Ithacating in Cornell Heights

Not much to add here beyond the blurb in the Voice roundup. The Ithaka Terraces are likely to be finished this spring. There is nothing public regarding any sales figures for the ten 2-bedroom and two 3-bedroom units. I’m not sure if another visit is necessary, though maybe if they set up a model unit and don’t mind a nosy blogger, there will be one last photo set.

There’s a lot to like here. As condominiums, they provide an opportunity for home ownership in a city increasing occupied by rentals. With any hope, they’ll be a sales success and encourage other projects to follow suit with their own plans. It’s infill on an fire-destroyed vacant lot, it’s an attractive design, the net-zero energy arrangement is highly appealing from a sustainability perspective, and it’s a few million dollars of property back on the tax rolls (the destroyed property was repossessed by the county, transferred to the city and sold in a competitive bidding process; the first call for proposals attempted to earmark as affordable housing only, but no one submitted bids).

If there any criticism to levy here, it’s not necessarily an issue with just this project, but I’ve had emails calling it gentrification and ‘luxury housing that Ithaca doesn’t need’. But if people are buying here, then they aren’t buying another city property and potentially outbidding someone with fewer dollars to spend. A little additional supply to take pressure taken off the market is welcome. As noted above, the city tried to sell the lot for affordable housing, but it didn’t pan out (not unlike the issues with 402 South Cayuga Street a block away). Additionally, this project is fully taxed, the project team did not seek abatements.

The condos are the work of PPM Homes (Ed Cope), with technical assistance from T.G. Miller P.C. and Taitem Engineering, architectural design work curtesy of STREAM Collaborative, and off-site solar panel installation courtesy of Renovus Solar.