Ithacating in Cornell Heights

At the never-ending Village Solars apartment complex in Lansing, Building “I” is nearly complete from the outside. It sports a few details that make it stand apart from earlier phases – the balconies railings are a different design, a dark-colored fiber cement board is being used for some of the balcony alcoves, and the heat pumps have been hidden away under a wood lattice screen. Given how clean the immediate project site is, it would not be a surprise if this building is aiming for a May 1 occupancy.

Meanwhile, Building “J” is a little further behind – the windows and doors have been fitted and the roofing is complete, but the exterior wood grain and fiber cement panels are still a work in progress, as is the building trim. The doors on the upper levels will likely lead to small juliette balconies like those seen here. Inside, it’s stud walls and rough-ins, and there did not appear to be any drywall hung yet.You can see the unscreened Daikin heat pumps in the fourth photo below. It looks like the roofing was done by T and J Associated Contractors out of Auburn.

It doesn’t look like work has started on Phase 4 yet, which should consist of the last three buildings in the first stage of build-out (“K”, “L”, and “M”). If it’s anything like the previous phases, the construction team will start with the Phase 4 site clearing this summer. The later stages of development call for multiple phases to the east, and possible replacement of some of the older 1970s apartment buildings with newer structures [3/22 Town Board Minutes]. Potentially, the complete build-out would be around 423 units, from 400 SF studio micro-units to 1,185 SF three-bedroom two-bath apartments. Keep in mind, that would be several years out, well into the next decade. Along with those units come community space, retail components, expanded trail and outdoor components and a bus stop.

Rents look to be in the middle of the market – the micro-unit studios start at $865/month, going all the way up to top-of-the-line three-bedroom units at $1680/month. One-bedrooms and two-bedrooms start at $950/month and $1260/month respectively.

While looking around, an older gentlemen walking his dog went in and out; dunno if it was a relative of the Lucente family (the owner/developers, d/b/a Lifestyle Properties), or a curious onlooker.