return of 80% and another 10% will go to the Ithaca College Physician Assistant program. A residential lobby will be located in front of Green Street, as well as a corridor between shops flanking the public areas.
The apartments are not expected to hit the market until early 2024, but the first listings were posted online with built-in washers and dryers, air conditioners, dishwashers, high-speed internet access, hardwood floors, built-in microwaves and refrigerators. Building amenities include a fitness center, lounge, multi-purpose rooms, and a rooftop terrace with grill and sundeck. The rental price is not reported.
Purcell Construction Corporation, which also built downtown near the block, is the prime contractor for The Ithacan. Hanson Aggregates provided approximately 13,000 cubic yards of concrete for the project, with Atlanta-based Cooper Carrie serving as architect.
You can tell how tall the building will be by looking at the stairwell and the core of the elevator – 156 feet 10 inches from the bottom to the top of the mechanical penthouse. Interestingly, the project seems to be using modular blocks to assemble residential parts. For areas that will be clad with Accro Cor-Ten metal panels, they receive additional waterproofing and bonded railings. “Cement veneer” does not require additional work. Now that the slabs have been poured and cured, the stone walls for the parking deck are being installed. Large metal poles protruding from the residential floors of the building are large decorative steel railings for later additions.
In the meantime, work continues on the new garage and mixed-use Asteri project on the other two-thirds of the Green Street Garage site. The center section of the garage was rebuilt in the 2000s to accommodate additional floors and appears to be mostly complete. The signage and trellises used for the vines to “soften” their presence will be installed later in the construction process.
In the meantime, work has begun on the stairwell and lift assembly in the Asteri building, which, when fully expanded, will have 12 floors. The corner next to the garage will be the main entrance to the Ithaca Downtown Convention Center, and the space in between will feature a narrow but landscaped walkway leading to Cinemapolis Plaza and Home Dairy Alley.
Vecino Group’s $108.2 million mixed-use project is a 12-story U-shaped building that will include 350 parking spaces in the renovated Green Street Garage, 54,921 sq. foot of convention center in downtown Ithaca and a small number of shops. space. The top floors of the building will house 181 apartments, ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments, and are designed for those earning 30-80% of the median income in the area.
The project was approved by the Ithaca City Planning Commission in November 2020, with construction officially starting in September 2021, with completion expected in early 2024. Welliver is the general contractor for the garage and conference center, while Vecino’s own construction team is building the apartment building. The Vecino Architectural Department is responsible for the architectural design. Local firm TG Miller PC is the civil engineer and The LA Group is the landscape architect.
I’m not going to lie, I was worried that this project would stop again and send a whole bunch of angry emails to my inbox. The Library Plaza mixed-use redevelopment project on the site of the former library at 310-314 North Cayuga Street was put on hold in March 2020 when the state suspended construction to contain the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic until March 2022. An older market residential project with ground level amenities and a store is the subject of much controversy.
Perhaps some of the anxiety belongs to me. I ask my colleagues to walk by and make sure they can see people on site during business hours.
The structural steel frame continues on the four-story, 86,000-square-foot building with multiple corrugated steel decks on the second floor. To be honest, there is progress, it just looks slow. The program requires completion in the fall of 2023. Travis Hyde Properties was the developer, HOLT Architects designed the building, and LeChase Construction was the general contractor. Taitem Engineering provided design consulting services as the project was designed to meet the State’s high environmental sustainability standards (NYSERDA Multi-Family Building Program Level 3).
The reconstruction of the former School of the Immaculate Conception is nearing completion. Tenants have already begun moving into the townhouses and two-family houses for rent, and residents will move into the former school building in December. Last spring, residents of the main building were awarded as a result of a lottery through an application for qualified residents.
The complex consists of 71 low to middle income apartments and 4 townhouses for sale (blue townhouses on the corner of West Court and North Plain) for low income families, for a total of 75 dwellings. Most apartments generate 50-60% of the borough’s median income, a few apartments 90-100% of the borough’s median income, and are often referred to as “labour housing” in low to medium development parlance.
The $25 million INHS renovation requires partial reuse of the existing school building, preservation of the west wing while replacing the south wing, renovation of the two-family homes at 330 West Buffalo, and three new two-story townhouses along West Buffalo and North Plains streets. .
The basement and first floor of the school’s renovated west wing will provide low-cost office space for non-profit community organizations. Plans to renew the Catholic Charitable Trust are still under way, though delayed in a second phase. The school’s gymnasium was sold to the City of Ithaca with plans to refurbish it as a multi-use facility at the Greater Ithaca Events Center (GIAC).
The overall design is largely in line with what was approved, although the refurbished main entrance to the west wing is a little disappointing. It was originally intended to have a main entrance similar to the south wing overlooking west Buffalo, but this was removed for cost reasons and the old school entrance (only one window, center on the second floor) was renovated instead.
The project is being expanded by Hamilton Stern Construction, a suburb of Rochester, and is their first major project in Tompkins County. Architectural design provided by STREAM Collaborative in Ithaca.
I know it’s not downtown, but I have a third post that will cover the rest of Ithaca, and posting this project here is more appropriate to spread stuff around.
Arnot Realty’s $39.3 million redevelopment project completes the State Street Corridor. The five-story West End Ironworks project will feature 129 apartments and approximately 4,800 square feet of commercial retail space across three storefronts. Units advertise “Imported Italian Cabinets”, ENERGY STAR appliances, plank and tile floors, and ENERGY STAR stainless steel appliances. Amenities include a fitness center, yoga studio, indoor and outdoor lounges, pet facilities, and secure bike parking. The sizes of the apartments vary from studios with an area of ​​421 sq. foot to a two-bedroom apartment of 1024 sq. ft. 49 residential parking spaces will be located at ground level, accessed from the rear of the building on West Seneca Street.
As you may have guessed, rent is not cheap. Prices range from $1,495 to $1,740 per month for studios, $1,795 to $2,595 per month for one-bedroom apartments, and $2,565 to $3,100 per month for two-bedroom apartments, depending on size and location in the building. I have not heard anything about potential tenants of retail space.
In terms of design, the planning department and board members were satisfied with the final product; too often they have approved a plan only to find that it is valued by engineering and reduced to something unimportant by the form it presents. It didn’t happen here. The brick and steel facades are of high quality, and the inclusion of century-old facades in the corners is sympathetic, although the painted brick has its share of critics.
Welliver was also the general contractor for the project, with engineering work provided by TG Miller PC and Taitem Engineering. Eric Colbert & Associates (ECA) of Washington DC did the building design – out-of-town firm perhaps, but Colbert is an Ithaca native. Eric Colbert & Associates (ECA) of Washington DC did the building design – out-of-town firm perhaps, but Colbert is an Ithaca native. Eric Colbert & Associates (ECA) из Вашингтона, округ Колумбия, разработала проект здания — возможно, это была загородная фирма, но Колберт — уроженец Итаки. Eric Colbert & Associates (ECA) of Washington, D.C., designed the building—it may have been an out-of-town firm, but Colbert is an Ithaca native.华盛顿特区的Eric Colbert & Associates (ECA) 进行了建筑设计——也许是外地公司，但Colbert 是伊萨卡人。华盛顿特区的Eric Colbert & Associates (ECA) Eric Colbert & Associates (ECA) в Вашингтоне, округ Колумбия, выполнила архитектурный проект — может быть, фирма из другого города, но Колберт из Итаки. Eric Colbert & Associates (ECA) in Washington, DC, did the architectural design—maybe out of town, but Colbert is from Ithaca.
In College Town, the city of Ithaca has approved a number of small-to-medium infill projects, but construction has yet to begin. These include “Ruby”, a 35-unit apartment building at 228 Dryden Road, a 35-unit building at 121 Oak Avenue built by real estate developer Josh Lower, and a nine-unit development at 325 Dryden Road and Elmwood Avenue , 320. project. Plans are under consideration for a 10-unit Gemstone building at 202 Lyndon Avenue and a 34-unit William building at 100 College Avenue. Going forward, Novarr-Proujansky plans to approve a 30-unit residential building at 109-111 Valentine Place, but work has yet to begin.
In downtown Ithaca, the largest project yet to begin construction is the State Street/Gateway Apartments by developer Jeff Gitens, recently renamed PeakMade Real Estate. The land was purchased for a 321-apartment project whose construction schedule calls for construction to begin in the fall to open everything at the correct seasonal time to coincide with rent adjustments for the August school year. They probably missed last year’s deadline and plan to start in September or October of this year, with the opening taking place in August 2024. New county office buildings are also planned in the 400 block of North Tioga Street, but recent discussions have focused on short-term plans to demolish the existing orthodontic building.
Brian Crandall covers housing and development for Ithaca Voice. He can be contacted at bcrandall@itacavoice.com. Other works by Brian Crandall
The Voice of Ithaca is a non-profit online news site serving Ithaca and Tompkins counties. Launched in June 2014, it is a free and independent news source.