Ithacating in Cornell Heights

Another project in the mad dash for a summer completion (7/7/2016) is Pat Kraft’s mixed-use building at 205 Dryden Road, the “Dryden South” apartments. Workers under the direction of Rochester’s LeChase Construction are building up the reinforced concrete frame, and you can see steel rebar poking out of the fourth floor, which will be wrapped in wood forms and encased in concrete, with enough rebar poking out at the top to tie-in to future sections. The construction crane comes from C.P. Ward, a construction contractor in suburban Rochester. On the outside, the CMU walls are being assembled; not a whole lot of aesthetic effort is being put into the appearance of the east wall because it will be hidden by the 209-215 Dryden project within months of completion, although the renders show slit-windows on the building’s east face.

Kraftee’s was slated to occupy the first floor retail space, but the space is now being retooled. The project is in MU-2 zoning, and is legally obligated to have “active use” commercial on the 2,400 SF first floor: hotel, bank, theater, retail, and/or food service.

It looks Dryden South’s website has been overhauled. Apparently, if the building isn’t ready by August 1st, Kraft will refund renters twice the daily rent until the building is issued a certificate of occupancy. Rents range from $1190-$1350 per month, per bedroom, which is quite expensive, but this is also Inner Collegetown, which has the highest real estate values in the city.