construction | Ithacating in Cornell Heights

Kendal at Ithaca Construction Update, 12/2015

11 12 2015

This will probably be the last update for this project, since it’s slated to open next month. The new 24-unit apartment wing is completed from the outside, the carports are ready, and the new skilled nursing wings (48 beds, 16 in each wing) are mostly if not completely done. Originally, it appeared the skill nursing wings would have some decorative roof element (second image), but that appears to be from an early site plan of the design and may have been dropped. The landscaping has been prepared, with new saplings planted and hay strewn over the new grass seed.

More information about the project and Kendal can be found in the October update here, and the June update here.

Local architecture firm Chiang O’Brien partnered with the NYC office of Perkins Eastman to design the Kendal expansion. National contractor Lecesse Construction, with an office out of suburban Rochester, handled the build-out. The $29.3 million dollar expansion will create an estimated 20 to 25 new jobs. The project will be applying for LEED Gold certification.

Comments : 6 Comments »
Tags: construction, kendal at ithaca, photos, senior housing, tompkins county
Categories : construction, photos, senior housing, Tompkins County

307 College Avenue (Collegetown Crossing) Construction Update, 12/2015

10 12 2015

Unlike the other two Collegetown midrises under construction, Josh Lower’s project at 307 College Avenue, Collegetown Crossing, is already starting to make a noticeable dent in the Collegetown skyline. The front concrete stairwell reaches up to the third floor, with the structural steel not far behind. Corrugated decking has been laid into place and sprayed with fireproofing material. Plastic tarp has been put up for weather protection while workers go about the first steps of interior work, including the installation of sprinkler pipes and plumbing, stud walls, and so on.

The $10.5 million Collegetown Crossing project will bring 46 units and 96 bedrooms to market when it opens next august, as well as a 3,200 SF full-service branch of the Greenstar Co-Op grocery store. Two other commercial spaces and an indoor TCAT bus stop are planned. Collegetown favorite Jagat Sharma is the designer, and Hayner Hoyt Corporation out of Syracuse is the general contractor.

Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: collegetown, collegetown crossing, construction, ithaca, photos, student housing
Categories : collegetown, construction, ithaca, photos, student housing

205 Dryden Road (Dryden South) Construction Update, 12/2015

9 12 2015

As with 327 Eddy a couple of blocks away, Pat Kraft’s 6-story building underway at 205 Dryden, called “Dryden South”, has yet to reach street level, but it’s close to going vertical. It was a little difficult to get to this site due to traffic, but the last photo shows what appear to be columns rising from a shallow mat slab foundation. Unlike the low-lying parts of Ithaca, the soil on East Hill is amenable to shallow foundations for a medium-sized building like this; all the better for the developer, since shallow foundations are cheaper than deep foundations. The steel rods at the top of the concrete columns will tie-in to the structural steel – the weight of the upper floors will be channeled down into the columns, which will then transfer the weight to the rebar mesh and concrete slab at the base (basement bottom) of the new building. The rebar mesh helps to distribute the weight of the building evenly across the slab. The thicker the mat slab is, the more weight it can support.

On a side note, it doesn’t look like John Novarr’s project at 209-215 Dryden is underway just yet, though it was originally slated to start last month. But given that Cornell has already signed up to occupy the whole building, Novarr’s project has a very good chance of moving forward, it’s just a matter of time.

Dryden South will bring 10 4-bedroom apartments to market when it opens in August 2016. The ground floor will hold 2,400 SF of retail space for Kraftee’s book and apparel store. The $6.4 million project is being built by LeChase Construction, and the design is by local architect Jagat Sharma.

Comments : 5 Comments »
Tags: collegetown, construction, dryden south, ithaca, photos, student housing
Categories : collegetown, construction, ithaca, news, student housing

327 Eddy Street Construction Update, 12/2015

8 12 2015

327 Eddy is almost ready to rise from the ground. The mat slab foundation for the upper tier has been poured onto the rebar mesh, with more rebar sticking out of the concrete, ready to tie-in the walls as they’re built up. On the lower tier, it looks like some forms are still in-place for further concrete pours (which sounds right, based off the elevation drawing below). No doubt the work crews have appreciated winter’s delayed arrival this year.

Plans call for a new 5-story building split into “steps” on the steeply-sloped site. The mixed-use building will bring 1,800 SF of retail space and 22 new apartment units with 53 bedrooms to the market in August 2016. Longtime Collegetown landlord Steve Fontana of the Fontana’s Shoes family is the developer, Jagat Sharma is the architect, and GM Crisalli & Associates of Syracuse will be overseeing construction. A construction loan of $4,824,000 is being provided by Tompkins Trust Company. A 2-story mixed-use building and the one-story Pixel Lounge building were demolished to make way for the project.

Note in the elevation drawing below, the building is six stories. It was reduced to five, and the decorative crown was reworked after approval was granted. It also looks like the latest render was stretched to compensate the loss in height.

Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: 327 Eddy, collegetown, construction, ithaca, photos, student housing
Categories : collegetown, construction, ithaca, photos, student housing

804 East State Street Construction Update, 12/2015

7 12 2015

Modular projects tend to move quickly. Such is the case over at 804 East State Street. The modular units have been assembled and fitted – since the interiors comes partially finished and the windows and doors come already fitted, the builder/assembler saves on not only time, but labor costs. For further reading, Ithaca Builds provides a great discussion of how modular units are assembled, including a tour of modular manufacturer Simplex Homes’ factory here.

Perhaps the big surprise during this visit is that there are three duplexes underway – a third duplex is being built at 810 East State Street, which previously held a mid-century 3-bedroom bungalow. The three existing duplexes on the parcel are being spruced up as well, with the addition of small porches at their front entries. Each duplex houses 2 3-bedroom units, about 1150 SF per unit.

It appears that some exterior siding/trimming and interior finishing remains to be completed, and then landscaping once construction wraps up. Although the duplexes themselves are rather bland (some residents in the East Hill Historic District can see the site from their windows, and were opposed to construction), the developer met with residents and oriented the new units to minimize visual impact on Orchard Place, with heavy landscaping to better conceal the State Street properties. The neighbors also pushed for stick-built houses, but the owner/developer ruled it out due to costs.

A building loan agreement filed November 10th states that Tompkins Trust Company is lending the Nestopoulos family (operating under the name “Demosjohnny LLC”) $560,000 for the project. The units should be ready for their first renters by mid-January.

Schickel Architecture is the architect, and Costas Nestopoulos is the general contractor.

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: 112 blair, collegetown, construction, ithaca, photos, student housing
Categories : collegetown, construction, ithaca, photos, student housing

Klarman Hall Construction Update, 11/2015

15 11 2015

Klarman Hall is nearly ready to open its doors. The atrium’s being painted, some glass on the East Avenue entrance needs to be installed, and landscaping still needs to be done, as well as some work putting windows back into the construction-facing walls of Goldwin Smith. But apart from that and some finishing work on the inside, this project is almost done. New trees won’t be planted until the Spring, so that they don’t have to fight for survival through the winter while adjusting to a new environment.

Additional images of the project (including aerials!) can be found on Landmark Images here. Additional project information is available on Cornell’s website, or the umpteen million posts discussing this project over the past two years that it’s been under construction. Welliver and LeChase Construction were the contractors for this project, and Boston-based Koetter | Kim & Associates is the project architect.

This is just meant to be a short thing, but there might be an expanded Voice piece once this project approaches its ribbon-cutting in January.

Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: academic buildings, construction, Cornell, ithaca, klarman hall, photos
Categories : academic buildings, Cornell, ithaca, photos

Gannett Health Center Construction Update, 11/2015

13 11 2015

A lot of progress has been made with the Gannett Health Center addition on Cornell’s campus. The new addition has been framed up and topped out. Some of the interior walls have been framed with metal stud walls, with more work yet to come. The primary glass curtain wall is still being framed out, but some of the smaller sections to the north and east have some window panels installed. The variety of glass color used in the facade isn’t quite apparent just yet, since many of the panes are still covered with a blue cellophane wrap for protection.The dark blue material on the concrete stairwells is likely a water-resistant barrier, not unlike that used on the Planned Parenthood Building when that was under construction a couple years ago. The addition, which is phase one of Gannett’s three-phase expansion and modernization program, should be open for its first patients and staff next summer.

The Pike Company‘s Syracuse office is serving as general contractor for the $55 million project. Local architecture firm Chiang O’Brien designed the renovation and addition, and Ithaca firm Trowbridge Wolf Michaels Landscape Architects will be doing the site landscaping.

Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: academic buildings, construction, Cornell, gannett health center, ithaca, photos
Categories : academic buildings, construction, construction (planned), Cornell, ithaca, photos

Cornell Veterinary School Expansion Construction Update, 11/2015

12 11 2015

The site of the future west wing of the Cornell Veterinary School expansion has been excavated and the foundation is being poured for what will be a 3-story building with the new Flower-Sprecher Library, and additional program space. Look along the outer edge of the newest foundation section and you’ll see wooden forms pressed against the concrete. These forms provide stability and shape while the concrete hardens, and they provide support to the reinforcing rods embedded in the concrete. They will move further along the perimeter as pouring continues.

Without being all that knowledgeable about deep foundations, the structures in the middle of the excavated foundation might be pile caps. Piles are driven into the ground, trimmed to a predetermined height, formwork is set up around the piles and the concrete is poured and left to cure. So the piles are underneath the caps, and columns extend from the base of the cap. The load of the structure’s will be transferred to the pile caps and distributed to the piles below, providing stability for the building.

EDIT: Quoting commenter Drill Deep, who is knowledgeable about foundations: “No deep foundations at this one. Just very wide spread footers. East Hill and the Cornell campus usually has ground that can be made to do the job. The basement here is very tall and something like a hangar. Lots of headroom to run utilities.”

More information on the background and details of the expansion can be found in the September update here.

NYC-based architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi designed the expansion, and regional construction firm Welliver is the general contractor.

Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: academic buildings, construction, Cornell, ithaca, photos, vet school
Categories : academic buildings, construction, Cornell, ithaca

1325 Taughannock Boulevard Construction Update, 11/2015

11 11 2015

Single-family homes tend to be more of a featurette on Ithacating, rather then full-fledged posts of their own. Then again, most homes aren’t multi-million dollar lakeside mansions.

Looking at the house underway at 1325 Taughannock Boulevard in the town of Ulysses (pulling off of the road is a bit harrowing, given that it’s a 55 MPH zone on a narrow road with marginal visibility), the roof has been sheathed but not shingled, and Kingspan Green Guard Raindrop 3D housewrap drapes the exterior of the building. The black material on the roof looks like felt paper (also known as tar paper), which helps protect the roof from water that may get under the shingles form ice melt of gusty winds, and protects the asphalt shingles from resins in the wood decking. Felt paper also increases a roof’s fire rating and helps keep the house dry in case of rain during the construction period. Windows have been fitted, and masonry work on the chimney is underway. The timber frames stand out against the housewrap, but the actual finishing materials (wood, with wood and concrete or stone trim) should complement the timber frames nicely.

As previously reported, a construction loan for $2.25 million was filed on August 13th, with Tompkins Trust Company providing the financing. The property was previously home to two smaller lakeside cottages. the two small houses once on the properties have been demolished. The homeowner is a New York senior investment banker with ties to Cornell. The house is expected to be completed by May 2016.

New Energy Works, the project architect, specializes in timber frame structure, with offices in suburban Rochester and Portland, Oregon (the Pacific Northwest and the Appalachians are two of the most popular parts of the country for timber frame homes; in New York, it’s often coterminous with “Adirondack Style“). Locally, New Energy Works designed the Namgyal Buddhist monastery on South Hill, and the Ithaca Foreign Car (Ithaca Volvo) building on West State Street.

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: architecture, construction, mansions, photos, tompkins county
Categories : architecture, construction, photos, Tompkins County

Collegetown Terrace Construction Update, 11/2015

10 11 2015

Well, this one can finally be counted as “underway”. Site prep has begun for the last building at the Collegetown Terrace site, on the 900 Block of East State Street south of Collegetown. Being just a few weeks underway (work commenced in late October), the primary tasks in the short-term are clearing the site and building shoring walls (the steel H-beams with wood lagging). The H-beams are drilled or driven in at regular intervals, and hold the soil back while the foundation is excavated. This building is going to have a deep foundation and a large footprint, so foundation work is likely to take a while, we’ll be well into 2016 before steel starts to rise from the ground.

The last phase of Collegetown Terrace (Phase III) is expected to be completed by August 2017. Phase III will focus on the construction on the last building, #7 (formally known as 120 Valentine Place), a long, curving building very similar to the completed Building #5. Funding for the new building comes from part of a $50 million loan extended to developer Novarr-Mackesey in 2013 by Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank, and revised in December 2014. As this project demonstrates, even though a proposal might be approved, it can take years for something to actually get off the ground — if ever. Initial approvals were granted all the way back in 2011.

Building 7 is expected to have 247 units, and 344 bedrooms once it’s completed. About 80 of the units will be set up “dormitory-style”, where all tenants get their own bedroom and bathroom, but share kitchens and community lounge spaces. Novarr-Mackesey had found after the previous phases were completed that parking was only being utilized by 50% of tenants, so rather than build a floor of parking that would more than likely go unused, the firm applied to the city Board of Zoning Appeals for a parking variance (652 spaces for the whole complex, which is 51 less than required by zoning) to change one floor of parking planned for Building 7 into the “dorm-style” living space. The variance was granted by the BZA in Spring 2014. The dorm-style units are expected to rent at half to two-thirds of the cost of a studio unit, and to appeal to graduate and professional students on a budget. The current layout calls for parking on the first floor, then the dorm floor, then regular studio-3 bedroom units on floors 3-6.

With this project underway, it’s the single-largest residential building under construction in Tompkins County. Hopefully, one that will make a dent in the city and county’s housing crunch.