Ithacating in Cornell Heights

Well, as I said not too long ago, not all projects can be expected to succeed. Here’s this little gem from Edelman RE:

“Location, Location, Location! 106 LOTS APPROVED SUBDIVISION!Project is situated in heart of the Fingerlakes, minutes to the city of Ithaca and home to CORNELL UNIVERSITY and ITHACA COLLEGE. Dynamic LAKE views, abutting forever wild Black Diamond Trail compliments this rare opportunity. Adjacent to hospital and other professional services. Buyer has option to use designated plans or to use their own. This is your great investment!”

I thought about this for a moment. What project do I know that was approved for 106 units and abuts the Black Diamond Trail, and is close to the medical center? It’s not like there were many choices.

The project was finally approved last April after jumping through a larger number of bureaucratic loops, mostly because it’s in one of the most rapidly developing parts of the county. Among the requirements for approval including an unrestricted bus pass for each unit, and that 10% of the clustered one-and-two story townhome units be made affordable. So now, no units, no extra traffic…and no affordable housing, no extra tax income, and rising real estate prices and property taxes for an area that does not have enough supply for demand. At the very least, a waste of time for a lot of stakeholders in the project.

For the record, the land, project, and all its approvals, could be yours for a cool $7.75 million.