With 400-404 Stewart Avenue complete, developer Jim Goldman is focusing on the completion of the other half of his reconstruction, 406 Stewart Avenue. This is the property that Goldman originally owned and was destroyed in the spread of the fire that erupted at the Chapter House building. Architect Jason K. Demarest’s 3.5 story design is completely framed and sheathed in ZIP Panels; the panels are then covered in HydroGap, a premium grade housewrap to remove excess moisture while keeping new moisture from penetrating into the plywood sheathing. This is then layered over with (what I suspect are fiber cement) shakes, in contrast to the first floor’s lap siding.
My first inclination was that they needed to be painted, but looking at the design render, it appears as if the project team decided to reverse the brown and red siding bands, so now the first floor is red like the original building, but the upper floors are brown. This is not the first major change to the design, which was approved by the ILPC, but any revisions may have been done out of committee view at the staff level. The fenestration on the third floor is different, and the dormer on the gable roof was deleted. Note the partially glazed-in access stair for the third floor apartments, and the quarried bluestone stair columns and base.
There’s still a fair amount of work to do on the exterior with facade installation, trim and finish pieces and the installation of a steel grate to access the enclosed stair column. The one inside shot shows drywall hung with doors and some trim in place, but some pieces are still missing, the wall needs to be painted and the floors have to be finished. However, it’s not an especially large building (four units and eleven bedrooms as-approved), so chances are pretty good this will be ready to go by mid-August.
As for the Chapter House, a few shots through the window glass show the carpeted staircase leading up to the eight apartment units, and an unfinished 3,000 SF commercial space still looking for a tenant.
Ithacating in Cornell Heights 
Excellent reporting but need to add three facts . First, the location, cause and origin of fire has never been proven and all indications are it started in alley between the chapterhouse and 4006. Second is that Goldman has just purchased 4006 Stewart avenue for cash a couple of months before fire and Third , the Chapterhouse has not been able to negotiate a lease compatible with its prior lease at same location in order to make it competitive and successful in college town where bars are a dying breed due to social networking and high operating expenses. We are looking at other locations to rebrand as Chapterhouse in college town close to our original location at 400-04 Stewart Ave. John J.Hoey, President and CEO, Ithaca Brewing Company Inc dba The Chapterhouse .