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Boiceville Cottages Construction Update, 1/2016

15 01 2016

Just a pass through Caroline to check on the latest progress at the Boiceville Cottages. At present, it looks like about six new houses have been framed out – the three furthest along (red-orange trim) are receiving their exterior stucco coats, while the three less further along (cobalt blue trim) look rather like shiny ornaments thanks to the aluminum facer on the Rmax Thermasheath polyiso insulation (previously some red-faced Atlas polyiso was used). Rigid thermal foam plastic insulation board is lightweight, easy to cut, provides decent fire and moisture protection and provides a very high degree of insulation from the elements, greatly limiting the transfer of heat outward. As compared to traditional plywood sheathing however, it’s not as strong, and because the water control is on the outside with the foam sheathing, there are limitations or extra steps that need to be taken before applying many exterior facade materials like wood or fiber cement.

The roof foam boards are covered in Feltex synthetic roof underlayment before the shingles are attached. Compared to traditional asphalt-saturated felt, the synthetic material offers greater moisture resistance, and they’re light-weight and high-strength. However, wicking, where water can be drawn up the roof and promote leaks, can be a big issue with synthetic roof underlayment, so it has to be installed correctly and carefully.

Another set of homes is still at the concrete slab and sill plate stage, but it looks like some wood stud walls will be going up shortly. Schickel Construction is aiming to have all 17 of the new units complete by the end of the summer.

boiceville_1

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Tags: boiceville cottages, construction, construction (planned), general housing, photos, tompkins county
Categories : construction, construction (planned), general housing, photos, Tompkins County

Gannett Health Center Construction Update, 1/2016

14 01 2016

Maybe it’s just the grey January skies, but the multi-colored glazing on the outside of the new Gannett Health Center is more subtle than the renders would suggest. Work is continuing on Phase I of the $55 million project, which is planning to open this summer. Once it does, Gannett’s services will shift over into the new structure, so that phase II, renovations to the original 1956 building and the 1979 addition can take place. The building project is expected to wrap up in August 2017, and a phase III focusing on the Ho Plaza entrance and landscaping will be underway from June to October of 2017, after which the project will finally be completed. The project will increase Gannett’s size from 35,000 SF to 96,000 SF.

Most of the windows have been installed, although some yellow DensGlass gypsum sheathing and metal exterior wall studs can still be seen from many angles. According to the Site Plan Review docs, the curtain wall “suggests an abstracted quilt pattern” meant to conjure up images of care-giving and recovery. Other exterior cladding materials, including a native bluestone veneer and limestone panels, have yet to be installed.

Organizations working on the design include local architecture firm Chiang | O’Brien Architects, TG Miller P.C.Engineers and Surveyors, and Ryan Briggs Structural Engineers. The Pike Company is serving as the general contractor.

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Tags: academic buildings, construction, Cornell, ganett, gannett health center, ithaca, news, photos
Categories : academic buildings, construction, construction (planned), Cornell, ithaca, photos

Cornell Veterinary School Expansion Construction Update, 1/2016

12 01 2016

Over at the Vet School, it looks like the expansion project is now at surface level. With the foundation completed, the only direction for the project to go is up, which the Manitowoc Potain self-erecting crane should help with. Phase I interior renovations should be completed by this time, and the Phase II new construction will be moving ahead to a June 2017 completion. Like Klarman Hall, Welliver is the general contractor of this $74.1 million construction project.

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

Klarman Hall Interior Photos

11 01 2016

Otherwise known as what $61 million gets you. Wrapping up the Klarman Hall updates with some interior shots of the nearly-finished building. Some staff and classroom spaces have already been occupied, as is the new Temple of Zeus cafe. While inside, I struck up a conversation with the one other person present, an employee of sub-contractor Cook Painting doing touch-ups, and he told me all about how he’s worked on multiple Cornell buildings and Klarman was his favorite so far, and that although he was disappointed the roof had an opaque cover, he’d seen the sun come through the sides in the morning and “the whole place just lights up like a Christmas tree”. Unfortunately, it was cloudy a little after noon when these photos were taken, so no such effect here.

In Klarman’s 33,250 SF of usable space, Cornell will host spaces and meeting rooms for approximately 200 faculty and staff, a 350-seat auditorium, and the 7,700 SF glass atrium, which is arguably the centerpiece of the new structure. Accordingly to the friendly painter, Cornell will do a formal event to celebrate Klarman Hall’s completion later this year. No doubt its namesake, billionaire hedge fund manager Seth Klarman ’79, will be in attendance. The Groos family, multi-generational Cornellians, were also significant donors to the project.

Klarman was due to be complete in December 2015 when the project first began construction in summer 2013, so all in all Cornell and the contractors did a pretty good job staying close to schedule, even with the last couple cold and stormy winters. Hats off to the construction workers and for making that happen.

Boston-based Koetter | Kim and Associates is the building architect (they also did the recently-built Physical Sciences Building), and Welliver served as general contractor. Klarman Hall is seeking LEED Platinum certification, which is the highest level possible.

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Tags: academic buildings, construction, Cornell, ithaca, klarman hall, news, photos, welliver
Categories : academic buildings, construction, Cornell, ithaca, photos

Ithaca Projects Map

5 01 2016

Soft roll-out on this little project, but one that will hopefully be useful. New for 2016, the Ithaca Projects Map. The map can be reached with this link, or by clicking the label next to the Welcome tag at the top of the blog column.

Taking a page from Jason Henderson over at Ithaca Builds, the map is color coded by for-profit (red), not-for-profit (green) and public projects (blue). A couple further details –

~Single family home and duplex sites are not included. There are well over 100 houses under construction in Tompkins County in a given year. Given their number and individually limited impacts, it wouldn’t be a good use of time to try and track them.

~For now, I’m leaving off recently completed projects. I’m also leaving off informal rumors or projects still in the early stages of development. The map only shows formal proposals, approved projects, and projects currently under construction. If a project is confirmed to be cancelled (ex. INHS’s Greenways, Collegetown Crossings on South Hill), it will be removed from the map.

~The information presented when you click on each polygon is a brief project description, the developer, and the project status. Links are provided to background reading on a given project.

~ Disclaimer: While I make an effort to make sure everything is accurate, there are possibilities that renders are outdated (old versions) or something may otherwise be incorrect. If you have questions or comments, leave a comment or shoot an email to ithacating*at*gmail.com.

Now for part II – clearing out my photo stash. Sometimes, I end up with photos that I never use, mostly massive single-family homes in established subdivisions. Along with modulars on the fringes of the county and the occasional large-acreage stick-built, these homes make up the large portion of the new single-family home builds in Tompkins County. Not the most environmentally friendly, and questionable urban/land planning, but it’s what zoning allows and what’s easiest to build.

There’s a few for reasons for that – on the builder/developer’s end, the Return on Investment (ROI) tends to be greatest on luxury home builds, and land’s cheaper in rural areas. On the municipal/community end, one-lot single-families don’t need board review unless they require zoning variances, and as a general rule of thumb, smaller projects, more rural projects, and projects targeting wealthier buyers face less neighbor opposition (the wealth effect is somewhat muted with rentals).

Larisa Lane, Town of Ithaca (Westview Partners LLC)

Southwoods Drive, Town of Ithaca (Heritage Builders)

Old Gorge Road, Town of Ithaca (J. Clark Construction)

Larisa Lane, Town of Ithaca (Westview Partners LLC)

Blackchin Boulevard, Village of Lansing (Avalon Homes)

Birdseye View Drive, Town of Ithaca (Birds-Eye View Properties, LLC)

Southwoods Drive, Town of Ithaca (Heritage Builders)

Beardsley Lane, Town of Danby (Westview Partners LLC)

Loomis Court, Town of Danby (Jepsen Romig Development Inc.)

Eldridge Circle, Town of Ithaca (TRJ Properties LLC)

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Tags: construction, general housing, photos, project map, suburbia, tompkins county
Categories : construction, general housing, news, photos, Tompkins County

Simeon’s Reconstruction Update, 12/2015

16 12 2015

The intersection of State Street and Aurora Street is a busy little hive of construction activity. Steps from the Marriott and the Carey Building addition, the Griffin Block, better known for its tenant Simeon’s, is continuing reconstruction after June 2014’s tragic crash.

The chute and open windows indicate interior renovations underway in the salvageable part of the ca. 1872 structure, while structural steel framing serves as the the largest indication of the faithful reconstruction planned for the front entrance on the Commons. The outline of the steel approximately outlines where the rebuilt bay windows will be. It’s hard to tell just what work is specifically underway on the basement level and first floor.

According to the October Ithaca Voice article:

“The interior, however, will be thoroughly modernized and reworked. An elevator will be retrofitted into the existing building near where Simeon’s former Aurora Street entrance, and a sprinkler system will be installed throughout the building. Simeon’s will not only occupy the first floor in the new building, the restaurant will have a 40-seat dining area on part of the second floor as well.

Five luxury apartments, a mix of one and two-bedroom units, will also be built on the second and third floors. The Shens did consider applying for historic building restoration federal tax credits, but given the application complications posed by the interior renovations, and the slow process by which the credits are approved, they decided it wasn’t in their best interest.”

The new restaurant is expected to be open around the start of spring (end of Q1 2016), with the apartments ready by late summer. Local architect Jason K. Demarest is in charge of design, and Ithaca-based McPherson Builders is the general contractor. The Shen family received a $1.3 million building loan from the Tompkins Trust Company to pay for the renovation and reconstruction.

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Tags: construction, downtown ithaca, ithaca, news, photos, simeon's
Categories : construction, general housing, ithaca, photos

Carey Building Construction Update, 12/2015

15 12 2015

Over at the Carey Building on the 300 Block of East State Street, much of the action is hidden behind layers of scaffolding, swaddling the building while construction work continues through this unseasonably warm (but much appreciated) December Ithaca’s having.

Some of the exterior has been furred out, meaning thing metal strips have been attached to the reflective surface cover (Hunter XCI polyisocyanurate exterior insulation) to help with facade installation. Documents filed with the project plans indicate that terra cotta panels will be installed over the gypsum sheathing boards, and in other less prominent sections of the building, NuTech Stucco (DAFS – Direct Applied Finished System) will be used.

Being that it is December, plastic sheeting has been hung over the future glass curtain wall, in an effort to keep winter’s (normally) icy breezes from making their way in. Looking at the backside, the dark material might be some type of waterproofing cover being applied under the exterior insulation. It looks like the new aluminum windows still have yet to be fitted into the vertical addition.

The Carey Building addition will add a third floor and 4,200 SF to the Rev business incubator (nearly doubling it from 4,500 SF to 8,700 SF), and on floors 4-7, there will be 20 apartments, most of which are studios. Local firm Travis Hyde Companies is developing, John Snyder Architects penned the design, and LeChase Construction is the general contractor. Look for a completion date sometime in spring of 2016.

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Tags: carey building, construction, downtown ithaca, general housing, ithaca, photos
Categories : construction, general housing, ithaca, photos

Ithaca Marriott Construction Update, 12/2015

14 12 2015

With the foundation work completed, the downtown Ithaca Marriott is heading skyward, now up to the third floor as of these photos from last week. From Green Street, one can see the rising south stairwell, the future trash and recycling room (basement floor), future restrooms and offices on the lobby floor, and hotel rooms on the floors above the lobby. Also on the basement floor are the fitness center, maintenance and linen rooms, storage space and utilities. Delivery trucks will pull in and unload under the cavernous space on the left side of the second photo.

The lobby area facing Aurora Street may just be a concrete shell with some temporary lighting rigs at the moment, but in a year or so, that space will host a new 80-seat restaurant, which will be combination of lounge seats, bar seats and traditional tables. The kitchen and prep area will be set back from the street, facing the Green Street garage.

The second floor facing Aurora Street, which will have a glass curtain wall (or as it’s called in the elevations, a “thermally broken translucent linear channel glazing system”), will contain two large meeting rooms. 4 guestrooms will also be located on the second floor. Above that, the third floor will have 14 guestrooms, assuming the 2013 construction docs are still accurate.

The 10-story, 159 room hotel is expected to cost over $32 million and. According to the Ithaca Times, a general manager has been named and the hotel will officially open for its first guests on August 23rd, 2016. Suburban D.C.-based Urgo Hotels is the developer, Atlanta’s Cooper Carry Architecture is the designer, and William H. Lane Inc. of Binghamton (with a new Ithaca office as of last year) is the general contractor.

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Tags: construction, downtown ithaca, hotels, ithaca, ithaca marriott, Marriott, photos
Categories : construction, hotels, ithaca, photos

Village Solars Apartments Construction Update, 12/2015

13 12 2015

There’s been a fair amount of progress during the late fall at the Village Solars apartment complex site off of the 1000 Block of Warren Road in the town of Lansing. 12-unit Building “D” is finish up attachment of its exterior facade, which like buildings A-C, looks to be a combination of a wood grain board and earth-toned fiber cement board. Balcony railings and trim still have yet to be attached. I didn’t look inside, but based on the photos, it looks like the wood stud walls are still exposed near the entry doors on the first floor.

Across the future pond, 18-unit Building “G/H” (backstory here) has been framed out and some Tyvek-type sheathing has been attached (the material is labelled “Croft Lumber“, which is a building supply store down in Sayre, PA). Some first floor windows and doors have been fitted, but most of the future windows and doors are still rough openings. The roof trusses are all in place, and workers were installing ZIP system plywood sheathing while these photos were being taken.

11-unit Building “E” has had its foundation poured and is only just beginning framing, with just one standing exterior stud wall.

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Tags: construction, construction (planned), lansing, news, photos, tompkins county, village solars
Categories : construction, construction (planned), news, photos, Tompkins County

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.