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.
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.
It’s hard to believe it’s been over three years now since the fire that decimated the Chapter House and the neighboring apartment house at 406 Stewart Avenue. According to a recent write-up by Mark Anbinder at 14850.com, the new build at 400-404 Stewart Avenue will host one eight units –Â studio apartment, three 1-bedroom apartments, one 2-bedroom apartment, and three 3-bedroom apartments. The units are aiming for a summer occupancy, and CSP Management (Jerry Dietz and his team) are in charge of the rentals on behalf of developer/owner Jim Goldman.
From the outside, the building is practically complete, except for landscaping/paving, trim pieces, and facade installation of the ground-level bluestone veneer. The 4-unit, 11-bedroom apartment building next door is not as far along, with roof trusses only just being installed, and sheathing (ZIP panels) and window fittings underway on the lower floors. It’s a reasonable bet to say these will be available for their first tenants in time for the start of the new academic year in late August.
As fair as anyone’s aware, the ground-floor space restaurant/bar is still available for lease, at $35/SF (at 3,000 AF, that means $105,000 annually). Chapter House owner John Hoey has said in the comments here that the price is too high for his business. The possibility of a “Chapter II”, as some have dubbed it, seems increasingly remote. Any other potential lessees can contact David Huckle or August Monkemeyer at the Ithaca branch of Pyramid Brokerage.
This pair appears to be coming along quite nicely. 400-404 Stewart Avenue is looking good. GAF asphalt roof shingles are being laid over the Raptor brand underlayment. The trim has been attached, with some of the ornamental board starting to go up aside the brackets. The cornice and bracket trim is to be painted grey and black, as are the gables on the dormers (I guess they do technically count as gable dormers on a mansard roof, even with the pitch as steep as it is). It has a vaguely Georgian colonial feel to it; the design is a heavy nod to the original building design from a century ago.
Most if not all of the Redland Heritage SWB brick is attached, and the overhangs have been framed and sheathed, with some underlayment applied – these will actually be finished with more expensive but historically appropriate (simulated) slate shingles. The transom windows and picture windows of the first floor retail/bar/restaurant space have been fitted, but the trim has yet to be attached. The bluestone veneer at the base is largely complete. The doors have yet to be fitted, as do the heavy brackets and ornate detailing of the first floor exterior.
Advertisements for the upstairs apartments has yet to make an appearance, but there are ads going around for the retail space (3,000 SF, $35/SF).
As for the new 406 Stewart Avenue, the mismatched rough window openings on the front facade appears to have been fixed. The recessed front porch is framed, and if I’m seeing it right, the stonework is already in place at the base. The construction crew is starting to cut out the openings from the Huber ZIP panels on the third floor. It is definitely a different interior layout than they had in mind when the renderings were presenting – there are substantial differences in the fenestration of the building’s north face. The gable roof and dormer has yet to be framed, but if they’re aiming for a Q2 and Q3 opening, they look to be on track from a glance.
400-404 Stewart Avenue, a.k.a. the former Chapter House site, is fully framed and the brickwork is in progress. The brick veneer is Redland Brick Inc.’s Heritage SWB, and is similar in appearance to the original brick of the Chapter House, which was damaged beyond repair in an April 2015 fire. So the way this has gone is that yellow closed-cell spray foam was applied over the sheathing, probably by a subcontractor such as Goodale Spray Foam out of King Ferry. Closed-cell spray foam, made with polyurethane and applied a few inches thick, provides insulation under the brick. Brick is a tricky material in some ways – the plywood ZIP Panels are great for sealing a structure to make it air-tight, but brick absorbs moisture, so the spray foam not only serves as an insulator, it also provides a protective moisture barrier between the plywood and the brick. It’s typical to have a drainage gap underneath the brick so that they can dry out, otherwise the uninsulated brick is at risk of long-term moisture damage.
The roof looks to be covered in tar paper or similar material; this will eventually be layered over with chamfered asphalt shingles. The roof ZIP panels that make up the “awning” being built over the first floor will be covered in shingles as well, but those will be more expensive simulated slate. The trim pieces like the cornice may be cast stone or fiberglass over wood, and it looks like the window sills and heads might be cast stone. It looks like they’re using Marvin Windows for the windows themselves.
406 Stewart Avenue is still being framed with ZIP panels, now up to the third floor with just the roof trusses left. The drawings I have on file suggest the fenestration has been changed – the position and size of the second floor windows are different from the renderings, in particular the window on the far left of the front face, and one of the windows on the north side was moved further back from the street. It suggests some modest interior alterations, but the ILPC will be watching this like a hawk since these builds are under their jurisdiction (the East Hill Historic District).
Framing is up to the top floor of the former Chapter House property at 400-404 Stewart Avenue. The plywood ZIP Panels appear to switch from the roofing variety to standard walls on the top floor and for the recessed entrance on the ground floor, and this probably has to do with the finishing materials. The ZIP panels have slightly different thicknesses. The thinner ones in green are used with fiber cement, and wood or asphalt shingle finishes. The top floor of the Chapter House is supposed to finished with asphalt shingles, according to planning docs. The lower two floors with the red ZIP panels will be faced with brick (Redland Heritage, the same brick used with 210 Hancock’s commercial building). The north wall has already been coated in waterproof spray foam, which will protect the frame from the porous brick veneer. It looks like some interior framing and roughs-ins are underway on the lower floors. Next door, the slab foundation for the new apartment building at 406 Stewart Avenue has been poured and cured, and framing work appears to be starting on the above-ground levels.
Along with local firms Taitem Engineering (overall civil and structural engineering, with emphasis on energy efficiency) and Elwyn & Palmer (civil and structural engineering with emphasis on geotechnical work and foundations), a New Hampshire company called “Overlook Construction Consultants” identifies itself as a project partner, but their online presence is nearly nothing. Jason K. Demarest is the architect for both buildings.
Project description and background here.
Some good news and some bad news. The good news is, the replacement building for 400-404 Stewart Avenue is well underway. No false starts, no rumor milling. The new structure is quite substantial for a modest three-story building – structural steel frame (currently up to the second floor), steel floor panels, finished basement, – all heavy duty, commercial grade construction, befitting for a mixed-use structure with possible food retail or general retail tenants on the 3,000 SF ground floor. Note the structural cross-beams; those well segments will not have windows. The exposed portion of the concrete foundation wall will be faced with bluestone later in the build-out. The fifth photo shows no concrete between the floor panels and foundation, presumably because the corner entrance will have an interior stairway that steps up to the ground level.
Now for the bad news. I chatted with a worker on the site, and when I said “the Chapter House site”, he chuckled, shook his head, and recommended I don’t use that phrase. “The Chapter House ain’t coming back,” he said before picking up a shovel. “People will forget all about it in four years anyway.” It hasn’t been a secret that the Chapter House likely isn’t making a return, but for many students and non-students, it’s still a disappointment to hear that.
The construction timeline for 400-404 Stewart called for a completion this year, which seems generous. The apartment building at 406 Stewart Avenue has been graded, but construction will not start until later this fall. Hayner Hoyt is the general contractor, with Taitem in charge of the structural engineering.
UPDATE: In the comments, John Hoey, the proprietor of the Chapter House, has written in the comments that he intends to reopen the bar, if not here then elsewhere in Collegetown.
Ithacating in Cornell Heights 
