Just wrapping this one up with some final photos of the completed project. Both new buildings look nice. It’s a new chapter, without the Chapter House. Even if the storied bar ever did open back up on the corner (the 3,000 SF retail space is still available), it wouldn’t exactly be the same. But one can appreciate it for a design fitting in a historic district, replacement of housing lost in the fire, and at some point, a new commercial tenant to enliven Stewart Avenue.
Ithacating in Cornell Heights 
Nice finish to this project, though I’m not crazy about the window trim color choice on the red house. Is that an exterior or half enclosed stairwell in between the two buildings as well? The exposed part seems like it could get dangerously icy in wintertime. Then again, exterior metal stairways somehow work in Montreal…
I was a bit surprised by that as well, I had expected a lighter window trim color. The stairwell is semi-enclosed in that both upper levels are enclosed, but the ground level is not. Hypothetically there’s some risk of ice at the entry, but no more so than more typical covered entry ways.
What a nice reconstruction of the Chapter House building. It’s such a shame the new landlord has set the rent so high the Chapter House can’t actually afford to re-open there. I wonder if it will remain vacant forever, like the other storefronts in Collegetown whose rents are too high for any retail tenant to afford.
Have to wonder what the landlord hopes he can attract there instead. I can see Fane holding out for some national chain in core Collegetown, but the Chapter House location is way less auspicious. Surely taking in any rent from the bar would have been better than sitting on this to no end…
Hey there- it’s been about a year since the last Chapter House post, and about that time since I’ve been thru Ithaca… has anything opened up in the first floor of the new building? I still recall the much-graffitied poster of (I think) Miss New York 1966 on the back wall near the pool table. Thanks for your hard work on this amazing blog!
Still vacant on the ground level the last I checked (a couple of months ago). The ads for the retail space were last updated at the end of March, so it’s either A) they stopped advertising or B) they found someone and they’re negotiating terms. Oddly enough, Chapter House proprietor John Hoey has an investment business currently registered to the address. Not sure what’s going on, to be frank.