collegetown | Ithacating in Cornell Heights

201 College Avenue Construction Update, 2/2017

2 03 2017

201 College Avenue is reaching for the sky – when these photos were taken about a week and half ago, the structural steel was as high as the third floor, so there’s still two more floors to be boxed out by the H-beams. Although only five floors, the mezzanine-approach to maximizing square footage means that the units on the third through fifth floors are quite tall, 16 feet from sub-floor to sub-floor, 70 feet for the whole building.

The basement level, which only occupies the west half of the building (the east half is slab-on-grade) has been fleshed out with reinforced concrete walls – the windows on the street corner will look into a gym and game room, while the two pocket windows on the northwest corner will look into the mechanical room. The blue boards on the concrete are rigid styrofoam panels used for insulation and moisture protection.

It looks like some wall framing is underway on the first floor for the three-bedroom units – those CMU walls face the stairwell, and the exterior walls of the building itself. The interior unit walls will likely be a more typical lightweight steel frame.

There’s been some documentation floating around that suggests an early working name for 201 College Avenue was “The Heustis Lofts”, Heustis (sometimes Huestis) Street being the original name of College Avenue. However, it doesn’t seem the moniker was officially adopted.

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Tags: 201 college avenue, collegetown, construction, construction (planned), ithaca, photos, student housing, visum development
Categories : collegetown, construction, construction (planned), ithaca, photos, student housing

209-215 Dryden Road Construction Update, 2/2017

1 03 2017

Admittedly, when the entire building is sealed up in opaque plastic covers, it makes for a less-than-interesting construction update. The plywood doors are for the loading and unloading of materials via lifts, and apart from those, there isn’t much to break up the monotony of white plastic sheets. Note that the access doors are not the same as the elevator shaft, which is located about midway along the west wall next to 205 Dryden/Dryden South.

However, it does look like some exterior facade work is starting to get underway. Brown and grey metal panels are beginning to be installed on the building’s rear face – this is the side that will have the least amount of glass, as occupants won’t have much to see if developer John Novarr moves forward with his plans for townhomes on the double-lot of a house that came down to allow a construction staging area for the Breazzano Center. With the new home to the Executive MBA expected to open up this Spring, Novarr can proceed with options for that double-lot. 238 Linden is zoned CR-4, four floors with no required parking. The proposed townhouses could provide a visual transition between the 80-foot Breazzano and the 2.5 story houses that comprise most of the housing stock on this block of Linden Avenue, some of which are for pending sale.

In further detail, the rear facade windows are 1″ insulated glass with aluminum frames, and translucent insulated spandrel glass below the panes. The metal panels are insulated aluminum and are installed using a framing system – you can see the grey insulated panels with clips along the top edge of the panels. The plastic covers on the panels are to protect against scratches and scuffs prior to installation. ikon.5 sought to provide differentiation with mahogany brown panels on the south (Linden Avenue) side, with lighter salmon-peach panels planned for the north (Dryden Road). The west and east sides will be a little bit of of both. The first floor the street facing sides, and the atrium will be glass curtain walls. The dark panels are intended “to differentiate upper from lower and facilitate a relationship with the smaller scale of adjacent buildings,” per the application. Some of the later documents show a lighter shade of gray for the south side of the top floors, but to be frank, I am uncertain what is accurate.

Note that the fourth floor’s back side will have few windows because that is where the 1,990 SF video production studio will be located, and this requires a controlled-light environment. Presumably, with the green room and studio rooms, the intent is to have a comfortable and efficient interview space for live videos recorded for or streamed to students at remote campuses. The large flank of plywood panels at ground level is the service exit, with future loading dock and trash/recyclables enclosure.

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Tags: 209-215 Dryden Road, academic buildings, breazzano center, collegetown, construction, Cornell, ithaca, Novarr-Mackesey, photos
Categories : academic buildings, collegetown, construction, Cornell, ithaca, photos

News Tidbits 2/25/17: Creating a Place to Call Home

25 02 2017

1. It looks like the homes designed for Tiny Timbers won’t just be limited to Tiny Timbers. The company has partnered with realtor Brent Katzmann for a to-be-built house in Lansing’s Farm Pond Circle housing development touts a Tiny Timbers-based home design by STREAM Collaborative. 1.09 acres and a 2 bed, 2 bath 1,430 SF house for $219,400. The relatively low price compared to most new builds is in part due to Tiny Timbers’ modular approach – the “Big Cube” retails for $156,900 with a finished basement, and the Farm Pond parcels go for $39k-$45k, so not counting the soft costs (permits/marketing), that pretty much sums up the costs.

Farm Pond Circle is a 19-lot subdivision in Lansing town that was the brainchild of the late Jack Jensen. All homes have to exceed state energy code by 20%, cannot exceed 2600 SF, and cannot use aluminum or vinyl siding. A couple lots have been aside for affordable single-family home construction. After Jensen’s passing in 2014, another local homebuilder, Bruno Schickel (Boiceville Cottages), picked up the undeveloped lots (10 of the 19) for about $165k last February, and intends to follow through on Jensen’s plans.

2. Speaking of Tiny Timbers, it appears the budding modular timber-frame builder is expanding their offerings into a full line of homes. Tiny Timbers now has 16 different models in five series. Prices range from a completed 600 SF model with no basement at $109,900, to a 1,950 SF model with finished basement at $197,900, land and well/septic not included.

In a blog post on their website, Caleb Dolph, builder Buzz Dolph’s son and the guy in charge of marketing, says that the first sold house is underway in Hector (if Ithaca had exurban areas, Hector would be it), at least five others are in contract, though it’s not clear if any of those are for the 15-lot Varna site. Given that they planned for ten houses in 2017, the Tiny Timbers staff might have underestimated the market, which is more a fortunate challenge than a complaint.

3. A local non-profit is looking to expand its real estate footprint a little bit. Tompkins County Opportunities, Alternatives, and Resources (OAR) is seeking to buy a run-down house at 626 West Buffalo Street and renovate it into five beds of transitional housing for those getting out of jail and trying to get back on their feet. The intent is to provide, safe, secure housing to better help with the transition process, which can include education, job training and mental health and/or addiction treatment. The county would provide $100,000 in a one-time allotment – the house is for sale for $99,999, the purchase offer is for $95,000, and a further $60,000 would be spent on renovations. The rest of the money ($55,000) comes from grants, donations and a mortgage. Ultimately, the goal is to provide decent housing that helps reduce the recidivism rate (convicted persons committing more crimes), ideally saving the county on future court and incarceration costs, as well as what they hope pans out to a lower crime rate.

4. Staying on the topic of special needs housing, the Second Wind Cottages is looking to add another three cottages in Newfield this year. The cottages are modest, ~200 SF and costing $12-$15k each to build. As reported by the Times’ Jaime Cone, every unit provides shelter to a formerly homeless male. Rents are “pay as you can”. A small community facility provides services like a kitchenette, office, washer and dryer. Three more cottages are planned for 2018, which will round out the “campus” with 18 units. A similar facility is planned up the road, one that will house homeless women and children. Although Newfield is a ways out, both sites are on the bus line into Ithaca.

The Second Wind Cottages are a private endeavor by businessman Carmen Guidi, and paid for through grants, fundraisers, and donations (money, furniture, etc). Volunteer labor similar to that used for Habitat for Humanity is utilized and welcomed. Like with the OAR house, by providing a safe, warm space to live, these units may help reduce homelessness and the issues homelessness creates.

5. Work has yet to start on the new two-family home planned at 123 Eddy Street in Collegetown, but it looks like developer/landlord Nick Lambrou is seeking major changes to the project. Lambrou wants to replace the approved design at top, with the one below, which is copied from a Craigslist posting. The designs are both by Jagat Sharma, but the new plan is a variant of the two-family homes that Sharma’s doing for Charlie O’Connor at the recently-approved 4-building 607 South Aurora project.

The property falls into the East Hill Historic District, which is under the ILPC’s jurisdiction. According to Bryan McCracken, the city’s Historic Preservation Planner, the design will be heading for review within the next month or two.

The design has been used before so there’s familiarity with the design and lower risk, plus there are possible cost efficiencies if using the same contractors as O’Connor, because they’ll move quicker as they’ve done it before. On the other hand, unlike 607 South Aurora, this property is in the East Hill Historic District, and full-time neighbors on Orchard Place have been watching these plans very closely – they’re wary of students, and will likely not be fans of the projecting second-floor porch, as the previous version was tucked into the building. Not sure using a slightly more decorated version of a design being deployed elsewhere will get the ILPC’s blessing, but we’ll see what happens.

6. Why yes, Lansing town is still hopping mad about the natural gas issue. The town supervisor cites the tap-out as the cause of delay for Robert Weinstein’s 102-unit Cayuga Farms project, although the previous documentation says it’s a sewer issue – the developer has to deploy an Orenco modular sewer system, which has to be approved by the NYS DEC.

7. Here’s a copy of Maplewood’s buildout timeline. The first Maplewood apartments should start construction in May 2017, pending no issues. Generally, the crews will be working from the outside in; buildings closer to Maple Avenue and Mitchell Street have earlier construction schedules, while those interior to Maplewood will start in the fall or early winter. Also, street names. Veteran’s Place will continue to be the main thoroughfare, but from north to south, it will intersect with “James Lane”, “East Sylvan Mews”, and “Lena Street”. James Lane wraps around to form the secondary N-S thoroughface on the east side of the parcel. James and Lena Mitchell were the original owners of the property when Ithaca was first settled in the early 1800s.

The Stormwater Property Protection Plan (SWPPP) still needs to be okayed by the town of Ithaca, but that’s about the only thing left before final approval is granted.

8. It looks like the Planning Board meeting should be interested. Not a whole lot being decided, but some sketch plans have been submitted. For rental projects aiming for August 2018 openings, Feb-Apr is going to be the primary submission period, as they seek approvals by May or June so that construction can run on a Summer 2017 – Summer 2018 schedule.
AGENDA ITEM Approx. Start Time
1.Agenda Review 6:00

2. Privilege of the Floor 6:01

3. Subdivision Review
A. Project: Minor Subdivision 6:10
Location: 109 Dearborn Place, Tax Parcel 9.-3-11
Applicant: Lee and Elizabeth Ambrose
Actions: Declaration of Lead Agency, Public Hearing, Determination of Environmental Significance, Recommendation to BZA

4.Site Plan Review
A. Project: Apartments (11 Units) 6:30
Location: 107 S Albany Street
Applicant: Stavros Stavropoulos
Actions: Declaration of Lead Agency, Public Hearing, Determination of Environmental Significance

B. Schwartz Plaza Redesign- Sketch Plan 6:50

News Tidbits 2/18/17: Credits and Loans

18 02 2017

1. Over in Lansing village, it looks like the new Arleo medical office building is starting to moving forward. A sketch plan of the project was presented at the village planning board’s meeting earlier this week. Although Lansing doesn’t upload accessory docs like site plans and elevations, this one has been floating around for the past several months in marketing material as “Cayuga Ridge”. Quoting the May 7th 2016 news roundup:

“The new one-story building, which appears to be designed by Binghamton-based Keystone Associates, would be off of Warren Road, although it looks like the building would be accessed from a driveway coming off of Uptown Road. The 2.71 acre property north of 100 Uptown Road is zoned “Human Health Services District” by the village, and borders undeveloped land owned by Cornell, and several other suburban medical office buildings built over the past few decades. The resolution on the attached site plan is too low to determine the square footage, though it looks to be in the low tens of thousands.”

2. For those who like their cottages tiny – it looks like Schickel Construction has begun work on the spiritual successor to their 140-unit Boiceville Cottages project in Caroline. The 40-house rental development is called “La Bourgade on Seneca”, and is located in the town of Hector, in Schuyler County just outside of Burdett village. For the record, Bourgade is a French term for an unfortified village or settlement. More details can be found on the website here. There will be two cottage types available -, “The Classic”, a 2-bedroom, 900 SF plan that will rent at $1,495/month, and “The Spacious”, a 2-bedroom with a dormer loft space totaling 1,000 SF and renting at $1,695 month. The house very much like their Boiceville cousins, but with angled eaves (dunno what the correct term is and google’s not helping – if there’s an architect reading, please chime in). All units will have lake views.

Personally, I see this as a stretch for the Ithaca market, since it’s 25 miles west of the city. But it might tap into a more plebeian contingent the wine country crowd, the wealthier of whom have taken to building grand vacation or permanent homes along the Finger Lakes in recent years. The first 9 units, three clusters of three, are currently under construction, as is a community center. Delivery is expected in May 2017.

3. It looks like Ithaca College is putting some more thought into their housing needs. The college has been meeting with planning firm U3 Advisors to explore the possibility of new off-campus student housing.

U3 Advisors is already familiar with the area, as they are also under contract with Cornell to formulate their off-campus housing plan. Unlike Cornell, however, Ithaca College has no plans to grow enrollment – the master plan expects it to stay steady around 7,000. However, many of the dorms are reaching the end of their useful lives, meaning that the college can either sink a fair sum into renovation and replacement of utility systems, or tear down and build anew. An off-campus option could either be a private entity on private land, or a deal on IC-owned land like what Cornell and EdR are doing with Maplewood. A 200-300 bedroom off-campus option could mesh with the town of Ithaca’s visions for a walkable South Hill neighborhood on the intersection of Route 96 and King Road.

It’s still just studies and meetings at this point, but as the oldest dorms hit 50 years old on South Hill, there might be something fresh in the pipeline. We’ll see what happens.

4. Ithaca’s West End will be welcoming a new tenant in the next couple months. Courtesy of Nick Reynolds over at the Times, the USDA is shifting its regional office out of Community Corners in Cayuga Heights, and into Fulton Meadows, a commercial office building at 225 South Fulton Street. the move is being undertaken in anticipation of the construction of Tim Ciaschi’s new Cayuga Medical Associates office building, which is set to get underway at Community Corners later this year.

5. Looks like we have an idea of the price tag for Visum Development’s 201 College Avenue. According to a construction loan filed with the county on the 15th, S&T Bank loaned Todd Fox’s company $7,870,673 to help cover the costs of the project. The breakdown in the filing says $6,841,038 for hard construction costs (materials/equipment/labor), $507,000 in soft costs (permits/legal/marketing/financing fees), $300k in contigency and $226k in interest reserves. Add in the $2.64 million for the land purchase, and the total comes to $10,514,180.

That’s something of a premium because the project is on an accelerated schedule after the big hullabaloo with Neil Golder and the city Planning Board last fall. Note that the loan doesn’t cover all the costs and that there is money from other sources, like cash equity from Visum itself.

S&T Bank is a regional bank based out of Western Pennsylvania, but they’ve been making inroads into Ithaca’s commercial lending market. S&T Bank also financed the construction of the Holiday Inn Express that recently opened on Route 13, lending $5,973,750 to the hotel developers.

Quick aside, I think this is the first time I’m seeing the square footage calculated out – 201 College will be 33,398 SF.

6. Hopefully this runs after by INHS refinancing explainer, so it makes more sense. Quick rehash, low income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) are sold to banks and similar financial institutions so that they get the tax credit, and the affordable housing developer gets the money they need to move forward with a project. With that in mind, here’s an interesting though unfortunate tidbit from INHS’s Paul Mazzarella:

“This following may be more than you want to include in this article, but it is relevant. The pricing of tax credits exists in a marketplace where they rise and fall in value. In past projects completed by INHS, we’ve received from $0.91 to $1.02 of equity investment for each dollar of tax credit. The pricing of tax credits has recently plummeted because of the recent election and the uncertainty in DC. This is mostly due to discussions about changing the corporate tax rate. A lower corporate tax rate will mean that companies have less profits to shield from taxes and therefore the demand for tax credits will be reduced. Even though no changes have yet been made to the corporate tax rate, just the discussion about this has reduced the pricing of tax credits to around $0.80. What does this mean for INHS? It means that the project that we’ve been working on for several years suddenly has a funding gap that didn’t exist a few months ago, due entirely to investor’s fear of risk due to an uncertain future.. This is true for every tax credit project in the country and has all of us struggling to make the pro formas work.”

Sigh. Politics.

7. The Times has the first render for Habitat for Humanity’s two-family townhouse project at 208/210 Third Street on the city’s Northside. It looks to be the same architect as the 4-unit project for 402 South Cayuga – I can’t seem to find the architect offhand as a few designers have donated time and energy, but local planner George Frantz shepherded the project through the approvals process. Each unit is about 1500 SF. The plan for the $305,000 project is to break ground in April and have the move-in ceremony in Spring 2018. As with all local Habitat projects, a portion of the construction will come from volunteer labor, including 500 hours of “sweat equity”, and homeownership classes that the two recipient lower-income families (making 60% AMI or less, $32,000/year) will need to complete as part of the deal.

8. Wrapping this up with the local agendas for next week – the town of Ithaca will be looking at a home B&B permit on Bostwick Road, a retaining wall for Ithaca College’s track, and finishes touches on the Maplewood approvals. The city’s project review meeting indicates the city plans to look at the subdivision at 109 Dearborn Place, Declaration of Lead Agency and Environmental Review for the 11-unit 107 South Albany Street plan, and “Approval of Conditions” for City Centre, which is just making sure they’ve completed everything asked for in the final approval. In sum, nothing too exciting at the moment, but we’ll see if the city has any new projects coming up when the actual PB agenda comes out next week.

9. Quick note to wrap up – the woman behind the Rogues Harbor Inn in Lansing has purchased a prominent and historic building on Freeville’s main drag. Eileen Stout purchased 2 Main Street, a mixed-use building with restaurant space, a tile shop and three apartments, on Thursday for $132,000. The seller was Tompkins Trust and it’s well below assessment – doesn’t look like a foreclosure though. The bank bought the property for almost double the price in May 2016.

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Tags: 201 college, 201 college avenue, affordable housing, cayuga heights, collegetown, construction (planned), habitat for humanity, inhs, ithaca, ithaca college, lansing, maplewood, news, northside, tiny houses, west end
Categories : academic buildings, affordable housing, campus issues, construction (planned), ithaca, news, student housing, Tompkins County, urban planning

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.

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Tags: collegetown, collegetown terrace, construction, ithaca, Novarr-Mackesey, photos, student housing, welliver
Categories : collegetown, construction, ithaca, photos, student housing

News Tidbits 1/7/17: Storage and Storefronts

7 01 2017

1. Like a phoenix, it looks like Wings Over Ithaca is coming back. The franchise, whose Ithaca location was shut down after the owner was charged with 26 counts of tax evasion, will be operated under a new ownership consisting of four young Cornell alumni from the New York City area. However, while the ownership is changing, the management team for the eatery will be largely the same. The new incarnation will also be in a new location – Wings, which called East Hill Plaza its home for fifteen years, will now be located in a 1,743 SF retail storefront at 119-121 Dryden Road in Inner Collegetown. The property, owned by Ithaca Renting, previously held a Greek restaurant and then a tobacco shop, but it’s been more often vacant than occupied over the past ten years. A new kitchen is being installed in the retail space to accommodate. Expect an early Spring opening.

2. This sounds promising, but I’m not comfortable with the precision of the details. According to Cassie Negley over at the Times, Washington D.C.-based Distributed Sun LLC, a rapidly-expanding solar energy company, wants to build two large-scale solar installations in the town of Dryden. One would be on Cornell land south of Route 366 on Turkey Hill Road, the other near the Willow Glen Cemetery on non-Cornell private land. The company is familiar with the area, as they are Cornell’s partner on the large-scale array recently installed near the county airport. The company also has plans for seven arrays on four parcels in Spencer in Tioga County, and they’re working with Cornell on solar installations for the tech school down on NYC’s Roosevelt Island.

The topic of discussion is whether or not a PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) could be reached for the installation – solar installations are already exempt from NYS taxes, but school districts and towns can levy their own. Since the Cornell property doesn’t pay taxes, a lump PILOT that covers both could actually pay more than taxing the non-exempt proposal at full value. The construction timeframe at present is April-October 2017; and, here’s the imprecise part, the arrays would create 200-250 local jobs and another 100 jobs nationwide – and, from the town minutes, that doesn’t appear to be a typo. Presumably, most of that is construction, and a few in maintenance. I’d like to see the numbers for permanent local jobs, because along with the renewable energy growth and reduced electricity costs for nearby residents, the permanent jobs would be one of the big economic selling points. Given the Mettler Toledo news a few months ago, new jobs in Dryden would be welcome.

3. Time for some sad news – 722 University Avenue is gone. The university demolished the 5,738 SF, 116 year-old house it earlier this week. The property has a storied history as the home to several fraternities and sororities; it’s kind of a shame it wasn’t renovated to provide student housing. The university has no long-term plans to redevelop the lot.

4. Dryden, the storage capital of Tompkins County. Across the street from the 79,000 SF Storage Squad self-storage facility under construction, 4 Season Storage is busy putting up their own addition. According to a loan filing on the 3rd, 4 Season’s new building is 12,000 SF, and the hard construction costs come in at $481,172. CFCU is the lender. The structure is already framed and is being roofed, the cross trusses already separate the exterior units (not sure if those will be climate-controlled like the interior ones). Storage Squad is further behind, a graded site and a couple of reinforced concrete walls at the moment.

5. In case you were wondering, here are some of county administrator Joe Mareane’s planning and development goals for 2017 –

– Negotiate the purchase of the Tompkins Trust Building for use by the History Center and Heritage Education Center. Also, develop a “governance”, or operations, plan for how the facility will be managed and maintained; how space will be allocated; how rent will be determined, etc.
– Work with NYS DOT and local agencies (Planning and ITCTC) to secure funding for a Route 13 traffic study.
– Facilitate the development of a realistic business strategy that allows the Airport to continue to
serve the community and be financially self-sufficient.
– With TCAction, put plans in place for a new residential project aimed at providing a meaningful
amount of housing for the chronically homeless.
– Bring alternative plans to re-use the rear portion of the Human Services Annex to the Legislature; implement its recommendation.

There’s a possibility, based on the 2016 notes that follow, that the 24-unit Re-Use project and the housing for the chronically homeless may be two different projects – the Re-Use housing project is described as transitional re-entry housing, while the housing for the chronically homeless is said to be in the property acquisition phase – i.e. still scouting out sites, with the goal of construction within two years. They might be the same, they might not, it’s not 100% clear from the notes. As for the Human Services Annex, there have been talks for additional space for Cayuga Medical Center’s services, or space for courthouse functions, and a decision is expected in Q1 2017.

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Tags: collegetown, Cornell, dryden, Heritage Center, ithaca, solar energy, student housing, tompkins county, west campus
Categories : collegetown, construction, construction (planned), Cornell, environmental issues, ithaca, photos, student housing, Tompkins County

201 College Avenue Construction Update, 12/2016

18 12 2016

The Collegetown construction boom continues. In 2017, the city can expect at least five projects to open in the neighborhood, with a net gain of about 118 beds and $16 million in assessed tax value** – a two-family house at 123 Eddy Street; Cornell’s, 6-story, 76,000 SF Breazzano Center for its Executive MBA Program; the 5-unit, 28-bed 126 College Avenue; the 9-unit, 36-bed 210 Linden Avenue; and lastly, the 5-story, 74 bed 201 College Avenue. Which has also been by far the most contentious one.

The project was first proposed in March – and from beginning to end, the only substantial change was a mild revision to its upper floors to create a setback as a modern deference to the Grandview House further up the block. That resulted in a loss of two bedrooms, dropping the plan from 76 to 74 beds.

For Todd Fox, who proposed the building through his company Visum Development Group, there wasn’t much room for revisions. He was going to, and paid, a premium on the property – $2.65 million, formally deeded in June by its previous owner, a small-scale local landlord who owned it for about seven years prior. The site held an early 1900s apartment house with three large spruce trees at the front, which became another source of contention during the debate.

To make the project financially feasible, he needed to build to the maximum 5 floors and 70 feet allowed by the site’s MU-1 zoning (the project would have been outright impossible before the 2014 CAFD zoning overhaul, due to the parking requirement), and building micro-units with mezzanines would make the project pencil out – the profit value of the vertical space was effectively maximized. Working with architect Noah Demarest of STREAM Collaborative, he proposed a fairly modern building with fiber-cement panels, woven bamboo boards and cedar accents.

However, one thing that did not factor in to the calculations was the neighbor of 201, 203 College’s Neil Golder. Neil is a 44-year resident of Collegetown, having moved in in 1972, and buying his house in the early 1990s. As the kitchen manager for Loaves and Fishes and a former Common Councilor for the 4th Ward, he’s well known among the Ithaca community and is well connected to its grassroots organizations, as well as the political movers and shakers. By any account, Neil and his late partner Kathy Yoselson are beloved stalwarts of Ithaca’s progressive scene. However, Neil has generally not been a fan of development, particularly Collegetown’s (with one notable exception – 307 College).

What 201’s debate boils down to is a clash of two strong personalities. Todd Fox, who is probably the most gung-ho and financially adept developer one will find in the city of gorges; and Neil Golder, who was determined as hell to stop the project planned for the house next door, which wasn’t just a development, it was a project that he deeply felt would be a major detriment to his quality of life. Hence, Neil launched the group “Save the Soul of Collegetown“, under the auspices of protecting all of Collegetown, but mostly as a personal vehicle to drum up support to battle Fox and his apartment building.

The point of this summary isn’t to summarize every detail. You can read the 580+ page summary from the city, or all the Voice articles here. But there are a few key plot points.

After review and a negative declaration of environmental significance (meaning, effectively mitigated), he project received preliminary approval in June, and the city and the planning board were promptly slapped with a lawsuit by Golder. The stated case was that the environmental assessment was inadequate and that the project needed an EIS. Although it was quite a stretch given past precedent, it did make the planning board quite uncomfortable. John Schroeder, a longtime board member who served with Neil on the council, did a very deep analysis of the 2014 zoning code and determined that the building may be illegal on technicality.

That technicality was about building facade length, and whether Bool Street was a primary facade – if it was, it would legally have been required to be two separate buildings for having too long of a continuous face to the street. The zoning code, however, illustrated that an approach with indents such as 201’s were acceptable, and the city planning department, in their pre-site plan review assessment and meetings with Fox, had signed off on the plan as legal and acceptable. And they maintained that it was acceptable. So there ended up being a battle between the planning board, which is appointed though knowledgeable community members, and the planning department, which consists of vetted city staff. These kinds of battles are extremely rare, and it is likely that 201 was the first in decades.

While this debate raged, the building far exceeded its intended start date of July 2016. As a result, the site went on the market, and the plans were cast into jeopardy.

Although Fox and his team wanted to avoid a trip to the Board of Zoning Appeals, it was determined by the board to be the only legitimate course of action. The BZA had to decide whether or not the project was legal. And, in a 3-1 decision in October, they decided it was legal, due to ambiguity in the code, and a lack of timeliness on the part of the planning board, as the legality was not considered until after months of review, after preliminary approval was granted. After the BZA ruling, work on the building began the next day.

No one walked away from this one looking good; One reader emailed in and compared it to a Clinton vs. Trump vote. The debate sent a chill down the development community, and created additional bitterness for some of the old-timers who felt Ithaca was selling out to developers and student interests. The planning department and board were also left with some resentment towards the other; now that the code has been clarified, one can hope further battles like this can be avoided.

Anyway, the building itself. Here are the floorplans. The mechanical room, a trash room, interior bike storage, gym and storage space occupy the basement. Four three-bedroom and four four-bedoom units (28 beds), with about 1,000 SF each, occupy the first and second floors. The third and fourth floors have micro-units, 16 of which will be about 392 SF studios, 8 of which will be 670 SF with two bedrooms, give or take a few feet for each (32 beds). The top floor has nearly the same layout as three and fourth, with eight micro-units of about 392 SF and 2 two-bedrooms of about 670 SF. However, the westernmost two units are studios, which have balconies and are about 400 SF each. So, 14 beds on the top floor, for a total of 74. The smaller units make use of mezzanine spaces and netting to increase usable space.

Fox’s rental company, Modern Living Rentals, is handling the leases. The units are currently listed from $1,670/month to $4,170/month, depending on size and location.

In the photos below, note that the excavated portion is only half of the building footprint – the basement only occupies the western half of the structure. The eastern half is slab-on-grade (Collegetown has more stable soils than most of the valley locations, so multi-story slab foundation buildings are feasible). The elevator core will be in the middle bridge of the “H”-shaped structure. Foundation forms are up and the concrete is being poured – through the fence, you can see one of the concrete footers already in place.

William H. Lane Inc. of Binghamton, who just finished up the Marriott downtown, is the general contractor for the approximately $6 million project, which is paying a premium to meet the opening date of August 2017.

**If you add in Phase III of Collegetown Terrace, which is on the fringe of what’s normally considered Collegetown, raise those numbers to 462 beds and $71 million.

Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: 201 college avenue, collegetown, construction, construction (planned), ithaca, photos, student housing
Categories : collegetown, construction, construction (planned), ithaca, photos, student housing

News Tidbits 12/17/16: So Much In One Week

17 12 2016

1. For the developers out there, it looks like your next opportunity just opened up in Collegetown. For sale are three houses on Linden Avenue – 6-unit, 8-bedroom 230 Linden, for sale at $675,000 (taxed at $350,000), neighboring 4-unit, 8-bedroom 228 Linden at $700,000 (taxed at $460,000), and two doors down, 2-unit, 11-bedroom 224 Linden at $525,000 (taxed at $400,000). All three are somewhat run-down student apartment houses on the cusp of inner and outer Collegetown – as such, their zoning is CR-4, which allows four floors, 50% lot coverage, and has no parking requirement.

The properties were all purchased in the mid-1970s by a small-time local landlord, who was killed in a car accident two years ago. According to the listings, the seller’s agent is a family member, and the units are leased until late 2017 or 2018, meaning that if one were to purchase with an eye towards rapid redevelopment, they would have to negotiate with the tenants, or wait it out. That being said, there’s a lot of potential here, particularly if a buyer combines 228 and 230 into one lot. The city designed the CR-4 zoning with Linden Avenue specifically in mind – the concept render is a northward perspective of a revitalized Linden Avenue. They’re a lot of money, but there could be some interesting news down the line.

2. Also in Collegetown, here are a couple of concept color renders of 210 Linden Avenue (left) and 126 College Avenue, courtesy of Visum Development’s webpage (currently down, cached link here). I confess to be more of a warm colors person, but assuming these are fiber cement boards and wood trim (or fiber cement that looks like wood), they could turn out quite nice.

On a related note, Visum’s Fox and partner Charlie O’Connor have started earth moving for their townhouse project at 902 Dryden Road in Varna. As it turns out, it is a very difficult site to get photos of, despite its easily accessible location. I’ll do a more in-depth shortly, but the units should be ready by August.

3. Fulfilling a promise to Fred, here’s the rather upscale McDonald’s/Fasttrak combo under construction North Road in the village. There is a billboard on 366 advertising for new hires for when they reopen, but unfortunately, it was too difficult to attempt a photo of the board and render. The building’s exterior is largely complete, and the gas station canopy is framed – late winter opening? The new construction has a price tag of about $500k. Honestly, for a roadside stop, it looks pretty nice.

4. More on Dryden, with a couple houses of the week. Looks like some modulars are going into the Maple Ridge development – one recently completed, one in the works. The open space to the right of house number two, the Cape Cod, will host a garage. The land for house one sold to Kenn-Schl Inc, a regional modular home builder and seller, in June for $48k. House two’s land was sold to a Rochester man for $39k in October. At this rate, Maple Ridge is going to fill out their 15-lot phase one in another year or two. Although waylaid by the Great Recession, the big plan is for three phases and 51 lots.

5. On the 15th, the construction loan for the William George Agency’s new 1-story, 24-unit dormitory was filed to the county records office. The $3 million loan comes courtesy of …. A trip to the property didn’t pan out, it didn’t look like anything was underway even though the building permits were filed with the town of Dryden a few months ago. Then again, as a facility for troubled youth, it’s not the most welcoming place for a random visitor to be taking photos.

6. So what’s being discussed by the towns? In the town of Ithaca next week, a lot line adjustment between two houses, and more Maplewood discussion, with consideration of preliminary site plan approval. Meanwhile, the town of Dryden has cell towers galore, as well as revised approvals for Storage Squad (1401 Dryden) and Tiny Timbers; plans are in the pipe line for a 7-lot subdivision of the Dryden Lake Golf Course, and a possible sewer extension study for NYS Route 366 east of the NYSEG building.

7. Speaking of sewer, the town and village of Lansing are negotiating sewer deals so that the town can use village lines to help accommodate future growth. Dan Veaner at the Lansing Star has the story. the report says the town is asking for 700 units of capacity, where a unit is 328 gallons. 700 units would also put the Cayuga Heights plant at capacity. The town’s intent is to extend sewer capacity to encourage development along Triphammer Road (as in the town center concept shown above), with the reasoning that it’s a natural extension of established development, and would help grow the tax base in the event of the power plant closing. Not as grand as the plans that were shot down in 2007, but like the Warren Road sewer built a few years ago, it’s seen as a more organic and cost-efficient approach.

8. There might be some of movement on Jason Fane’s Bank Tower $4 million renovation from office space to 32 apartments. The windows were inspected and tagged recently, possibly to determine what needs to be replaced where. Most of the exterior of the Commons-facing building will receive a cleaning and re-freshening, with the bulk of the work geared towards the interior.

9. In economic news, 24/7 Wall Street is reporting that Ithaca has the 25th best job growth in the nation from November 2015 – November 2016. 2,200 jobs equates to 4.4%, by their measure.

Hate to burst the bubble, but don’t buy into it just yet. Initial estimates can be way off due to statistically insignificant sample size for small communities. It may hold, it may not. Wait until March and see if the numbers get revised.

10. Interesting meeting next week for the city Planning Board. Amici House and Maplewood are up for final approval, and a couple revitalized or new projects. Here’s the scoop:

1. Agenda Review 6:00
2. Privilege of the Floor
3. Site Plan Review

A. Project: Maplewood Redevelopment Project 6:10
Location: Veteran’s Ave. (between Maple Ave. & Mitchell St.)
Applicant: Scott Whitham, Whitham Planning & Design, LLC, for Cornell University
Actions: Adoption of Findings, Public Hearing, Consideration of Preliminary & Final Site Plan Approval

The Town Planning Board filed a Notice of Completion on November 30th, 2016, which can be viewed here: http://www.town.ithaca.ny.us/major-projects/maplewood. The Town Board will consider adoption of a Findings Statement on December 20, 2016.

The city will specifically sign off on the bus stop and landscaped area at the northwest corner. STREAM Collaborative is the landscape architect.

B. Project: City Centre — Mixed Use Project (Housing & Retail) 6:30
Location: 301 E. State/M.L.K., Jr. St.
Applicant: Jeff Smetana for Newman Development Group, LLC
Actions: Determination of Environmental Significance, Recommendation to BZA

C. Project: Amici House & Childcare Center 6:50
Location: 661-701 Spencer Rd.
Applicant: Tom Schickel for Tompkins Community Action (“TCAction”)
Actions: Consideration of Preliminary & Final Approval

Tweaked since last time – a little more glass in the stairwell, and the roofline of the classroom building has been broken up with three distinct gables.

D. Project: College Townhouse Project 7:10
Location: 119, 121, & 125 College Ave.
Applicant: Kathryn Wolf, Trowbridge Wolf Michaels Landscape Architects, LLP
Actions: Public Hearing Determination of Environmental Significance

The big changes appears to be the switch from boxy bay window projections to curvy ones. Not sure if it works, given all the other boxiness. But on the bright side, we now know what the rear apartment building looks like:

E. Project: Apartments (5 Units) 7:30
Location: 126 College Ave
Applicant: Visum Development Group
Actions: Declaration of Lead Agency, Potential Determination of Environmental Significance

This is what I get for writing things over the week rather than all at once. Confirmed fiber cement panels (wood-like and Allura olive green) and a very light yellow Nichiha panel.

F. Project: Apartments (9 Units) 7:50
Location: 210 Linden Ave
Applicant: Visum Development Group
Actions: Declaration of Lead Agency, Potential Determination of Environmental Significance

Charcoal grey fiber cement panels, light grey panels, natural wood trim and red doors. The base will be stucco.

G. 323 Taughannock – Apartment (Redesign) – Sketch Plan 8:10

Steve Flash’s 21-unit apartment building for Inlet Island was approved two years ago, but has not moved forward due to soil issues and parking costs. This new version is still a housing proposal, but I’m hearing for-sale units that may be condo-like. The design will also be new, but the aesthetic will be similar – it will once again be crafted by STREAM Collaborative.
H. Ithaca Reuse Center – Sketch Plan 8:30

I know about this project because a county staffer emailed me by accident. But without official docs, I wasn’t about to report on anything. The plan calls for a mixed-use building, not unlike that seen in design concepts a couple of years ago. TCAction and INHS are involved, so there is an affordable housing component – probably looking at mixed-use overall.

4. Zoning Appeals 8:50
• 3053, Sign Variance, 310 Taughannock Blvd.
• 3055, Area Variance, 113 Farm St.
• 3056, Area Variance, 301 E State St.

5. Old/New Business:
A. Update — Chainworks DGEIS – Transportation Comments/Responses – yes, it’s still going.
B. Update — City/Town Joint Planning Board Meeting Jan 31, 2017 – Maplewood?
C. Update — Joint Planning Board/ILPC Meeting (DeWitt House) – Let’s see how this goes…

Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: 119-125 college avenue, 126 college avenue, 210 linden avenue, amici house, City Centre, city of ithaca, collegetown, downtown ithaca, dryden, eoconomy, ithaca reuse center, lansing, maplewood, planning board, visum development
Categories : affordable housing, collegetown, construction, construction (planned), Cornell, general housing, ithaca, news, photos, student housing, Tompkins County

209-215 Dryden Road Construction Update, 12/2016

14 12 2016

Cornell’s Breazzano Family Center at 209-215 Dryden Road is closed up for the winter. Literally, with white plastic sheeting, as a protective measure against the elements while interior work moves along. The plywood holes on the front and back sides are removable so that a lift can deliver materials to different floors of the 6-story building. One can make out the dramatic entry foyer above the steel stretching out the sheeting above the ground floor. Note that the height of the building, 80 feet, is the maximum permitted under Collegetown’s form zoning (MU-2, up to 6 floors or up to 80 feet).

The plan is to have the new 76,300 SF building open by Summer 2017. Hayner Hoyt Corporation of Syracuse is the general contractor.

After the last Breazzano update a couple months ago, I had contacted Cornell to do a piece about the expanding Executive MBA program, what’s driving the growth, why Collegetown, and so on…but after being led around or misled by several emails over a few weeks, I gave up on the piece. For what it’s worth, Poets and Quants did a thoughtful article and interview here with the Johnson School Dean, Soumitra Dutta, talking about the future of the MBA program and the business school merger with the Dyson/AEM program and the Hotel School. Maybe I’d have had better luck if I just sidestepped Cornell’s PR unit.

Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: 209-215 Dryden Road, academic buildings, collegetown, construction, ithaca, Novarr-Mackesey, photos
Categories : academic buildings, construction, Cornell, ithaca, photos

News Tidbits 12/10/16: Missing Out On the Fun

10 12 2016

1. We’ll start off out in the town of Lansing this week with a new business startup looking to climb to the top of the pack. Reach Works, the brainchild of an academic family that relocated to Ithaca, just earned final site plan approval to build a professional-grade climbing wall and facility at 1767 East Shore Drive, next to The Rink. The $1.2 million, 10,400 SF building will have a noticeable impact on the Lansing shoreline, as the building will reach 56 feet in height. South Hill’s George Breuhaus will be the architect in charge.

According to the Times’ Cassandra Negley, the owner looked at Chain Works for an opportunity, but those plans fell through. The finalizing of the wall design is underway now, and Reach Works hopes to begin construction in March and be open by next fall. Between the pro shop and the wall, they hope to employ five full-time and ten part-time, with most making about the living wage of $15/hour (although, the application on file with the town says six employees). The hope is that it also becomes a regional attraction, drawing in hardcore climbers from the Rochester, Syracuse and Binghamton metros. Best of luck to them.

2. Maplewood is almost ready. The city is set to give its final approval this month, and the town is expected to give preliminary approval before the Christmas holiday. The latest changes to the FEIS include the following details:

– The amount of money for traffic calming measures has been increased from $20,000 to $100,000. $30,000 goes to the city and town, and $70,000 will be allocated by EdR and Cornell for streetscape improvements that they will build.
– Recycled building materials will be incorporated into the buildings.
– A revised estimate states that 100 to 150 construction staff will be on site during construction. They will park behind the East Hill farmer’s market space and are expected to walk over to the site. They will work on weekends, with noisy work commencing after 8 AM.
– The units closest to the East Hill Rec Way have been moved another four feet back from the trail.
– Initial property taxes in 2018 will be $2.25 million. IT is assumed they will go up 3% each year thereafter.

Oh, and the questioner who freaked out over the East Hill Village plan online – that SWA plan dates from about 2007.

3. Cayuga Med’s plans for a 6,000 SF addition to their Behavioral Health Unit has been approved. At this point, the project needs a minor zoning variance for height,and then CMC has to apply for certification from the New York State Office of Mental Health for the facility to be approved- specialized medical facilities, like CMC and Brookdale, have to prove there is a need before they’re allowed to build. The hospital hopes to open the project to bidding early next year.

4. So ICYMI, the Masonic Temple rehabilitation is moving forward. Six months later than anticipated, but it is moving forward. The project is valued somewhere north of $1 million. There is one other project on the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission (ILPC) agenda that I thought of writing an article about, but decided it was too minor – the Alpha Phi Alpha house at 421 North Albany will be doing a reconstruction of a non-historically significant rear porch. If it were a full reno, I’d do a write-up for the Voice.

Also on the ILPC agenda – a discussion of Collegetown Historic Resources. I have the feeling this is being spurred by Novarr’s 119-125 College Avenue project, the College townhouses. Three historically significant but non-landmarked apartment houses were taken down to make way for the project, which is expected to go up for preliminary approval later this month. The city did a review after the document was first published in 2009, and landmarked the Snaith House at 140 College and Grandview House at 201 College – they could be considering making a move towards landmarking other properties – some of the historic structures on the 400 Block of College Avenue, and the 100 blocks of Oak Avenue, College Avenue and Linden Avenue are possibilities. Novarr has another project rumored for 215 College Avenue, but that building, dating from the 1870s and renovated/expanded numerous times, was not on the 2009 list.

5. Staying Collegetown, a big sale this week – 113 College Avenue sold for $1.7 million. That’s a very impressive price for an outer Collegetown apartment house – the tax assessment has it pegged at $610,000. The bones of the 13-bedroom, 3,738 SF building date from the late 1800s, but like its twin next door, it’s been the subject of a very unsympathetic renovation (records suggest the renos were done around 1980). The house has been owned by the Tallman family since 1987.

The property is zoned CR-4 – four floors, no parking required. CR-4 is the same zoning as Novarr’s townhouses and Visum’s latest pair of proposals. And, because what goes around comes around, the buyer is the same LLC that sold Visum’s Todd Fox 201 College Avenue for $2.65 million back in June – Russell Johnson’s PBC & Associates LLC. He also picked up a CR-3 building at 233 Linden Avenue for $750k back in the fall. Price suggests redevelopment, but the buyer isn’t known for that – he might have just paid big for a long-term investment. TL;DR, he might be planning something, he might not; we’ll see.

On a side note, the county’s going to make some money raising the property tax assessment on this one – offhand, I’ve noticed most of the houses sold this week (excluding a couple in Ithaca city) have gone at or well under assessment, which is a bit unusual, and probably not something that the tax assessor’s office wants to see.

6. Good news and bad news from the Regional Economic Development Council awards. The good news is, the area’s getting money. Cargill gets $2 million towards their salt mine project (they requested $5 million), Cornell gets $250,000 for a startup business alliance, County Waste gets $355k for a food waste transfer station at the recycling center site, and the Sciencenter gets $150k for renovations. Several smaller awards are to hire staff for cultural and arts programs.

Now the bad news – one project, marked priority, was not funded – the Collegetown Travel Corridor proposed by the city of Ithaca to connect Downtown and Collegetown. I asked to make sure, and the Planning Department was just a little deflated in their response. Major bummer. I don’t doubt the value of arts programs, but $38,500 for a theatre director and $41,000 for a workforce expansion isn’t sustainable, it’s one year’s salary. That’s nice, but how does that benefit the area in the long-term? The Travel Corridor would have further encouraged urban development downtown and Collegetown that could have indirectly supported the arts through patronage, or directly through taxes that are used to fund local-level grants.

Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: cayuga medical center, collegetown, downtown ithaca, ilpc, lansing, maplewood, masonic temple, new york state, student housing, tompkins county, west hill
Categories : collegetown, construction (planned), Cornell, ithaca, news, student housing, Tompkins County

Ithacating in Cornell Heights

201 College Avenue Construction Update, 2/2017

209-215 Dryden Road Construction Update, 2/2017

News Tidbits 2/25/17: Creating a Place to Call Home

News Tidbits 2/18/17: Credits and Loans

Collegetown Terrace Construction Update, 1/2017

News Tidbits 1/7/17: Storage and Storefronts

201 College Avenue Construction Update, 12/2016

News Tidbits 12/17/16: So Much In One Week

209-215 Dryden Road Construction Update, 12/2016

News Tidbits 12/10/16: Missing Out On the Fun

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