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Cornell Law School Renovation Update, 1/2017

17 01 2017

From the outside, it doesn’t look like much is happening. But, given all the steel beams on site, the safe bet is that the former dorms inside are still being gutted to nothing but the load-bearing walls, and those beams will become a part of the new interior partitions, new stud walls for the enhanced faculty office and professional space. This is by and large an interior renovation, but perhaps after the deepest cold of the season passes, we’ll see more progress towards enclosing the loggia and the new stairwell on the west face. The wire mesh over the exposed west wall is for safety reasons.

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Tags: academic buildings, construction (planned), Cornell, cornell campus, cornell construction, ithaca, law school renovation, photos
Categories : academic buildings, construction, construction (planned), Cornell, ithaca, photos

Cornell Veterinary School Expansion Construction Update, 1/2017

17 01 2017

Starting to see more progress on the structural frame of the $74.1 million Vet School additions. The reinforced concrete frame of the new library and administrative offices now extends all the way back to the rest of the Vet School complex; the new section is draped over with plastic sheets. Also, as the new wing gets fleshed out, the rough openings of the windows are taking shape. It doesn’t look like there’s been too much exterior progress on the new atrium.

According to the project webpage (last updated two weeks ago), interior framing (metal stud walls probably) is underway, rough-ins are underway, and the new cafeteria is under construction. Welliver will have the new atrium and lecture hall fully closed up by the end of January. Most of the Vet Research Tower work has been completed, but new office layouts are still in the works for the sixth and seventh floors, and that work won’t get underway until this Spring.

The new $7 million ($4.9 million hard cost) Community Practice Service Building is out for bid, with a march demo planned for the Poultry Virus Building currently on site, and a March 2018 opening, about seven months after the bulk of the new Vet School structures. It is a wood-frame 12,000 SF building designed by HOLT Architects, and I still have yet to find an image of the design.

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Tags: academic buildings, construction, construction (planned), Cornell, cornell campus, ithaca, photos, vet school
Categories : academic buildings, construction, construction (planned), Cornell, ithaca, photos

Gannett Health Center Construction Update, 1/2017

15 01 2017

Okay, for as much as I miss the old banded concrete and glass, the large window panes, clear glazing and thin aluminum frames designed by Ithaca’s Chiang O’Brien Architects do have a certain modern chic going. However, this armchair critic still has yet to decide if he likes the offset between the outer and interior frames of the curtain wall. The windows have made their way north along the old east wing. Peering through, you can make out some of the new metal stud walls, so utilities rough-ins for the gutted 1950s structure are underway.

The new entry canopy has yet to be built out. Pike, the contractor, could soon insert the northernmost panes where the old east wing’s interior is exposed, but the curtain wall glazing won’t be finished until the canopy has been constructed.

The new three-story 18,000 SF northeast wing, which replaces the former Ho Plaza entry, rose pretty quick – like the Breazzano Center, it’s wrapped up in plastic to limit workers’ exposure to the cold. The outside of the new wing will be faced in a couple types of limestone, with a bluestone transition panel and bluestone veneer at its base – the 1979 west wing is being updated so that the two will look similar, although the 1979 wing will retain its concrete exterior, giving the two wings some visual contrast.

According to Cornell’s revamped project website, the Gannett project is 70% complete. Whether that included the new addition that opened last year is not clear. The entire project should be finished by this fall.

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Tags: construction, Cornell, cornell campus, gannett, gannett health center, ithaca, photos
Categories : academic buildings, construction, Cornell, ithaca, photos

Ithaka Terraces (215-221 West Spencer Street) Construction Update, 1/2017

14 01 2017

The first building of the Ithaka Terraces, Building “A”, is fully framed and in the process of being roofed. The project uses double stud exterior walls in tandem with Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs), which is thermally insulated plastic filled with concrete. The zip sheathing goes on over the surface. The purpose of the thick, more premium approach is for more efficient insulation, since the condo units are designed to be net-zero compatible (the high energy efficiency reduces the need for off-site renewable energy sources, and net-zero becomes more feasible as a result).

Further up the sloping site, smaller Building “B” has completed the ICF erection ground floor and is starting work on the upper floors. Note the reinforced concrete wall facing South Cayuga (east). That will eventually be back-filled and hidden from view. As seen in some of the early concept designs below, only the top floor of the three floors of Building “B” and “D” will have windows facing outward; the South Cayuga side of the property is where the parking lot will be laid.

The other large building in the four-building cluster, Building “C”, a mirrored floorplan of “A”, is just getting started; the site was being prepped and graded when these photos were taken last week. Building “D”, a mirrored floorplan of “B”, will start construction at a later date, as the other three get further along. In the last photo, one can see the winding temporary staircase workers use to get to the building themselves. AquaZephyr, an Ithaca firm specializing in eco-friendly construction, is the general contractor in charge of the buildout.

The 12-unit condo project will begin formal marketing later this Spring. There will be 10 two-bedroom units and 2 three-bedroom units, in the $265k-$390k range. A late 2017 opening is planned. Interested readers can submit queries here.

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Tags: 215-221 west spencer, condominiums, construction, construction (planned), infill, ithaca, ithaka terraces, photos, south hill
Categories : condominiums, construction, construction (planned), general housing, ithaca, photos

602 West State Street Construction Update, 1/2017

13 01 2017

With the sidewalk along Meadow St closed off, getting up close to the Elmira Savings Bank project just became much more difficult. From the front, there hasn’t been much exterior work yet – judging from the dumpster, Edger Enterprises has been more focused on gutting the interior of the hundred year-old building. It does look like that, since November, some of the historically inaccurate blue paint has been stripped from the east facade. It doesn’t look like there’s been much progress on the new wing on the north side, the foundation looks about the same at it did two months ago. D unno if they’ll be hitting that March 2017 completion date.

More info about the project can be found here.

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Tags: 602 west state street, commercial office buildings, construction, construction (planned), elmira savings bank, HOLT Architects, ithaca, photos, west end
Categories : construction, construction (planned), ithaca, news, photos

Cayuga Meadows Construction Update, 1/2017

12 01 2017

It looks like there’s been a modest deviation from the original plans for Conifer’s Cayuga Meadows project. Double-checking my notes, it looks like that instead of Certraineed Cedar “Cypress Spruce” shingle siding, they’re going with a red color – most likely “Autumn Red“. Not a big deal, and as a matter of taste, I prefer the red over the grey-green that was initially planned. It looks like some of the trim boards are going up as well. The circular vents on the gable projections are purely decorative. You can see a little bit of the Certainteed “Savannah Wicker” lap siding beginning to appear on the ground floor below the porches; that’s going to be the primary facade on the upper floors.

Most of the work has shifted inside at this point. LeChase Construction and their subcontractors probably past rough-ins, and onto things like drywall hanging and bathroom and kitchen installations. The front drive (“Aster Lane”) and curbing is in place, but the rear parking area and driveway will have to wait until the project is closer to completion. It looks like marketing for the 68 affordable senior units is going to start soon.

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Tags: affordable housing, cayuga meadows, conifer llc, ithaca, senior housing, west hill
Categories : affordable housing, construction, ithaca, photos, senior housing

1001 North Aurora Street Construction Update, 1/2017

11 01 2017

This is another one of those modest-sized infill projects where if you blink, you might just miss it.

1001 North Aurora is on the north end of Fall Creek, across the street from the elementary school. The plan replaces an old though not especially historic single-family home with twom two-family homes, each unit with three bedrooms for a total twelve. Four parking spaces are included. The project was approved in October 2016 by the city planning board; the lot subdivision that triggered board review.

Over the course of review, the board requested a little more character in the house designs, including more windows, two different shades of lap siding (which will be LP SmartSide wood siding, painted Sherwin-Williams “Rice Grain” and “Sawdust”), and dormers. The materials also include Owens Corning TruDefinition “Terra Cotta” shingles and S-W “Nacre” trim boards. The initial design looked like this, and the final is shown below. The eastern building will not have the dormer, and may not have the pocket windows in the west wall either, as those were stated to be cost-dependent. The side facing Aurora, however, has to put them in as a stipulation of the approvals; after some recent issues with other projects, the board’s been getting a little more assertive when it comes to building details being built as approved.

The developer is Stavros Stavropoulos. The Stavropoulos family is perhaps best known for running State Street Diner, but recently they’ve been wading deeper into the development pool, building a new two-family home at 514 Linn Street and a two-family addition onto 318-320 Pleasant Street. Tompkins Trust gave a $400,000 construction loan to this project back in August.

Each unit will ring in at about 1200 square feet. Local architect Daniel R. Hirtler, fresh off of another duplex on the corner of Oak Avenue and Oneida Place in Collegetown, is in charge of design. Construction is expected to wrap up by the end of May 2017. According to Craigslist, the units are renting for about $2325 each ($775/bedroom), and two of the four units are already rented. Quote:

“New duplexes featuring 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath apartments. Open floor plans, ductless heating and cooling in every room, hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, corian counter tops, stackable washer and dryer, fully furnished, off street parking and much more.”

You’ll notice in the photos below that the completed foundation slab sits a little above the ground – the northern part of Fall Creek has a high water table, so to help avoid water/flooding issues, the buildings are raised slightly. Wood framing is just beginning, so look for these to take shape as we finish out the winter and head into spring.

Quick final detail – 1001 North Aurora Street was the old address. These properties will use addresses on the 200 Block of Queen Street.

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Tags: 1001 North Aurora Street, fall creek, general housing, infill, ithaca, photos
Categories : construction, construction (planned), general housing, ithaca, photos

312-314 Spencer Road Construction Update, 1/2017

10 01 2017

The new duplexes on Old Elmira Road seem to be moving right along. The east building has three shades of siding, one for each floor, and a third at gable-level. The exterior is accented by white trim boards. The variety in colors is an easy to way visual interest to an otherwise simple design. We’ll have to wait and see what colors they break out for the west building, which also benefits from a window bay projection facing towards the open space. It looks like plans to use shake siding on the bay projection have been dropped. Both building appear to be fully roofed and shingled. Signage at the edge of the road suggests precast concrete Superior Walls were used in the foundation work.

The 4 3-bedroom units are expected to hit the market in February. In the November update, I noted that Craigslist had these at $1700; the Modern Living Rentals website, which is the rental company for developer Charlie O’Connor, has them listed at $2100. Consider these a preview of the 4 two-family homes to be built at 607 South Aurora this spring and summer, which are also an O’Connor project.

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Tags: 312-14 Spencer Road, construction, general housing, ithaca, photos, south hill
Categories : construction, construction (planned), general housing, ithaca, photos

210 Hancock Construction Update, 1/2017

9 01 2017

So much to see over at the 210 Hancock site. First, the prefabricated wood wall panels of section “A”, the south wing of the apartment building, are up to the top (fourth) floor, and one gets a pretty good idea of the vertical scale of the building. For the record, roof height will be 46 feet, not counting mechanicals. The second section to the north of it, “B”, was designed by HOLT Architects to be a little closer to the street, so it looks less like one continuous wall, and helps create the impression of separate structures. The first floor of these two subsections, which is framed by metal and wood rather than wood alone, will house the daycare, rental offices and commercial space. Sections “C” and “D” will consist of apartments over the indoor garage, which is currently wrapped in plastic sheeting, and separated from the other two section by a CMU stairwell.

The rental townhouses are fully framed (210 Hancock’s website says window install is expected to start soon), and it appears that Lecesse has start construction on the seven for-sale townhouses – the foundation walls have been excavated and poured. These units have a slab (shallow) foundation, and not having to worry about excavation allows the townhouses to move along at a faster clip. The apartments and rental townhouses should be ready by August, the for-sale townhouses by November. Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services (INHS) has a website up for rental applications here and qualified home-owners here.

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Tags: 210 hancock, affordable housing, construction, construction (planned), inhs, ithaca, northside, photos
Categories : affordable housing, construction, construction (planned), ithaca, photos

Collegetown Terrace Construction Update, 1/2017

8 01 2017

And to think that a year ago about this time, Collegetown Terrace’s Building 7 was just an excavated trench.

On the outside, facade installation continues. It looks like that, along with the fish scales and aluminum panels, there might be a dark blue fiber cement siding not unlike that seen on the smaller buildings lining East State Street. The east cinder block stairwell seen in November’s photos has been wrapped in waterproofing and is now receiving its exterior finishes. Most of the windows have been fitted at this point. The AC units have yet to be installed, and from what could be seen through the windows and openings, the inside has had drywall hung in some locations, but is still down to the stud walls in other sections. There are a couple of architectural quirks that give the building a little bit of visual interest – for instance, the reverse-pitch on the roof where Valentine Place terminates, probably indicating a stairwell or landing area, breaks up the monotony of the wall. I really like the curtain-wall glass used for the amenities/common area at the southwest corner of the structure.

A pine tree on the roof is a traditional way to celebrate the “topping out” of the building.

By the way, I have been wrong – the fish scales are in fact metal, their finish coat just makes them feel like vinyl. According to a trade industry website, they are “0.032-aluminum (0.032” thickness), diamond-shaped, flat metal CastleTop Shingles from ATAS International Inc. of Allentown, Pennsylvania. ikon.5 architects selected three standard colors-Hartford Green, Patina Green and Hemlock Green-and four designer colors-Adobe Dust, Metallic Gold, Acorn Yellow and Louisburg Green.” It looks like the shingles are more commonly advertised for roofing, although their interlocking tabs allow them to be used for walls as well. The three shades of green on Building 7 are the three standard colors, logic being that designer color shingles likely cost more and were used more sparingly. The other four show up on Building 3 where it approaches East State Street.