Work continues at the Village Solars apartment project in Lansing, though it’s mostly been interior construction these past couple months. 102 Village Place has had some of its composite wood siding applied (LP SmartSide treated and engineered wood siding), and the electrical wiring and air-source heat pump units are in place, though not fully connected just yet.
102 VP was already framed, roofed and fitted by the November visit, so chances are, they’ve already done utilities rough-ins and insulation, and they’ve moved on to drywall, baseboards and interior trim boards, priming and painting, and maybe some plumbing fixture and cabinetry installs. The three-story apartment building, which replaces a ten-unit 1970s structure, will have 24 units – 12 studios, three 1-bedroom, six 2-bedroom, and three 3-bedroom. If one wants to look at this from a population perspective, each of the ten units was a 1-bedroom, so the back of the envelope says there will be a net gain of 26 residents (one per bedroom, 36 – 10). And presumably, a couple million dollars in assessed value.
116 Village Place, the younger of the pair, is not as far along but has been fully framed, wrapped and shingled since November, and some siding has been attached. It looks like not all the windows have been fitted, given the wrapped rough opening on the third floor in the first photo below. Based off the open door in that same photo, it looks like framing, insulation and utilities rough-ins (plumbing, electrical, HVAC) are ongoing. 116 is the smaller building of the two, with 18 units, 12 studios and six 2-bedrooms. Like 102, it also replaces an older apartment building, an eight-unit structure of one-bedroom units (and 14 more residents on-site, using the same math as before).
Lifestyle Properties is the developer, with their in-house contractor in charge of construction. It doesn’t look like the new units are being marketed yet, but existing 2-bedrooms are going for $1,325/month, and 3-bedrooms for $1,375-$1,720/month. Anecdotally, Lifestyle has had an easier time filling the smaller units than the larger 3-bedroom units.
Ithacating in Cornell Heights 
It’s amazing to me that solar can be profitable in a cloudy place like Upstate NY. I guess it’s sunny enough over the whole year to make up for the winter. On the other hand, renewables have a long way to go in this country before we can make a sizable dent in our carbon footprint. Watching this industry develop is very interesting.
Well, it’s not so much the sun, but rather the batteries used for storage have made huge gains in efficiency while costs have dropped overall. The recent tariffs will be a setback, but over the next few years, solar will continue to grow and mature, comprising an ever-larger share of the energy production market. The best opportunities won’t be here though, they’ll be in sunnier, more rural areas.
Hi B.C.,
Thank you for your blog.
I am a tenant at Village Solar. Currently there is a huge issue with heat and hot water. It’s been 3 months that I have sporadic heat and hot water in my appartment. It works then doesn’t work, during the day, at night. This is a nightmare. I am not the only one with that issue so I guess it is not a maintenance issue but an equipment issue. The Lucente family doesn’t seem too concerned about their tenants who paid at $1400 per months to consider replacing whatever they need to replace and repair. Since I get lot of information on your blog about housing in Ithaca as well as what Lifestyle Properties is doing, I wonder if you have information about where to report these issues. The website of the city of Ithaca doesn’t have contact information under fair housing. Who should I contact? Where can I find the contact information of inspectors? Any information that could help. Thank you very much!