Ithacating in Cornell Heights

In the home stretch at 770 Cascadilla Street. From the outside, the project is largely complete. The exterior siding for the 16,500 SF store is nearly finished. The landscaping and paving have been laid out, with the grass seeded, the asphalt striped (148 spaces) and the lighting fixtures in place. The custom protective metal grates around the trees are a nice touch. The farm stand pavilion accessory structure has yet to be installed, the signage has yet to go up, and about the only major detail on the main building that appears to be unfinished is the exterior mural on the northeast wall, something that may have to wait until the warmer spring months. Unfortunately, it looks like some details, like the windows above the front doors, were value engineered out late in the design process.

The inside is in the process of being fitted out with equipment, with some late-stage finishing work apparent through the windows. The store is expected to open in March 2020, after the equipment is in, shelves are stocked and electronics are tested. Once that happens, GreenStar will sell its old properties to the City Harbor development team for $2 million.

At last report, the GreenStar Capital Campaign, largely intended to serve the project through community-based owner-members, had raised $1,938,500 towards its $2 million end of 2019 goal. Click this link for some more interior shots, showing the new lighting, interior outfitting, and high-efficiency refrigeration equipment. Also up are some construction videos of the project on YouTube.

This will probably be the last visit; as far as this blog’s concerned, this project is complete. The project is the result of a partnership between GreenStar and the City Harbor partners (Edger Enterprises, Morse Construction and Lambrou Real Estate) as Organic Nature LLC. Local architecture firm STREAM Collaborative is in charge of exterior design, and architect Pam Wooster will handle the interior layout. Elmira’s Edger Enterprises will be the general contractor for the buildout. Delaware River Solar will supply the solar energy to power the building via an off-site array.

History and project specs can be found here.