Turning the corner from 307 College, 205 Dryden (“Dryden South” for marketing purposes) is the third of Collegetown’s midrise apartment buildings under construction. The basement has been excavated and sheet metal piles keep the surrounding soil from spilling back in. The basement will contain the mechanical room and storage space. Structural steel has been erected up to street level. In the second image, the outlines of future interior basement walls and the base of the future elevator shaft can be seen.
In what’s sure to stoke a few tempers, prices for Dryden South have been priced at $1350/bedroom per month, meaning $5400/month for each 4-bedroom unit. Incredibly expensive, but not especially surprising given the astronomically high land values in central Collegetown. Owner Pat Kraft, who also runs Kraftee’s book store, has actively marketed the apartments on Facebook, Craigslist and its own website.
When completed in July/August 2016, the 6-story, 65-foot structure will house Kraftee’s in 2,400 SF of retail space on its ground floor, and 2 4-bedroom apartments on each of the upper five floors, for a total of 10 units and 40 bedrooms.
As you can tell from the first photo, apart from the demolition earlier this summer, work has yet to begin on John Novarr’s Collegetown Dryden project next door. But with approvals in hand, that six-story research/office building will be starting something in the next month, if the site plan review document is still accurate. The $6.4 million project was designed by Ithaca architect Jagat Sharma and Rochester-based LeChase Contruction is in charge of the build-out.
Ithacating in Cornell Heights 
BC, you may have answered this somewhere else, but I was wondering about the site just to the west of this building (SW corner of College and Dryden), is Novarr still going to go ahead with the apartment building there? Seems like he might hold off until Fane gets his corner of College/Dryden worked out with the city. May end up with an increase in height (floors/beds) for those sites. Anything to ease the housing crunch.
There hasn’t been any news about the corner site on College and Dryden. Novarr might be holding off for a year or two while he focuses on 215 Dryden and (if the permits ever get issued) Collegetown Terrace Phase III. Haven’t heard anything about Fane’s 330 College site either.
[…] That’s comparable, or a little more than, the Lofts @ Six Mile Creek. It also draws parallels to inner Collegetown projects like Dryden South, where rents will be $1350/bedroom. But those projects fall in traditionally high land-value […]