The Village Solars have made progress on their latest pair of apartment buildings. Building “I” has made more progress on its exterior finishes, while “J” is fully framed, roofed and shingled. Both of these will likely open this spring.
It’s starting to get that point where the second stage of the Village Solars may be getting ready for review by the Lansing municipal boards. The last big phase, Phase 4 with Building “K”, “L” and “M”,is likely to get underway this year for a completion in 2018, and phase 2A, the mixed-use Building “F”, has been something of a question mark for exact timing. That will finish out the initial 206 market-rate units, which range from studios to three bedrooms.
There’s an early site plan floating around showing a potential buildout second stage expansion, and although it’s outdated, it gives an idea of the general layout of later phases. Most of the later buildings would be built to the east of the initial phases, as infill between existing apartments. The total number of units in the second expansion was initially about 136 units, but given the recent trend of breaking up larger units into smaller studio units to satisfy market demand, the number is likely to be higher when formal plans are submitted.
Right now, they seem to be about the only large-scale solution to Lansing’s development quandry – the first phase uses natural gas, but with the assistance of green advocacy group Sustainable Tompkins, the later phases have been built to utilize all-electric services with air-sourced heat pumps. This led to new utilities layouts, and the merging of “G” and “H” into one building.
According to an Ithaca Times article from last March, for a 12-unit building at the site (construction cost $2 million), the upfront cost increase was $50,000-$60,000, an increase of 2.5-3%. This is balanced out by the 30-year savings on energy costs for the building ($40,000-$80,000), and a premium on the monthly rents of about $50. Units go for $1050-$1650/month, depending on size and location. Six of the Daikin heat pump units can be seen in the third photo from top.
Ithacating in Cornell Heights 
Although they look nice and are surprisingly affordable for new construction, I still wonder whether these are a good idea. Stacked-flat apartments out in the country like this seem to combine all the isolation of suburban tract housing with all the lack of privacy and usable outdoor space of an urban apartment. Can’t we do better?
These types of buildings in a suburban area are a goldmine. Taking them to a rural are may be challenging tho. The people there are not really used to the lack of privacy. It may appeal to the older generation, who can’t take care of their land anymore and need a new, easier place to live in.
[…] that still plan on building 423 units. That’s a lot more than the ~310 currently on file. The first stage was increased from 174 to 206 as the result of unit-splitting, so the second set of …? That seems to be what’s implied […]