The first three apartment buildings of the Village Solars apartment project in Lansing are fully framed, sheathed (I’m assuming the red panels are sheathing material), roofed, and windows and doors have been installed in most locations. The light-colored material might be a breathable wrap for weather/moisture resistance. It will be a little while before exterior finishes are applied and balconies are installed. When I visited last Saturday, the site was buzzing with the sounds of construction workers busy with tasks inside (probably rough-ins for things like plumbing and electrical), and ’80s hair metal streaming from a radio somewhere from within. Nothing like installing pipes while rocking out to Twisted Sister.
The Village Solars get their name from what the craigslist sales pitch calls “their passive solar design and energy saving features”. As far as I’m aware, they won’t have solar panels. According to Thomas Bobnick, the rental agent for the apartments, the first phase shown here will consist of 36 units (the final buildout will be close to 300 units). The design of the complex calls for at least eight, maybe ten buildings to surround a new pond that will be dug out of the undeveloped middle of the property – the advertisements call it “waterfront”, which it is, technically.
From the craigslist advertisements, one-bedroom units will rent for $1050-$1145 and be ready for occupancy by June 1st, two-bedroom units will rent for $1235-$1369 and be ready for tenants on May 1st, and three-bedroom units will rent for $1565-$1600 and be available on June 1st. These dates are pushed back a little from initial plans, which called for March and April occupancy; no doubt the severe winter has complicated the schedule. Looking at the photos, the two buildings under construction on the west and east ends look to be one style (balconies in the middle), while the center building is a different layout and design (end balconies). The price range for the two bedrooms is a little above the average two-bedroom unit in Ithaca ($1,165), but after accounting for the premium on new construction, the developer seems to be pricing for the middle tier of the market.
The Village Solars are being developed by local company Lifestyle Properties. Lifestyle is run by Steve Lucente of the Lucente family, who have been major builder/developers in Ithaca since the 1950s. No one word on the architect. Upstate Contractors of Syracuse appears to be handling the construction work.
Ithacating in Cornell Heights 
[…] planning an August 1st move-in date, based off the dates in the rental advertisements. These dates have been pushed back from the May and June dates that were noted back in the February post, and those had already been a push back from original dates in March and April. Further pushbacks […]
I was a carpenter on the first units of this 8-10 unit project. Upstate Contractors were not the ones who Constructed these first buildings of this project. STEVENS CONSTRUCTION OUT OF ITHACA NEW YORK. I guess to a lot of people this isnt a big deal. For me on the other hand it is due to the fact of being one of the people whom constructed the first phase of this project and discovering later that you and/or the company you work for are not even given credit for the work you did. Especially when you were there in -12 degree winter weather shingleing an 8-12 pitch roof you literally cant stand on covered in 1″ of ice. And the shingles being so froze that I could only take 1 at a time up four stories after defrosting each one in front of a heater. Theres many reasons besides this but this was a big one for me because I was one of the ones throwing these shingles to dry in the apartment building. Also not to mention a few of us almost getting hurt severely and/or almost dying while setting the trusses in a ton of ice and snow. And we found the way we needed to be able to put down the rubber for the balconies. Sorry if this comment page wasnt suppose to be used in this manor I just didn’t feel like others should get credit knowing and feeling the pain we went through that winter. Thanks for reading have a great day. FYI Upstate Contractors weren’t even on site until drywall and finishes were going into these buildings, they had absolutely no role in the framing/construction of the first phase of village circle Dr. housing project.