Ithacating in Cornell Heights

From the outside, these are practically completed, except for some decorative elements. Some exterior lighting mounts are missing from the smaller north endcap, and the south endcap is substantially complete – except for the part where it appears a large truck tried to navigate the tight turn around the building and took out part of the stone veneer, exposing the scratch coat and lath (backing material for the plaster scratch coat). The variety of materials – brick veneer, stone veneer, EIFS and metal flashing/windows attempts to create some visual interest and unique identities among the storefront spaces.

Note that in commercial retail, it’s pretty common to build the exterior (shell) and basic interior structural components (core), but leave the interior unfinished. A tenant interested in the space will fit-out the space to their needs, finishing out and furnishing the interior as they see fit. The costs of fit-out vary depending on the terms negotiated by the landlord (in this case, Benderson Development) and the tenant.

Interestingly, the north endcap, with 7,315 SF of rentable space, has two entrances, but the interior doesn’t show a non-structural split between units, so it’s not clear if it just has two entrances or if it will be two separate retail fronts. Spectrum has confirmed it will be a tenant when the building is fitted out. Spectrum, the cable and internet provider currently located at 519 West State Street, was previously Time Warner Cable until the firm was bought by Charter Communications in 2016. Spectrum and its predecessor are very controversial companies, both for local reasons and for macro-scale reasons (horrendous reputations for poor service, often ranking among the most hated companies in the country). Locally, Spectrum has engendered significant controversy by replacing WSKG, the Binghamton-based PBS affiliate, with WCNY, the Syracuse-based PBS affiliate, for its Tompkins and Cortland County customers. This would be fine, if WCNY had much Ithaca-Cortland coverage, or was interested in providing it, and as a result the local TV news and media coverage has been greatly reduced. For-profit WENY of Elmira had been dropped by Time Warner a couple years earlier, as Ithaca/Tompkins has been increasingly tied into the Syracuse broadcast market.

This drop in coverage led to significant pushback from community groups and local elected officials, and with some negotiating, they were successful in bringing a TV news affiliate back to Ithaca. WENY’s “New York Local Ithaca” opened its doors at 112 West State Street a couple of weeks ago, and is carried on Spectrum’s Channel 11. Most of the broadcast is Elmira rehash with local weather, but Tompkins-centered programs are in the works, including partnerships with Ithaca College and Cornell to provide formal news coverage (how this affect ICTV is unclear).

The north end cap, which clocks in at 14,744 SF, is still available. The 3,200 SF endcap space on the smaller retail strip next to Firehouse Subs has yet to begin construction.