Chapter House / 406 Stewart Avenue Construction Update, 6/2017

16 06 2017

The funny thing about this project is, I already did the synopsis back in February 2016, the first time that it seemed to be under construction.

At the time, the construction seemed ready to move forward, but then, well…it didn’t. Former 400-404 Stewart Avenue owner Sebastian Mascaro sold the property and plans over to neighbor Jim Goldman, who intended to carry them forward. However, citing unfavorable cost estimates, Goldman decided to wait, and only recently has the project obtained favorable terms that would allow it to proceed.

The plans are still the same, although the project manager has changed. CSP Management (Jerry Dietz) will still manage the apartment rentals, but the commercial component is under the control of Pyramid Brokerage, Syracuse-based Hayner Hoyt will be the general contractor, and the construction manager representing Goldman is not with Hayner Hoyt and does not appear to be from the Ithaca area.

As a frank aside, it has been a rare degree of frustration to dig up information about this project. Goldman, for whatever reason, is incredibly publicity-averse, and everyone involved with the Chapter House has been asked or told to not talk about it. The little bit of information the Voice and 14850 have been able to get has come from CSP Management, which in itself comes with lots of cautions and uncertain language. The one occasion I spoke with Goldman, he told me he knew nothing and no longer owned the site, which if true, isn’t in the county’s records.

Here’s what is known. 406 Stewart Avenue will be 4 units, 7 bedrooms, replacing a similar-looking 1898 structure destroyed by fire in April 2015. 400-404 Stewart Avenue is about 9,000 SF with first floor retail with two floors of apartments – the number of bedrooms and units is not clear, as the number has been in flux. Note that calling it “the Chapter House project” is inaccurate – John Hoey, who owns the right to the Chapter House name, has not committed to reopening on the site, and the first-floor is being offered at a rather hefty $35/SF. For comparison’s sake, most downtown rates I’ve seen come in at about half that, although Pyramid is playing up its proximity to Cornell and the inner Collegetown market. A potential interior layout for a bar is included in the marketing material.

The current plan is to have 400-404 Stewart open by the end of the year, and 406 Stewart by Summer 2018. Jason K. Demarest is the architect for both buildings.

The first photo below is from my colleague Mike Blaney on May 23rd, as environmental remediation company ERSI was finishing clean-up of the fire-damaged site. In the following photos from this past weekend, the property has been leveled and graded, and a foundation is being excavated. The steel H-beams will be used as support for a retaining wall to shore up the soil, protecting the foundation and providing stability as the concrete is poured and cured.


Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : collegetown, construction, construction (planned), ithaca, photos, student housing

News Tidbits 3/5/16: Here Comes the Papierkrieg

5 03 2016

chapteR_house_reconst_v4_2chapter_house_v4_1
1. Let’s start off with something that led to a couple of worked up messages and emails to the Voice inbox – a potentially controversial revision to the Chapter House proposal that would replace the north eave of the building with a wall (bottom image). In the documentation, there’s no written explanation as to why the change is being requested from the approved plan (top image); but I wonder if it has to do with fire safety regulations or zoning issues between the Chapter House and the rebuild being prepared for 406 Stewart next door. Architect Jason Demarest is working on both projects for their respective owners (400-404 Stewart’s Sebastian Mascaro and 406 Stewart’s Jim Goldman), so he’ll be representing both projects at the Landmarks meeting next Tuesday the 8th at 5:30 PM. Also on the agenda are a couple of minor renovations, discussion about potential work to The Nines at 311 College Avenue, and discussion of an expansion to the East Hill Historic District.  This might just be for the Orchard Place properties that are locally historic but not nationally recognized, but we’ll find out for certain next week.

1401_dryden_1

2. Some of your might be wondering what happened with the 902 Dryden vote. Well, the vote still has yet to be taken. Moldern Living Rentals was still work on the last details of the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan for runoff (SWPPP), so the town of Dryden won’t be taking a vote until their March meeting, which has yet to be posted to their website (most likely it’s Thursday the 10th, or Thursday the 17th). The next-door neighbors still took time out to call the 40% downsized project a travesty and that it wasn’t shown in the 2012 Comprehensive Plan. Veering into editorial territory, my original comment from last month still stands:

“[A] master plan is not an exact thing; if it shows for three sets of five townhouses on a parcel, that’s not what may necessarily may happen. It just indicates the kind of density and scale of development the plan deems appropriate. 902 Dryden isn’t drawn on the master plan, but the plan welcomes the idea of townhouses on Forest Home Drive, which 902 abuts. So a vote in favor of the 8 new townhouses is, indirectly, a vote of support in the Varna Master Plan.”

I would give more weight to Todd Bittner’s objective concerns about stormwater than subjective comments of character, especially when they’re from someone who said they were disgusted by the thought of rentals. When Bittner checks out the revised SWPPP, if it looks acceptable, I think the project should be approved.

On another note, 1401 Dryden, the Storage Squad project (pictured above), seems to have lost a lot of its charm after getting caught in red tape last fall. The owners had to squeeze into a smaller area to satisfy the revised, expensive SWPPP. They’re hoping to hide most of it with landscaping.

dewitt_house_v3_1 dewitt_house_v3_2

3. Just a quick update on the Travis Hyde Properties Old Library proposal. The ILPC and Planning Board had their joint meeting, project team partners HOLT Architects and TWMLA landscape architects have incorporated their comments, and here is the current product. Sorry, no renderings, just site plans. Previous plan here. Overall, the site layout hasn’t changed too much, a courtyard and green space will be next to the DeWitt Park Inn, and the building is set back to maintain rhythm with its neighbors. The exterior is supposed to have more projections and recesses, the top floor set back 6 feet, and incorporation of balconies on the upper floors (not sure how this will affect the plan for the inverted roof). Unit count is 21 1-bedroom, 24 2-bedroom, and 9 3-bedroom, 54 instead of the original 60 (39 1-bedroom, 21 2-bedroom). The addition of 3-bedrooms is surprising for senior apartments; from what I’ve been told, typically the large majority of demand is with 1 and 2-bedroom units. The Planning Board and ILPC have another shared meeting at City Hall on the 8th.

chain_works_rev3_3

4. The Chain Works review process is chugging along. At its meeting on the 8th, the Planning Board’s special meeting will decide whether the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement is ready for public review (not expected to be controversial). Then on the 9th, Cornish et al. will be giving a report to the Common Council’s Planning Committee about the timeline and current status. Another staff progress report will be presented at the Planning Board meeting on the 22nd, and the next day on the 23rd, the city CC and town board Planning Committees will meet review proposed draft PUD zoning for the massive mixed-use project. With adequacy being agreed upon, the project can begin project review 15 or so days later; first public meeting is tentatively scheduled for March 29th.

The city just uploaded the comments of reviewers on the DGEIS – most are relevant, some are pretty good suggestions and critiques. Then there’s “Reviewer 3”, most of whom’s comments were put aside as they’re not relevant to adequacy. Those are but a preview of the potential flare-ups to expect at the public meeting.

12366349_10153784612864664_8478297861508040090_n

5. Stumbled on this by chance, but it seems to verify initial suspicions from a few months back; a project proposal goes with the sale of multiple parcels of land totaling 9.2 acres off Park Lane and Slaterville Road in the town of Ithaca. The property, for sale at $995,000, is being marketed by Carol Bushberg Real Estate, which doesn’t have the render on their listing page or their Youtube video, but they do on facebook. The conveyed plans call for a 26-lot subdivision, and given the proposed lot lines, it doesn’t look like it would be affected by the town’s moratorium on 2-unit structures, because each unit has its own lot even though some of them share a wall. It also meshes with the town’s Comprehensive Plan, which calls for 2-4 units per acre in this area (in the site plan, it’s just under 3 per acre). So to all you would-be home developers, here’s an opportunity.

20151108_154213

6. Speaking of the 2-unit moratorium in the town of Ithaca, it looks like that’s going forward to the Town Board to schedule a public hearing. The Planning Committee decided it was a good idea. The documentation says it would last at least a year, by which time the town hopes to have its new form-based, anti-student special zoning in place. Editorializing again, I still oppose this proposed law not because of the issue with low-end student housing, but because it’s too broad, affecting the whole town. The last 2-unit approved in Ithaca town wasn’t a student special – it was a 3-bedroom house with an accessory 1-bedroom apartment off Calkins Road. The husband and wife building the house will be living in the larger unit. I don’t think the whole town should be subject to a law that’s only been written to address a South Hill issue (the law’s language claims it’s a concern in East Ithaca as well, but I haven’t seen or heard of a new student-oriented rental in East Ithaca in at least the past few years). Anyway, whether for or against it, comments can be sent to Town Clerk at townclerk@town.ithaca.ny.us. The town meeting will be at the town hall on Monday the 7th at 5:30.

202_hancock_1
7. Here’s a preview of next week’s mid-week post: A look at some of the affordable housing proposals and plans that applied to the city for grant funding this year. INHS applied for their owner-occupied townhouses, the Boggs/ Fernández proposal for 402 South Cayuga is there, Habitat’s duplex, 304 Hector, and a new plan by a private citizen for an owner-occupied affordable duplex behind the house at 622 Center Street in the South Side neighborhood. Keep an eye out for that Monday night or Tuesday morning.

maguire_carpenter_2

8. From the other news outlets now; the Times is reporting that the sketch plan for the Maguire auto dealership proposal for the Carpenter Business Park actually had a warm reception from the Planning Board. In particular, board stalwart John Schroeder was impressed with the sidewalk along 13 (which would help transition the Waterfront and nearby environs to mixed-use) and public amenities. The board is cognizant of the site’s issues and the city’s hopes for the area, so those do play into the thought process – perhaps part of it is that Maguire’s jobs and features could work as a draw for mixed-use development of nearby parcels that don’t have so many issues. The board’s role stops at this point, with the just passed TM-PUD now front and center – unless Common Council okays the project, it won’t be back again. But Maguire did ask for a letter of support if the board was willing; we’ll see.

texas_roadhouse_v3_1

9. Meanwhile, the Journal is reporting that Texas Roadhouse will be opening May 23rd. No doubt the relatively dry and mild winter helped keep this project moving along (February construction update here). The 7,163 SF restaurant expects to hire 170 to 200 employees, of which 80 will be full time. That number astounds me just a bit because I worked at a steakhouse in high school, and although we were maybe half the square footage, we only had a staff of about 40. Even in Ithaca’s crowded restaurant scene, there aren’t many options for the red meat lovers that don’t cost an arm and a leg, and chances are good this will appeal to a different crowd than most, and be something of a draw from the nearby rural areas. Best of luck to them and their staff.

20160219_134003 20160219_134057

201_w_clinton_1

10. Let’s wrap this up with House of the Week. Quick update on Zac Boggs and Isabel Fernández’s 201 West Clinton Street carriage house. Fully shetathed (Huber ZIP system panels), fully roofed and shingled, and fully fitted with windows, the exterior work left will focus on exterior siding attachment and refinishing the original 1960s garage to match the historically-inspired vertical addition. The exterior calls for sawn board-and-batten wood fitting, though it’s unclear if it will be unpainted wood, or painted yellow. The 1 bedroom, 520 SF space looks like it could be ready for occupancy by late spring.


Comments : 6 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : affordable housing, collegetown, construction, construction (planned), ithaca, news, senior housing, student housing, Tompkins County

Chapter House / 406 Stewart Avenue Construction Update, 2/2016

24 02 2016

Not so much construction as a look at what the site as it currently stands. The Chapter House has been approved, and the apartments house planned for 406 Stewart Avenue, being a smaller project, just needs the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) to sign off at this point, as the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission (ILPC) has given their tentative blessing. No specific numbers on number of occupants/bedrooms in the new Chapter House, but expect it to be fairly close to the total lost in last Spring’s tragic fire. 406 will be slightly larger thanks to improved interior circulation and the addition of a floor – 4 apartments and 7 occupants vs. the previous building’s 5 apartments and 6 occupants. Because of that one-floor increase, a reconstruction cannot be done as-of-right, so the project will need to be granted several area variances from the BZA.

In keeping with the ILPC’s fairly stringent approach, the buildings are designed to be sympathetic to the originals without being replicas (which is generally advised against by historic preservationists because it cheapens the value of buildings that have managed to survive the past century). The Chapter House will have GAF Sienna asphalt shingles on the roof and Inspire Aledora simulated slate shingles on the first-floor overhang, Redland Heritage SWB brick and bluestone.

The Chapter House project is paid for by Sebastian Mascaro of Florida, and 406 Stewart is funded by Jim Goldman of suburban Philadelphia. Jerry Dietz of local company CSP Management is representation both owners for their respective projects. Local architect Jason K. Demarest (brother of STREAM Collaborative’s Noah Demarest) is the designer-in-charge.

Work on the new Chapter House is expected to begin shortly, with a late summer or early fall opening. 406 Stewart expects a May construction start with completion in January 2017.

20160220_114105 20160220_114135 20160220_114147 20160220_114216 20160220_114227 20160220_114244

chapteR_house_reconst_v4_2 chapteR_house_reconst_v4_1


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories : collegetown, construction (planned), ithaca, news, student housing

News Tidbits 1/30/2016: A Doozy of a Week For All the Wrong Reasons

30 01 2016

I’m not going to lie – this was a rough week. For those who like old buildings, the city tore down 404 West Green and 327 West State this week. For those who are consider themselves eco-activists, Black Oak wind farm is on life support. State Street Triangle is likely cancelled, the Printing Press Lounge is off the table, Cornell continues to pour most of its attention on its new New York City campus, and a grocery store and a downtown shop are closing their doors and putting people out of work. There have been better weeks for news round-ups.

state_st_triangle_v6_1

1. State Street Triangle isn’t dead per se, but it’s indefinitely stalled. I think the best headline goes to the Ithaca Times since they’re the most accurate. From chatting with planning consultant Scott Whitham, who’s involved with the project, it sounds like the impasse is the result of Campus Advantage wanting to pay less for the site since they can’t build as large of a project, which would decrease their revenue. The contract for the land purchase from Greenstate Properties/Trebloc Development (Rob Colbert) was up for re-negotiation after the December expiration, but neither side wants to budge on what they feel the price should be. So nothing can move forward without a deal between the two parties. I reached out to Colbert Wednesday, but the secretary paused for a minute and then said “he’s, uh, busy in a meeting, care to leave a message?” So he’s probably not going to say anything further.

Could it move forward? Possibly, it could be revived if a deal is made. But as things are, it’s stalled and it’s outside the control of any community group or government authority. It’s definitely a shame from the standpoint of Ithaca’s worsening housing crisis because it’s less that will be entering a market flooded with students, people moving here for work, and wealthy retirees who have apparently decided this is the Asheville of the north. And given the battles of “structural racist gentrification” and “uncivilized crime-producing trouble-making affordable housing“, where everything is accused of being one or the other, I’m not especially hopeful at the moment.

416_e_state_v2_1

2. Now for something that is definitely dead in the water – The Printing Press Lounge. Developer Ben Rosenblum had wanted to put a jazz lounge in a 7700 SF industrial warehouse at 416 East State Street, but neighbor objections to noise and traffic proved a little too much for the Board of Zoning Appeals, whose members appeared unlikely to support necessary variances for the vacant facility. So the developer pulled the lounge proposal, but the office space and apartment are still under consideration.

canopy_comparo_elevations_new_1

3. Also from the same phone conversation as State Street and Printing Press – the Canopy revisions were approved, so at least there’s a good chance that will be breaking ground this Spring. The Chain Works review schedule was also approved, although given the couple emails from the Voice article, the public review period is going to be groan-inducing. One of the letters commanded that nothing should be done there and it should be kept as is because it encourages traffic and “its density is ruining Ithaca”. They might have meant size, but density is a buzzword at the moment. Apparently, they also overlooked the fact that it’s already built and won’t be fully cleaned of toxic chemicals until a reuse plan is in place. The development team will have to respond to all of these comments, perceptive or not.

4. In real estate sales, an LLC in suburban Corning picked up the former Tim Horton’s and Cold Stone Creamery space on Elmira Road. 0.74 acre 407 Elmira sold for $640,000 on January 22nd. A little research into the rather exotically-named “Armiri LLC” shows that they were previously registered at an address home to an Econo Lodge, and that the owners have about 70 or so other LLCs related to hotels and the hospitality industry. A little more digging, and the owner turns out to be Corning-based Visions Hotels, a developer of suburban chain hotels with locations from Albany to Buffalo. So if I were to make a guess, the five-year old Tim Ho’s building won’t be long for this world, and a suburban hotel is likely to rise in its place in a couple years. But we’ll see what happens.

5. Meanwhile, just up the road, Maines will be shutting down their store at 100 Commercial Avenue. The 26,146 SF building was built for the Binghamton-based grocery chain in 2010. February 7th will be the last day. Although there don’t seem to be any figures online, the move will likely put at least a couple dozen people out of work. A phone call and email to Maine’s asking for employee totals and reasons for closure were not returned.

ctown_terr_phase3

6. Let’s talk about money. The construction loan docs for Collegetown Terrace Phase III were filed with the county this week. The price? A cool $39.25 million, from PNC Bank. That’s just for 247-unit, 344-bed Building 7. Previously Valentine Vision Associates LLC (John Novarr/Philip Proujansky) received $50 million on 8/22/13, $50 million on 7/1/2014, and $50 million on 11/20/14. Do the math out, and $189.25 million in loans is a lot of money. Then again, this is also a 1,200+ bed project.

The latest loan docs require an opening by fall 2018, but expect it to be about a year sooner than that, August 2017.

chapteR_house_reconst_v4_2

7. The Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Council has approved the Chapter House plans. All that’s needed at this point are the Building Department permits, which are technical and just require that everything will be built up to code. Things are looking good for that February construction start.

hughes_cornell_3

8. Something to look forward to at next month’s Planning Board meeting – further discussion of Cornell’s renovations to Hughes Hall. Planning Board Presentation here, drawings here, Site Plan Review application here. KSS Architects, with offices in Philadelphia and Princeton, will be in charge of design. KSS has been to Cornell’s campus before, having designed some of the Hotel School additions and part of the previous phase of law school renovations. Local firm TG Miller is handling the engineering work. The project is expected to cost $10.2 million and construction would go from June 2016 to July 2017.

Quick refresher, the plan is to renovate 4 floors of what were previously student dorms into academic office, admin and student organization space. Cornell anticipates about 200 construction jobs will be created, but nor more than 80 at any one time, and 20-40 on-site most days. No new permanent jobs, limited visibility, and minimal transportation/ground impacts will limit much of the customary Planning Board debate.

cornell_tech_v2

9. Meanwhile, New York City outlets are reporting on the progress of Cornell’s massive new tech campus in New York City. The Real Deal is reporting Snøhetta, an Oslo/NYC architectural firm, will design the Verizon Executive Education Building. The other three buildings underway are the Bloomberg Center, The Bridge, and CornellTECH Residential, which are the work of Morphosis Architecture, Weiss/Manfredi Architecture, and Handel Architects respectively.  300 students and 200 faculty/staff  will move into the new 26-story dorm by August 2017. Verizon paid $50 million for their naming rights, and billionaire former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg paid $100 million, making up a sizable portion of the $590.6 million donated to Cornell over the past year. Once the initial wave of construction is complete, it’ll be worth seeing how donations break down – years ago, MetaEzra noted that Weill Medical received an outsized proportion of charitable giving.

Not to go all conspiracy theorist, but there are times when Living in Dryden blogger Simon St. Laurent’s thought piece seems uncomfortably relevant.

arpt_pk_1

10. At the county’s PEDEEQ Committee meeting Friday (PEDEEQ being the acronym for the unnecessarily long Planning, Economic Development, Energy, and Environmental Quality Committee; agenda here), the county did two things worth mentioning here. One, they awarded the $35,000 airport industrial park feasibility study to the team of Clark Patterson Lee of suburban Albany, and Saratoga Springs-based Camoin Associates. Two, they passed a resolution calling for “the Timely Development of the Black Oak Wind Farm” project in Enfield.

The Black Oak opposition really seems to have picked up momentum after one the major landowners involved with the project pulled out. Neighbors in the area are actively attacking the project by calling it a danger to human health and a destructive environmental menace financed by wealthy out-of-towners (a shot at Ithaca), and the wind farm’s executive board is struggling to address these accusations in the revised environmental review due to be completed in April. For the local eco-activist crowd, this is an unwelcome and unusual position to be in because more often than not, they’re the ones opposed to development. The county legislature, which has several green activists, is doing what they can by giving verbal support, and a subtle sort of wrist-slap to the opposition. Dunno if it will work, but we’ll see what happens this spring.

elmira_savings_v1

11. Here’s the sketch drawing for Elmira Savings Bank’s new West End Branch at 602 West State Street. It would appear the plans call for a modern addition to the north side of the building, and renovation of the rest of the two-story restaurant into office/service space. Local companies TWMLA and HOLT Architects are handling the design.

According to the Twitter feed of the IJ’s Nick Reynolds, the building plan was received well enough at the Planning Board meeting, but the rest of the plans call for demo of the other buildings, including the affordable housing that had some folks up in arms, for a parking lot. That didn’t go over very well. Demolition of low-cost housing for parking is going to be about as welcome as a Hitler costume at a bar mitzvah. Expect another trip to the board with some revised plans.

12. The Dewitt Park Inn is for sale for $950,000. Owners Tom Seaney and Nancy Medsker are selling the property they purchased for $320k in January 2012 and renovated into a high-end bed and breakfast. The two were vocal advocates for the popular though foregone Franklin/STREAM condo proposal for the Old Library site, although Medsker didn’t do the debate any favors when she decided to trash her rear neighbor, senior services non-profit and Travis Hyde project partner Lifelong in a letter to the Ithaca Journal. The county has the Dewitt Park Inn assessed at $575,000.

st_catherine_v2
13. Nothing too exciting for the town of Ithaca planning board agenda next week. The town’s planning board will choose whether or not to sign off on the review schedule for Chain Works, and they have to re-approved plans for a smaller parish center at St. Catherine of Siena in Northeast Ithaca. According to the provided docs, the parish center has been reduced from 10,811 SF to 8,878 SF due to rapidly rising construction costs (seems to be a common refrain these days).

 

 


Comments : 13 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : academic buildings, collegetown, construction (planned), Cornell, environmental issues, hotels, ithaca, news, student housing, Tompkins County

News Tidbits 12/19/15: So New Even the Pavement Shines

19 12 2015

cayuga_view_1

1. We’ll start off this week with some eye candy. Over in Lansing village, the planning board is hammering out details regarding signage and covenants related to the Cinema Drive senior housing project. But it also gives the project a new name – from C.U. Suites to “Cayuga View Senior Living“. Lo and behold, one types that into Google and up comes the following partially-finished website. The name sounded familiar, and as it turns out there’s a good reason for that – Cayuga View is also the name of a portion of the Linderman Creek apartment complex in the town of Ithaca.

According to the website, the 55+ (“55 and BETTER”, as they tout on the page) apartment building at 50 Cinema Drive will contain 48 2-bedroom units and 12 1-bedroom units with four different four plans. The 4-story apartment building will have retail space on the first floor, “and will offer underground parking and storage, wireless internet, cable, business center, fitness center, rooftop garden, and scenic views. A companion dog or cat under 30 pounds will be allowed.”

No word on the project architect, but the project is being developed by the Thaler family, and Taylor the Builders out of suburban Rochester is the general contractor. The site was originally conceived as an office building several years ago, and then around 2012 it was proposed as a 39-unit mixed-use apartment building with an eye towards graduate students.

amabel_v4_1

2. Sticking with residential development and fancy renders, here’s the latest render for New Earth Living LLC’s Amabel housing development, courtesy of their Facebook page. Final approval was granted just this week by the town of Ithaca. The 31-unit eco-friendly housing development (consisting of one standing farmhouse and 30 new homes facing inward from a loop road) will be located on undeveloped grass/woodland behind 619 Five Mile Drive. In the project literature, the site is said to be designed around a “pocket neighborhood” concept, with the houses facing towards each other for interaction, and away from the street for privacy. The houses may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but are designed for net-zero efficiency. Houses range from 1-3 bedrooms and 1,200-2,100 SF. No specific prices yet, but expect marketing to begin sometime early next year.

3. For the aspiring developer who wants to get a head start on planning – the 11.71 acre Bella Vista site at 901-999 Cliff Street in the city’s West Hill neighborhood is for sale for $395,000. As the advertisement on Homefinder notes, the project has received approvals for a 44-unit apartment or condo building (what it doesn’t say is that those would have to be renewed via a reaffirming vote by the planning board, since the project was approved more than two years ago). The property is currently assessed for $210,000.

w592-h-q

Primary Developers Inc., a company founded by local businessman Mauro Marinelli, purchased the land for $175,000 in 2002 and received approvals for the 44-unit Bella Vista project in 2007, and the units were marketed by local realtors as condominiums. But as the recession set in, sales foundered and the project never moved forward. Primary Developers Inc. sold the medical office building on the adjacent southern parcel and two other neighboring parcels of land to another local real estate company for $945,000 earlier this year.

chapter_house_materials

4. Some minor tweaks to the Chapter House project since its November sketch plan presentation to the Ithaca city planning board, which looks to mostly be a slightly lighter brick color and a little more detail on the rear wall. From top to bottom, the Chapter House reconstruction proposes Rheinzink zinc shingles, white trim of unknown material, a Redland Brick Heritage SWB bricks, Inspire Roofing Aldeora Slate Coachman (790) simulated slate shingles over the first floor bump-out, SDL (Simulated Divided Lites) transom windows with LePage Morocco textured glass glazing over the picture windows, Sherwin Williams “Tricorn Black” paint on the Chapter House bar exterior trim, and genuine bluestone not unlike the famous Llenroc bluestone used in many of Ithaca’s historic buildings. As far as they look online, they appear to be attractive, premium finishes.

The owner, Sebastian Mascaro of Florida and represented by Jerry Dietz of CSP Management, hopes to start construction in late January or early February for an August 2016 opening.

cornell_novarr_6

5. Note that there was ever much doubt, but it looks like local developers John Novarr and Philip Proujansky have secured the construction loan(s) needed to build 209-215 Dryden Road in Collegetown, a six-story academic and office building in which Cornell has committed to occupy 100% of the space for use in its Executive MBA program. According to loan documents filed with the county, there were two loans, one for $6,482,295.33 and the other for $9,430,528 (for a total of $15,912,823.33). Wells Fargo Northwest was the lender, and it looks like some of the funds are going through a “pass-through” trust.

The 73,000 SF building will host about 420 Cornell MBA students and staff when it opens in late Spring 2017, later increasing to 600 as Cornell fills out the rest of the square footage. Hayner Hoyt Corporation of Syracuse will be the general contractor. Ikon.5 of Princeton is the project architect.

20151205_094944 20151205_094957

6. Going to do a double-feature for house of the week this week, mostly because I have a backlog of images. Here’s number one.

The last house is underway at the Belle Sherman Cottages. After not hearing anything about it, I had presumed they had just decided not to build Lot #9, which is smaller than the other lots and was going to have a unique “cottage” design. Well, color me surprised. The town of Ithaca issued a permit in early November, and by the 5th of this month, the CMU block foundation was excavated and poured. Looking at builder Carina Construction’s facebook page, the modular units have since arrived and have been hoisted onto the foundation, assembled and secured. Custom interior finishes, porch framing, siding, backfilling and landscaping will follow as the house moves towards completion.

No renders for the finished house, unfortunately, although I suppose STREAM Collaborative might have something on file. Agora Home LLC of Skaneateles is the developer of the Belle Sherman Cottages, which includes 18 other single-family homes and 10 townhouses, all of which have been completed and sold.

20151205_095437 20151205_095453 20151205_095528

424_dryden_rd_1

7. Now for House of the Week #2. 424 Dryden Road’s subdivision earlier this year turned the rear parking lot into a second lot, and the owners, William and Angie Chen of Lansing, decided to build a duplex on the land, which has been bestowed the address of 319 Oak Avenue.

It seems a little odd that the trim already seems to be applied to the house when the windows haven’t been fitted yet. The standard Huber ZIP System sheathing is being covered with a mahogany-colored vinyl siding. Wooden wall studs can be seen from the rough window openings and there appears to be electrical wiring on the rear of the house, so it’s a fair guess that utilities rough-ins are probably underway.

Local architect Daniel R. Hirtler of Flatfield Designs penned the design, and according to the construction loan agreement on file with the county, Tompkins Trust Company lent the Chens $400,000 to help bring their duplex from the drawing board to reality.

416_e_state_v2_1

8. For those hoping for something new and exciting in next week’s Planning Board agenda, it’s going to be a downer month. Here’s what’s planned.

A. Revisions to the internal sidewalk plans at 804 East State Street to allow stripped asphalt vs. concrete.
B. Tweaks to the signage for the downtown Marriott currently under construction.
C. The “Printing Press” bar debate at 416-18 E. State Street, again.
D. Final approval for Tompkins Financial Corporation’s new HQ.

The agenda also includes a couple zoning variance reviews for house additions at 105 First Street in North Side, and 116 West Falls Street in Fall Creek. The board is planning a joint meeting with the ILPC to review and comment on the Travis Hyde plan for the Old Library site, tentatively scheduled for January 12th.


Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : collegetown, construction, construction (planned), general housing, ithaca, news, senior housing, student housing, Tompkins County

News Tidbits 11/7/15: All the Small Things

7 11 2015

chapter_house_v2_1

1. The Chapter House project is finally beginning the first stages of design review with the ever-stringent (or picky, pending your view) Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Council. As seen in the render above, gone is the fourth floor, and gone for now are plans to build a new structure at 408 Stewart, after some members of the ILPC expressed opposition to a tear-down, even though the exterior has been butchered and the architect called it a “fire trap”.

The committee also had disagreements over which version of the Chapter House is more historic, the original ca. 1903 design evoked above, or the 1920s renovation that everyone remembers. The September minutes showed intent towards the four story design seen previously, but the design shown above is three floors – whether that be to the committee’s persuasion, or concerns over a zoning variance isn’t clear. It might be in October’s minutes, but those haven’t been approved, and are therefore not available yet.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the committee is planning “Property Condition Review and Potential Action” for the decayed carriage house at 312 West State Street. The board was also set to provide “Early Design Review” for a project at 315 North Cayuga Street, probably some kind of renovation/restoration of the First Presbyterian Church, but the item has since been pulled.

11-24-2012 171

2. Wait long enough and history repeats itself. In March 2009, I did a post called “Warren Real Estate Tries to Sell a Frat House“. It looked at 210 Thurston Avenue in Cornell Heights, when it was on the market for $950,000. The house has historically been a Cornell fraternity house, built around 1900, re-purposed not long thereafter for the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity until WWII, when the brothers left for service and the chapter never reopened. It was then used by other GLOs over the decades (Alpha Omicron Pi in the 1940s, Sigma Alpha Mu from the late 1940s to early 2000s, and Phi Delta Theta’s annex in the late 2000s).

After sitting on the market for a couple of years, the house sold in December 2011 for $677,500 to an LLC representing the wealthy parent of a Cornell wrestler, who had the house renovated for the team in 2011/12. The legal occupancy increased from 33 to 40 persons as a result of the reno.

So now it’s on the market again, this time for $2,750,000. That must have been quite a renovation. An open house will be held 1-3 PM this Sunday.

I’d recommend it to the Phi Mu ladies given their recent rejection by Cayuga Heights’ zoning board, but the asking price is almost four times the house they were looking at 520 Wyckoff. The house on Wyckoff was also intended for 16 occupants rather than 40. Oh, and I suppose those urinals the owners installed would be a bit out of place.

We’ll see what happens. This one could be on the market for a while. Again.

3. Also new to the market this week, two parcels in the town of Ithaca that have the potential for development.

The first, 1564 Slaterville Road. The sale includes four parcels – 1564 Slaterville Road itself, a 19th century home on 1.52 acres, and the other three are vacant parcels with frontage on Slaterville Road and Park Lane, which serves as an entrance to the Eastern Heights neighborhood, and has seen a number of higher-end single-family homes in the past several years (there have been plans for a 16-lot housing development on the adjacent land to the north, but nothing has been approved). Altogether, the sale comprises 9.2 acres of land, on the market for $995,000. The properties are valued at $297,300 total, so if the owner is asking such a high price, either they’re delusional, or purposely going after developers. The land currently falls under Ithaca town’s Medium-Density Residential (MDR) zoning, which is single-family homes and duplexes only. The Comprehensive Plan calls for “Established Neighborhood” use, with an average of 2-4 units/acre, either homes, townhomes or apartments (sensitive to neighboring uses), and the possibility of low-intensity commercial (home office). Expect any potential form-based code to accommodate those details.

The other parcel up for sale is 969 East Shore Road, one of the few properties in the town’s lakeshore exclave. This one is also asking a huge premium, $1.45 million for a 2.09-acre property assessed at $300,000. The property was used as the headquarters for the John C. Lowery construction company until they moved to Freeville; it had been built in the 1960s for a chemical company. The seller, the CEO of a local manufacturer, picked up the property for $300,000 in December 2013.

Although it falls under the town’s Lakefront Commercial (LC) zoning, which in itself says only marinas and wind turbines are okay, special use permits allow for mixed-use, hotel, and other non-water options. Like the Slaterville parcel, this one also falls under the “Established Neighborhood” use guidelines.

If they sell, and it bears mentioning, it’ll be mentioned in a later news roundup.

20151011_142719 20151011_142734 20151011_142746

424_dryden_rd_1

4. It’s house of the week. This week, 319 Oak Avenue in Collegetown. The lot was created by a subdivision of the existing lot, 424 Dryden Road, in February of this year. What was once a parking lot is now the foundation for a duplex with 3-bedrooms each. Foundation and stem walls have been poured and cured, and given that this photo is a couple weeks old, the foundation has probably been backfilled already, and rough framing may even be underway.

The site falls into the CR-2 Zone of the Collegetown Form District, meaning 2-3 floors, and pitched roofs and porches are required. The architect is Daniel Hirtler of Ithaca, and the developers are William and Angie Chen, also of Ithaca.

5. It’s a quiet week. The city of Ithaca’s projects memo has absolutely nothing new (not even new attachments to the three projects subject to review), and the town of Lansing has nothing interesting either. So we’ll wrap this up with some economic news:

A Lansing technology firm will be seeking sales tax abatements this month as part of a planned expansion project.

Advanced Design Consulting USA (ADC), located in a 15,000 SF facility at 126 Ridge Road in the town of Lansing, has submitted an application to the Tompkins County Industrial Development Authority (TCIDA) for review at their November 12th meeting.

The company is applying for a one-time sales tax abatement on the cost of construction materials, and is valued at $54,880.

ADC specializes in the design and manufacture of high-precision scientific instruments, especially those used in physics research. The firm states in their IDA application that their small size has limited their ability to gain large contracts, and it is necessary for them to expand in order to expand their business. The 5,000 SF expansion is valued at $910,000, and would retain 14 jobs and create 7 additional jobs in their Lansing facility, with a median salary of $40,000. If approved, the expansion project would be completed by June 2016. With the expansion, ADC’s revenues are predicted to increase from the current $2 million, to $2.7 million in three years. The company did not commit to local construction labor in their application.

In an interview in 2014, ADC President Alexander Deyhim explained that the company declined a business incentive to move to Oak Ridge, Tennessee because of Tompkins County’s high quality of life, and proximity to Cornell’s nano-fabrication facilities.

For ADC, which was founded in Tompkins County in 1995, it will be the third expansion in twelve years. The company had previously applied for and received tax abatement approvals for a larger, 20,000 SF expansion project, but according to the current application, the firm reassessed its needs and decided to go with a smaller plan for the time being. The original abatement was never utilized. Supplemental documents indicate the town of Lansing has approved the physical plans for the expansion.

***
So does one force the company to use local labor, or does one risk turning the company down and sending the whole operation to Tennessee? Tax abatements are hardly ever a black-and-white decision.


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories : collegetown, construction, greek system, ithaca, news, Tompkins County