Ithacating in Cornell Heights

Looks like the first stud walls are going up on the third floor of the four-story 210 Linden apartment project (note the basement is partially exposed). Quite a bit of progress from the excavated hole and foundation pad back in February. This is a wood-frame structure with Huber ZIP System plywood panel sheathing and, presumably if like the other Visum projects, Amvic insulated concrete forms at the basement level. ICFs are thermally insulated plastic blocks filled with concrete – they tend to be a more expensive approach, but they also tend to have a higher grade of insulation (higher R-value), making for a more energy-efficient structure, and Visum and its project architect (STREAM Collaborative) have an eye towards net-zero energy capability, meaning all energy consumed by this building comes from renewable sources. ZIP panels are an increasingly popular to the traditional plywood and housewrap method (and since the integrated water-resistive barrier on the ZIP panels is a vivid green, they’re hard to miss). The choice of ZIP panels vs. housewrap really boils down to a matter of preference by the project team; ZIP panels tend to be easier to install (lower labor cost), but more expensive as a product.

Although my October notes show that William H. Lane Inc. was the general contractor on file, it appears that Romig General Contractor is the firm on-site. Romig of Horseheads is not known locally for involvement with multi-family projects, but as partners in Jepsen Romig Development (now Jepsen Holdings Inc.), they’ve been involved with several luxury homes built around the county (Southwoods, South Pointe, etc.) and they state on their website that they’ve provided commercial services to the ScienCenter and the Cayuga Ridge supervised care facility.

Also notable is that it appears the asking price for rent on the four-bedroom units has come down a fair amount since their first advertisements in the fall, from $1250/bedroom to $950/bedroom. This may be anecdotal evidence of some slack in the Collegetown market, as Maplewood’s 872 beds enter and steadily get absorbed into the rental market mix.

Background information on the project and more renders can be found here.