Ithacating in Cornell Heights

Not much left to go here. 619 West State Street, the future home of HOLT Architects, is near the finish line. The wood siding has been attached, although it’s hard to tell if the (dormer? periscope window?) will be sided with wood or the off-white metal paneling like most of the plaza. It doesn’t look like the rooftop solar panels have been installed yet, but they’re on the to-do list. Exterior and interior work is a little further behind on the rental portions of the building, where two smaller commercial spaces will be available to tenants. Someone from HOLT feel free to comment, but I think one of the spaces is already spoken for.

I can vouch from being that that HOLT’s interior space is nearly complete, and looks great. The lime green paint in the entrance area stands out and gives it a certain liveliness. I was tempted to take photos, but there were multiple people working inside finishing up HOLT’s space last Saturday, and I felt uneasy with the idea of interrupting for an impromptu tour. So I was that guy, staring inside, awkwardly holding his camera phone, before giving in to preconceived social mores and leaving them be. I guess I’m a lot more comfortable bothering people when they’re outdoors.

Tompkins Trust Company is providing the financing, and local company McPherson Builders is in charge of general construction. The project cost for the net-zero energy structure comes in at about $482,500, based off the construction loan on file with the county. More discussion about the net-zero features can be found here, and HOLT’s move to the West End here.