Ithacating in Cornell Heights

So here’s some good news – 210 Linden Avenue is moving forward once again. The city’s Board of Public Works (BPW) held a special meeting on the 30th that would create a loading zone in front of 210 Linden Avenue. This is important because the new state fire code restrictions say no construction can occur along Linden since the street is no longer considered wide enough. By eliminating the parking space in front of 210 Linden and replacing it with a loading zone, it created a “wider” street since a fire crew would no longer have to worry about parked cars along the street frontage. This made it easier for the project to obtain a fire code variance from the state.

BPW is ostensibly not a fan of the arrangement, but given that the developer (Visum) was notified by the city of the change after the existing building had been torn down, they were willing to grant the loading zone given the unique circumstances.

Well, mostly unique. One other project was subject to the the same issue under very similar circumstances – Novarr-Mackesey’s 238 Linden Avenue. That project team is also asking for a loading zone during this month’s BPW meeting, and hopes to be granted a state fire code variance as well (and 210 Linden gives them reason to be optimistic). While every future project planned for Linden is now in limbo, it appears likely these two will be able to move forward.

Also in the good news category, a state fire code variance was granted for another Visum project, 118 College Avenue, under the expectation that the city and NYSEG will follow through with their plans to bury the power lines on College Avenue in the next two years. With the lines to be buried relatively soon, the state felt comfortable granting the variance for a building taller than 30 feet (118 College is just under 45 feet).

The buildings are aiming for an August 2018 completion. They are wood-framed structures, which in comparable economic circumstances, can move along faster than a concrete or steel. Even then, it’s still going to be a tight deadline for William H. Lane Inc.

A glance at Zillow shows that the basement 1-bedroom unit appears to be spoken for (the basement unit was a modification to the original plan, perhaps because many amenities will be shared with its siblings 201 College and “The Lux” at 232-236 Dryden Road), but the nine 4-bedrooms/2-bath units (1,365-1,440 SF) have not. Zillow says there are ten 4-bedroom units – that doesn’t seem correct. They are going for $4,400 apiece, or $1,100 a bedroom. That’s actually a sizable price drop from the $5,000/month they were being offered for before the fire code debacle.