Ithacating in Cornell Heights

I could see the clouds to the north and west, I knew the rain was coming. I even glanced at a radar still on my phone and assumed that, as most fronts tend to do, it was moving west to east in a diagonal SW-NE band – by that logic, I had about fifteen minutes to take photos, run to my car and get my umbrella. As it turns out, the front was pushing north to south. So I did not have fifteen minutes. I had five. Oops.

Anyway, TFC’s new HQ is topped out and decked with corrugated steel (a bit sooner than anticipated), though it’s not built out – the rear (north) flank and the east flank are missing. Those are the portions that will be built over the surface parking. You can make out a couple of the support piles in the pics below, and those will tie into the structural columns in the garage area, and into the structural steel of the upper levels. As noted with 201 College, it’s a bit unexpected that the structure would top out before even a single floor is built out, but it is what it is. The building’s height is there, but in terms of breadth, it’s less than half of the final product. The elevator core is at full height, and the steel stud wall and gypsum sheathing on the back separate the future ground-floor bank branch from the rear parking, which will be reserved for customers and clients. Pipe scaffolding has been erected as workers begin work on the interior (sprinkler system, utilities rough-ins).

Occupancy is intended by March 2018. JPW Erectors, a division of the JPW Companies of Syracuse, is in charge of the framing, while LeChase Construction is the general contractor. HOLT Architects penned the 110,000 SF building’s design.