TC3 Arthur Kuckes Childcare Center Construction Update, 9/2019

8 09 2019

Another project to move into the “complete” column. The $6.5 million, 9,875 SF Arthur Kuckes Childcare Center has opened its doors for its young occupants. Interest in the new childcare facility has been strong enough that the facility is already full and has a waiting list, proof positive that affordable and flexible childcare options are in great need in Tompkins County.

Only signage, exterior landscaping and play areas remain on the to-do lists. Photos are limited because construction workers don’t mind their photos being taken, but parents with their young kids do.

Local architect Claudia Brenner designed the new facility, with Lansing’s Dende Engineering on board as a structural engineering consultant, T.G. Miller for surveying and civil engineering work, Jade Stone Engineering PLLC of Watertown for mechanical, electrical and plumbing design and engineering, Ithaca’s TWMLA for landscape architecture and Albany’s Ran Fire Protection Engineering for the sprinklers and other fire suppression systems.

More information about the project and Arthur Kuckes can be found here.


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802 Dryden Road Construction Update, 9/2019

8 09 2019

It’s safe to declare this project as done. A site visit on Friday had some landscapers on site, and a small crew powerwashing the construction dust off the vertical lap siding. The final product is true to the renderings (that’s less common than one might think), the biggest difference I can see is that the pavilion used unpainted wood and corner brackets in the renders, and it’s painted without brackets here. Since the website for the apartments uses renderings in place of its “photos” page, let me be the one to supply the first photos of the finished product.

All things considered, the design is fine, and by being in a less settled part of Dryden right next to Cornell, it draws less attention from Varna residents who might otherwise not be fans if it were closer, and it’s right next to its primary place of “employment”, making for a minimal commute and lower vehicular traffic presence. In addition, with 108 bedrooms, that’s about 108 fewer students and student family members competing on the rest of the local market (these are geared a little more towards graduate/professional students, and some of those come to Cornell with spouses or children in tow).

The developer, Maifly Development of suburban Pittsburgh, did explore purchasing neighboring lots for a second development, but there are no indications that this has been pursued further. Maifly is in growth mode and purchased the under-construction project from the original developer, Modern Living Rentals, in a $2.075 million deal in September 2018.

For the sake of noting it since the emails come in regularly, the Trinitas plan down the road is in a holding pattern while they complete a study of infrastructure needs and impacts as part of the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR). Other than that, I’m not aware of any other projects undergoing or close to undergoing site plan review in the Varna/366 Corridor.

Granger Construction of East Syracuse led the buildout, STREAM and John Snyder Architects designed the townhouse strings, GMB Consulting Services did the LEED score analysis, T.G. Miller P.C. handled land surveying and Marathon Engineering tackled the civil engineering work – Marathon’s Adam Fishel shepherded the project through the town boards. M&T Bank provided the $8.6 million construction loan.

Before:

After:

 

 


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802 Dryden Road Construction Update, 5/2019

2 06 2019

Still clearing the photo cache. From the Voice, with the abridged photo set:

“Next to the Cornell Arboretum, the 42-unit, $7.5 million Ivy Ridge Townhomes are fully framed, and two of the townhouse strings are practically complete from the outside. The website for the project touts that two of the buildings are 100% leased, which doesn’t give any clues about what percentage of all the units are leased — I could tell you the first two houses on my street are occupied, but if the other five are vacant, then that paints a substantially different picture of my street. But hey, apparently they’re giving $20 lunch gift card as a thank you for doing tours, so we know it’s not 100%.

Looking at the website FAQ, it’s clearly geared to Cornell students, and though rents haven’t been posted on most websites, it looks like C.S.P. Management has discreetly posted the figures online. A two-bedroom will be $1,800/month, a three-bedroom $2,500/month, and a four-bedroom $3,200/month. Cable and most utilities (all except electric) are included in the rent, the units come partially furnished, and pets, include large dogs, are allowed. Stainless steel appliances, in-unit washer and dryer, and marble tile are also planned. Exterior features include 70 parking spaces, bike racks, stormwater ponds, bioretention areas, a children’s playground, and a dog park. Occupancy/project completion is expected by mid-August, in time for the fall academic semester.”

***

It looks like once the buildings are framed, sheathed and fitted with windows and doors, wood rails are attached over the housewrap for the vertical siding, which is attached in segments. Two of the seven-unit apartment strings (“E” and “F”, using the earlier nomenclature) are largely complete from the outside with the exception of structural trim and finish work (porches/balconies/awnings), two others (“D” and “C”) have exterior siding being applied, one was sheathed but not fitted with rails (“A”), and the last one, on the right in the first image (“B”), is still in the process of being sheathed, though I believe it started construction before “A” did. This is all work that can be finished in time for the school year. The website FAQ claims June; dunno about that.

While landscaping won’t come until the end, it looks like the wood and concrete bases for the “Ivy Ridge” monument signs are in place out front.

Units will come partially furnished, as many student-oriented and young professional residential facilities do. Bedrooms include a queen-size bed, a four-drawer dresser, a desk and a chair, and a headboard with an integrated shelf and a USB charger. In the commons area, there will be a dining table with chairs, a couch, a living room chair, a coffee table, an entertainment center, and a side table. Included in the rent are water, sewer, high-speed internet, cable, trash, and recycling. Residents are only responsible for electricity. The website seems to be making a bit of an effort to downplay the student side of it, probably for Dryden’s sake, but being right on the eastern edge of Cornell will certainly give them and edge over most of the rentals in the Varna and West Dryden areas.

More information about the project and its recent sale between developers can be found here and here.


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TC3 Arthur Kuckes Childcare Center Construction Update, 5/2019

27 05 2019

It’s been just about a year now since ground was broken on the $6.5 million, 9,875 square-foot project over at TC3. Construction continues at its steady pace. The steel rails being installed over the fireproof gypsum panels will allow for the attachment of exterior finishes, metal, and fiber cement panels. The whole process is about keeping moisture from seeping inward and damaging the more sensitive building materials like the gypsum boards while allowing any latent moisture in the materials (having been exposed to the elements during construction) to escape outward. Meanwhile, the doors and windows have been fitted, and the roof membrane has yet to be fully applied.

The new child care facility will serve students and staff first, with community spaces open after that. The doors are expected to open in time for the fall semester.


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News Tidbits 4/26/19

27 04 2019

1. Here’s a little more information on the proposes medical office building at 2141 Dryden Road. Site Plan here, planning department memo here. A local doctor operating as “Slaterville Springs Real Estate Company, LLC” is planning a 3,676 SF pre-fabricated building on the site. The building would be built using a Superior Wall precast concrete foundation (Superior Walls are commonly seen with modular builds), and built into the hillside – one story from the front, two from the back. The doctor’s office would occupy the upper level, and the lower level is spec space. The plans include a roof-mounted solar system, electric heat pumps, and an electric vehicle charging station in one of the three proposed parking areas. 48 parking spaces are indicated, four of which are ADA compliant. A covered bicycle rack and dumpster enclosure are also provided.

Having all these green features at a semi-rural site with gobs of parking (the Institute for Traffic Engineers’ parking standards for medical offices is about 3.5 per 1,000 SF, or 13 in this case) is liking having a diet coke with your Big Mac. A project can be “green”, but much of its green impacts are mitigated if it encourages fossil fuel use with increased vehicle traffic. It would benefit the town to plan and zone for developments like this closer to villages and hamlets.

The site also includes landscaping, some limited signage, lighting and stormwater features. The town planning department’s opinion is that the project is not substantial enough to merit full site plan review. Spec Consulting of Groton is doing the project design.

2. The Black Diamond Trail will receive a major addition after New York State announced funding for a bridge over the Cayuga Lake flood control channel earlier this week. The $1.2 million award from the state will pay for the construction of a new pedestrian bridge for the trail, which will span the inlet from the current trail segment along Floral Avenue, to the intersection of Cherry Street and Cecil Malone Drive. This would provide greater connectivity for West Hill residents to the businesses along the waterfront and the big box corridor, giving them to option to walk/bike through here instead of going up to West State Street. In an interview with the Journal’s Tom Pudney, city transportation engineer Tim Logue notes that design work, public hearings and municipal approvals for the bridge will take another 18 months, so construction won’t be until 2021.

3. Now for a look at Dryden’s Mill Creek subdivision. Site plan application here, proposed covenants here, site plans here. This is the 908-acre subdivision of land west of Freeville into forty home lots. It looks like the Lucente family (as RPL Properties, for the late Rocco P. Lucente) is working with surveyor Alan Lord to plat the lots. The 40 lots range in size from just over 5 acres, to 60 acres. 23 acres on the eastern edge of the parcel would be deeded over to the town for land conservation.

Even as subdivisions go, this is a very questionable design because it’s not really following state guidelines for conservation subdivisions, which cluster houses near roads on smaller lots so as to preserve natural space. These lots aren’t designed for that, which really opens up the possibility of large-scale natural space degradation or destruction. Given that the zoning here is a conservation district, it meets the word of the law, but not the sentiment.

4. Courtesy of the County Clerk’s office, we now know what the amount of the construction loan was for the latest phase of the Village Solars. 24-unit Building “K” (113 Village Circle) and 24-unit Building “L” (40 Village Place) received a $5.6 million loan from Elmira Savings Bank, which is mildly interesting in that the previous building loans were from Tompkins Trust. Note that the buildings are switched around from the site plan above, so that middle building is “K” and the building to the east is “L”. Both buildings are expected to be completed by the end of September 2019. I

n February, my last visit, Building “K” was substantially finished from the outside, while Building “L” was just a foundation pad. However, the Lucentes in-house construction team have been building these for years and have the process down pat, so if they’re framing by now, they could certainly have “L” finished by the end of September.

5. The recent article regarding the U.S. Census Bureau estimates created quite a stir and a number of strong and/or concerned emails. Before anyone gets hung up on the numbers,realize that the census is all about estimating from an annual survey of about 2.1 million households nationwide, out of a little over 126 million. They’re reasonably comfortable with national figures, a little less so with states, and generally, they just hope to be close with counties, especially medium-sized one like Tompkins who are hard to sample but can still vary by several hundreds of people from year to year.

Now consider the statistics mentioned in the article. From 2010 to 2017, the area added 2,412 housing units, and from 2010 to 2018 it added about 6,000 jobs (1.4% annual growth). The colleges add 800 or so students in total. All signs point to steady, modest growth.

Here’s an exercise. Let’s take those 2,412 housing units. 964 single-family homes, and 1,448 multi-family units. The average household size is 2.5 persons/home, and 2.2/persons per multifamily unit. So a gross estimate for the number of occupants in new housing is (964 * 2.5) + (1,448 * 2.2), or 5,596 people.

Now for a couple of adjustments. Household sizes are known to be getting smaller. Nationally, from 2010 to 2018, the change was 2.59 to 2.53, so applying that same percent decrease to the single-family figure and the multi-family figure reduces the gross gain to 5,466 people. Also, let’s assume that not every housing unit permitted was built. The vast majority are, but not all. Let’s say 98% were. That reduces the figure to 5,356.

Secondly, some new housing replaces older housing. Those stats aren’t so readily available. But I track them here. In this case, the number I have on file is that of projects recently completed or proposed, net gain is 90.6% of the gross gain. That number is going to be a bit low because I don’t track single-family home construction, which typically happens on vacant lots. Still, assuming it’s otherwise an acceptable estimation, then (5,356 * .906) = 4,853 people.

Now, let’s account for vacancy. Overall, Tompkins County is ticking upward, though still below a healthy market rate / too tight in the urban areas. It was higher in 2010, lower in the middle of decade, and creeping up now as new construction is completed and occupied. Let’s say (rather optimistically or pessimistically, depending your view) there’s a one percent increase since 2010,. Tompkins had 43.453 housing units as of 2017. So with a +1% vacancy since 2010, that’s 434.5, of which 52.7% are homes if we break it up perfectly, but since rentals have a slightly higher vacancy rate in general, let’s say 50-50. So ((217.25 * 2.5) + (217.25 * 2.2) ) * (2.53/2.59) = 997 people.

Let’s do the math. 4,853 people – 997 people = 3,856 people. Add that to 101,564 reported in 2010, and you get 105,420 residents in 2017. The Census’s 2017 estimate for Tompkins County was 104,871. Extrapolate it out a bit, and assuming Tompkins continues to add at about 551 people/year, and 2020 will clock in around 107,073 people. 5.4% growth. A hair below national average, but well above most of upstate New York and the Northeast.

So with that exercise in mind, don’t worry about the Census estimates. They will be what they will be, whether 2,000 people magically disappear or not. They’re not looking to be great, they just hope to be kinda accurate until the next census rolls out in 2020.

 


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News Tidbits 4/24/19

25 04 2019

1. Here’s a real estate sale worth noting. A vacant 25-acre parcel of land between 1758 and 1786 Trumansburg Road (just south of Jacksonville) sold for $140,000, according to a deed filed with the county today. What makes this sale interesting is that the buyer is an LLC associated with the operating address of Classen Home Health, the senior healthcare firm run by local businesswoman Patty Classen. The Classen family has not been shy about investing in development projects, though her sister Elizabeth is the more active one at present. Elizabeth owns the Bridges Cornell Heights skilled care facility, and  is also involved as a partner in Travis Hyde Properties’ 66-unit Library Place Development. Taking a semi-educated guess, there’s a good chance this property will be developed out into senior housing at a later date, so it’s worth keeping an eye on.

2. Meanwhile, over in the village of Lansing, the former Autodesk Building has exchanged hands. The 19,470 SF office building on 2.37 acres sold for $4.14 million, from the Colbert family of commercial landlords (Greenstate Properties) to an LLC led by local businessman and developer Bryan Warren of Warren Real Estate. The Colberts developed the property and opened the building in 2002. The price was substantially more then  the assessment of $3.15 million, but that’s probably not because of a planned redevelopment. It likely has more to do with having a tenant lined up for the building, the Alcohol and Drug Council of Tompkins County, who will build out and operate a 40-bed detox facility at the site. A stable, long-term tenant is a strong asset to have when selling a property. The village of Lansing has not been a fan of the project (the argument being, those in treatment “don’t belong [here]” and pose a safety threat), but since it’s just an interior renovation and medical uses are permitted in its zoning, there’s not much the village can do as long as everything remains in compliance with code. The sale may be finished, but the facility won’t host overnight stays until at least the summer, and the renovations won’t be finished until late 2020.

3. How often do I report things out in Enfield? Practically never. But the town planning board is reviewing a pair of small apartment projects this month. Patrick Head, owner of Head’s Excavating, plans to build a pair of four-unit apartment buildings, each on a different site in the town. The first would be at 1795 Mecklenburg Road, and the other on the southwest corner of Enfield Center Road and Van Dorn Road. All of the units would be rentals, two bedrooms each, and according to the Environmental Assessment Forms, it looks like each unit will be about 1200 SF, with either two floors or one floor with a finished basement. Both properties are currently vacant; the former used to host a farmhouse but was destroyed by fire in September 2015, and the later is a vacant 5-acre lot that was created through the subdivision of a larger property.

4. Sticking with the rural towns for now – out in Danby, plans are underway for a new mixed-use project at 1839-1849 Danby Road. The development calls for a small commercial retail plaza and a space for a cafe or restaurant, as well as additional residential rental space. 1839 Danby Road is a two-family house with six bedrooms, and 1849 Danby Road is a four-unit apartment house with six bedrooms, along with a couple of garages and sheds.The historic portions of the homes would be saved and incorporated into the development, which is designed to incorporate sustainable building practices (green roofs, alternative energy sources), and create a “town center” like sense of place in the hamlet of Danby. That includes a small B&B, a seasonal food market, and the small market/cafe. Ultimately, if successful the project would expand out to fifteen housing units and two more commercial spaces. It’s not big by most standards, but it’s notable for a 3,500-person town. Property owner Olivia Vent is the developer, and the plans are being designed by Ben Rosenblum Studio.

5. According to the town of Dryden’s planning department, the medical project at 2141 Dryden Road will be fairly modest in size – two floors, 3600 SF. The 908-acre Mill Creek subdivision on Caswell Road is listed as 40 lots, up one from the previous 39, though it could just be something like a stormwater parcel. Also of note, the Route 13 development study from Warren Road to the western boundary of the village of Dryden. With several large development floated for the corridor, the county has an RFP out to do a study for “strategic guidance” so as to allow development while minimizing potential negative impacts (traffic, environmental degradation from in-commuters, etc.) The RFP for that closed on the 22nd.

6. Will the Lansing Meadows senior housing ever happen? Developer Eric Goetzmann of Arrowhead Ventures is trying to change the senior housing in the Lansing Meadows project again. Given that the village and the county have had it up to their proverbial necks with his shenenigans, this has the potential to be very poorly received. The approved plan as it stands is for twenty two-bedroom units. It was supposed to start construction last year, but was delayed a year due to construction bids coming in higher than anticipated. Either the bids have come in too high again and he’s trying to value engineer the project, or some other issue has arisen. We’ll see how this one goes next Monday.


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News Tidbits 4/12/19

13 04 2019

1. Here’s a story of a clever use of space – Therm Inc. has recently expanded its facility on South Hill, and stopped leasing space from the nearby South Hill Business Campus as a result. That left an 18,870 square-foot hole to fill in Suite 30.

The site’s business manager, Linda Luciano, had had artists inquiring for a space, but never something that small enough to fit their needs. This vacancy was a chance to try something new, to build little studio spaces within the larger open floor plan of the warehouse space. It’s worked out well. Extremely well, as Ithaca Times editor Matt Butler reported this week as the Times feature article. Segment below:

” ‘A few studios’ turned out to be a severe underestimation of how many Ithaca artists desperately wanted their own studio space. With a calculated proposal for six studios in hand, she went to the building’s owners to lay out her vision, and they were receptive. Luciano then set about contacting artists who had previously reached out to her about renting space, meanwhile losing sleep over fears that she wouldn’t be able to find tenants for the studios and would have to start over with a new plan.

“I started calling people on my list, and we planned an open house,” Luciano said. “Before we could have the open house, they were all rented. That’s when I said ‘Oh my god.’”

It hasn’t slowed down since that initial wave, either. Seeing the success of the first push in October, Luciano and building owner Andy Sciarabba came up with a plan to add four more studios to the original six, deeming it Phase Two. Those four sold immediately in December, before they were even built. The same went for more units that were proposed in January. After the final phase, which is currently underway, Luciano plans for 27 more studios constructed in the former Therm space, with a much-requested gallery space included. Those are scheduled to be finished and opened in August; half of them are already leased…”

To put this in perspective, there are eighteen now plus a small kitchen and lounge space, and the addition will provide 27 more studios and a gallery space. The new build has so far taken over about a third of Therm’s old space, so the addition will likely the fill the rest of it out. The studios are a few hundred square feet each and rent for $275-$450/month depending on size (the price includes water/AC/electric/heat, with free parking), and leases are 12-month. I had not heard of anything trying this on a large scale, but it appears to be working out very well for the South Hill Business Campus, which hopes to spruce up the exterior to draw a little more attention to “Artist Alley”. It gives artists their own spaces outside of home, it offers collaboration between studios, and this seems to have tapped into a critically underserved market.

For those who want to call dibs on the last studios before they come onto the market next summer, the contact webpage is here. If you want to check them out in person, the address is 950 Danby Road.

2. Touching real quick on a pair of Dryden projects in the early stages. The “Mill Creek subdivision” is quite frankly a monstrosity in size. This is a 908-acre property on Caswell Road just west of the village of Freeville, and the plan would be to subdivide it into 39 home lots. No further subdivisions would be allowed, only single-family homes would be permitted, and it’s not clear if the developer is pursuing conservation zoning – per planning board minutes, it seems that the lots will be plated and the road laid out, and then sold parcel-to-parcel to custom builders.

If the owner did want to build, they have the expertise to do so – a deed check shows this property is owned by the Lucente family, who run Lifestyle Properties and have built out thousands of housing units in Tompkins County since the 1950s. The unimproved land is valued at $1,132,600, about $1,250/acre, and has been in their possession since 1954, so this doesn’t appear to be a rash decision.

Doing the math and removing a small amount for internal loop road still gives over 20 acres per lot, these properties would be very large and potentially expensive, because with improvements, that much acreage will be worth more and it will add up quickly. Maybe it’s a bit out of character for this blog, but this proposal actually seems rather worrying from an environmental and infrastructure perspective. Density in urban areas tends to draw the most attention, but these lots could potentially have much bigger impacts because of the amount of natural space that would be consumed by a sprawling high-end housing development.

As for the medical facility at 2141 Dryden Road, it sounds like it will be a two-story facility, and while they suggested parking in the front, the board requested to move it to the back (a couple handicap spaces in front are okay). There was some concern with its choice of locations (the board would much prefer the office be located in the village or a more built-up area) and curb-cuts/traffic impacts.

3. For the creative types: the Collegetown Small Business Alliance is sponsoring a contest to design streetlight banners for the neighborhood, like the ones on the Commons. The plan is to make up fifteen of them and have them hanging for two years. Here are the design criteria:

– Designs that are timeless will be favored. Avoid using trendy colors, fonts that may fall out of taste.

– Collegetown is at the intersection of the Cornell campus, student life, and the Ithaca community, and as such, designs should be inclusive of all of the following groups: Cornell students, Collegetown businesses, and the City of Ithaca.

– Consider these banners as creating a brand and identity of Collegetown as a whole.

Submissions must be a 24″ x 60″ image, 300dpi, with a legible “Collegetown” on the image. May include photographs, graphic designs, or scanned images. No inappropriate content. Submission are due by 11:59 PM on Tuesday April 16th, and are to be submitted here. First places get $125 and their design on the flags, second place $75, and third place $50.

4. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but there are some unusual LLC formation notices in the Journal classifieds. 628 West Seneca Street LLC, 625-27 West Buffalo Street LLC, 629-631 West Buffalo LLC, and 205 North Fulton LLC have all been created in the past couple of weeks. They are a parking lot, an apartment house, a one-story commercial building (Emmy’s Organicsm which they will vacate for larger digs in then ear future), and another one-story commercial building (Superior Glass) respectively. They are all owned by the same guy (Robert Bond).

The LLCs are all registered to the address of Alternatives Federal Credit Union across the street at 125 North Fulton, which is a little worrying because AFCU bought 634 West Seneca a few years ago and tore it down for a parking lot. It would be very unfortunate if they decided to take down more buildings for surface parking, given that this is an area the city’s trying to build up. It’s also not clear what might happen to the Rhine House in such a situation. Anyway, it’s something to keep an eye on.


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News Tidbits 3/31/19

31 03 2019

1. A couple items of note from the latest Dryden Planning Board agenda – one is a new housing subdivision called Mill Creek, but the number of lots and location is not disclosed. The other appears to be plans for a new medical office building at 2141 Dryden Road, which is currently a vacant lot near near Willow Glen Cemetery. Google Maps seems to struggle with locating the 3.3 acre lot, so the screenshot is from the county’s map. The parcel is zoned “Mixed Use Commercial” and appears to be outside the sewer service areas. This still allows for a pretty substantial building – 40 foot setback from the front, 25 feet from the rear, 7.5 feet on either side, maximum 60% lot coverage and up to 35 feet in height, which for a medical office is typically two floors (13-14′ feet per floor). Put it this way, a building built to maximum dimensions would have a gross square footage of about 86,000 SF per floor, though whatever is planned here is likely to be much less than that. Anyway, it’s something to keep an eye on as plans develop.

2. A sign of the times. The property value of the Shoppes at Ithaca Mall plunged this year, from $31 million to $19.35 million, a 38% drop. This is the result of high vacancy rates and a deteriorating long-term outlook. Downtown boosters will note with some schadenfreude that’s quite a different picture than the state of business affairs a generation ago, when downtown was in the doldrums and the mall (always in my mind the Pyramid Mall) was the center of activity.

This poses a substantial problem for the village of Lansing, but luckily, other development around the village was more than enough to offset the loss of valuation in the mall. Overall property value in the village inched up from $476.3 million to $479.5 million. Borg-Warner’s property value jumped a million dollars, and projects such as the East Pointe Apartments and Cayuga View Senior Living have also contributed to the growing property tax base.

There’s been a persistent rumor that Maguire or Guthrie are buying the mall. The short answer is some outreach was done, and no, they’re not. It’s not even possible for them to do that because Namdar’s mode of operation is to sell off the mall in sections. The long answer, with quotes, will be an article in the Voice next week.

3. When the state wants something, it can move very fast – the request for contractor bids is already out for the new proposed NYS DOT facility off of Warren Road in the town of Lansing. The bids on the $13.8 million project close April 24th. Here are the specs in brief:

“This project includes new building construction of the NYSDOT Tompkins County Sub‐Residency Building as well as site development and construction that includes asphalt concrete pavement, drainage, water & sanitary sewer work. The new NYSDOT facility will consist of office space, workshop space, truck parking and salt storage. The approximate square footage of the various structures are as follows: subresidency
maintenance building (30,000 SF), cold storage (5,000 SF), salt barn (8,200 SF), hopper building/covered lean-to (2,500 SF).

The proposed maintenance building will have vehicle storage for 10 trucks, a loader and tow plow, with one additional double depth mechanical bay and single depth, drive-thru truck washing bay. It also includes an office area (three rooms), lunch/break room (30 people), toilet/shower/locker rooms, storage rooms and mechanical/electrical rooms.

The site will also contain stockpile areas for pipe, stone and millings, and ancillary site features including a fueling station, parking for 40 vehicles, and storm water management facilities. The project will require construction of an access drive from Warren Road and the extension of utilities.”

I have not seen an updated site plan for the project. The image in last week’s Tompkins Weekly is from the SEQR Review, which is outdated. In February, a $1.5 million grant was awarded to build a refueling station closer to the airport, which has resulted in significant site plan changes to the DOT site (I’m not able to find the document offhand, but the written description stated a rotation of the main building and movement of other structures away from the residential properties to the north).

4. Word, or rather warning, to the wise. Local businessman Andrew LaVigne defrauded investors in his “Cascadilla Landing” project, to the tune of $4.6 million. Now he’ll be going to jail for 20 years, which at 66 years old, is most likely the rest of his life. So comes to an ingnomoius end to one of Ithaca’s first major projects of the decade. The 183-unit mixed-use project was proposed in the summer of 2012,  received preliminary approval that September, and did not move any further than that. Plans by local architect John Snyder included a small amount of neighborhood retail space, and covered ground-floor and outdoor surface parking. The land, owned by the Cleveland family, was sold in November 2017 and is now the site of the City Harbor development. There hasn’t been much news about City Harbor recently, but the rumor mill says that a new architect is revising the project design and site plan.

5. I accidentally dropped the ball on the Fall Creek County Office Building study. During the March PEDC meeting in which the concept was being presented, I tuned in online and had taken screenshots for my own reference, and my Voice colleague Devon Magliozzi wasin the meeting doing the official writeup. However, I never checked to see what she was covering and had assumed a big roundup. Her focus, though, was on the Lime Scooters, and it was an excellent piece, but the county office building didn’t make the news.

Anyway, the county presented about eight separate plans, seven of which had the same interpretation for the office building – a 10,500 SF that would be built to include the historic structure at 408 North Tioga in its footprint. Most of the plans differed in the amount of housing and parking, from one single family homes to three single family homes to two duplexes (two two-family units, total of four) to five townhouses. This also impacts the total amount of parking ,which ranged from 27 to 48 spaces depending on the housing footprint and whether tandem parking was used. The last plan was a proposal with no housing on-site, and selling off 408 North Tioga for an office building with an 8,400 SF footprint. All plans assumed a three-story office building plus basement, and housing designs compatible with Sears Street (1.5-2.5 floors). The mix of county occupants is still being determined, and any housing plan would likely involve an affordable housing developer like Conifer or INHS.

The county legislature is expected to get an update on the plans at their meeting on the 2nd, and make a decision on whether or not to buy the Fall Creek property at their April 16th meeting.


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News Tidbits 7/21/18

21 07 2018

1.. I rarely check in on Groton, but here’s an interesting little rehabilitation. Back in August 2017, I noted that a historic village church at 113 Church Street was for sale. The buyers last February were David and Delsy DeMatteo, who own and rent out a number of Groton-area properties. The DeMatteos appear to have submitted and received approval for a plan to renovate the structure into a 12-unit apartment building, replacing the religious-turned-commercial space with ten apartment units (two units already exist). From the look of it, the ten new units would consist of eight one-bedroom and two two-bedroom units. The plan was approved in late fall when the DeMatteo likely had a purchase option on the property, and the sale closed on February 8th. Always nice to see new life breathed into a place that played a role in the lives of many.

2. Over in Dryden village, the second phase of the new Rite Aid-turned-Walgreens development site is being marketed. Great Dane Properties is touting 5,700 SF of space for lease, with a drive-thru option should one desire it. The spec site plan can be seen here – the render above is likely the north elevation. Early conversations stated a 3,800 SF restaurant space (typical for a fast food /chain coffee shop), 1,900 SF of other retail space, and 33 parking spaces, but the plan is vanilla box, meaning minimally finished interior – it’s a shell with the exterior complete and all the utilities are good to go, but the build-out of fixtures, finishes and partitions is up to the tenant. A second commercial real estate posting suggests a 2019 build-out, though it’s more likely based on the ability to secure a primary tenant.  That listing also floats a hotel as another possible use of the location.

The first post came from Craigslist, which as a matter of personal opinion, that seems a bit unbecoming for high-value commercial listings, and may not effectively reach the target market of business owners and RE corporate development teams. You’re trying to fill 5,700 SF of new retail space, not sell Grandma’s old couch.

3. Also in Dryden, plans for a new veterinary office building at 1650 Hanshaw Road. Existing site plan here, proposed site plan here, elevations here. It’s not a particularly large project – a one-story metal building 4,800 SF in size, with revised landscaping 14 new parking spaces. The new building would go in front of the existing building on the property, so not much in the way of site prep required. The plans are being drawn up and led through review by local architect George Breuhaus.

4. It looks like the gut renovation and expansion of 1020 Craft Road is complete. The $1.88 million project involved taking the existing 10,500 SF car dealership-turned-industrial building, tearing out everything except the support beams, and fully rebuilding the interior along with constructing an additional 4,400 SF of space. Three commercial office spaces were completed, and it appears Cayuga Medical has leased two of the spaces for medical offices. The project was developed and built by Marchuska Brothers Construction of Binghamton.

 

5. Speaking of renovations, it looks like someone is interested in the former Tau Epsilon Phi house at 306 Highland Road in Cayuga Heights. The plans show 15 “units” and potentially up to 48 beds, which sounds like a group living situation, but the plans do not identify the developer. The first phase would involve exterior and interior renovations for 36 beds in the 3,400 SF building, enclosing the side porch and constructing a small addition on the southeast face to create a new entrance. A second phase is shown in the documents that would seek a 1134 SF, 12-bed addition at what is currently the front entrance of the early 1960s building, the east facade. It was previously noted that 306 Highland was for sale for $1.385 million, which was steadily reduced to $1.025 million before being taken off the market at the start of June. The village will begin site plan review of the project at its Planning Board meeting on July 23rd.

6. On to Lansing. Here’s a little more about the Hillcrest Tiny House project -memo here, application here, drawings by architectural firm SPEC Consulting here,  . The five homes would be built on 16 Hillcrest Road, a parcel split by Hillcrest Road where it intersects with Warren Drive – the developer is the home owner who lives on the other half of the parcel, south of the intersection. The triangular northern piece would host the rather traditional-looking cottages, which would be one-bedroom units, about 450 SF each, and have two parking spaces apiece. The land is zoned industrial/research, which allows commercial and industrial uses – the owners argue that its location on the west side of Warren Road near other residential development along Hillcrest means that a commercial or industrial use would be out of character.

One could make an argument that this is desirable in that their small size would help address the  middle-market for housing demand, which has been lacking in new options, resulting in existing options being pressured upward in price. The project would cost about $200,000 to build and the owner/developer estimates two months to build each cottage, though it’s not clear if construction of each cottage would be concurrent, or one at a time.

Quick side note, Milton Meadows has submitted a construction plan for the new access road in tandem with the town’s realignment of the Woodsedge Drive/Route 34 intersection. Taylor the Builder, the general contractor for the project, is planning for November 2018 – September 2019 for the 72-unit affordable apartment complex.

7. Urban Core LLC has started exterior demolition and reconstruction work for the Press Bay Court project. I’ve been waiting to officially move this into the construction column for a while, could never quite be sure when walking past – the full rundown and description of the project can be found in the October introduction here. To quote part of it:

“What Urban Core’s latest plans would do is expand that “experiential” micro-retail mix eastward towards the corner of Green and Cayuga Streets, the Commons and the downtown core. The parking lot in front of D. P. Dough would be converted into a plaza much like Press Bay Alley’s, and the first floor of 108-110 West Green would be renovated into 5-8 micro-retail units facing the new plaza (the Green Street entrances would be retained), with 320-2200 SF per unit. The second floor would be renovated into four below-market rate one-bedroom apartments with 510-660 SF of living space, and the exterior masonry would be cleaned and repaired. The hawk mural will be preserved. New signage, bike infrastructure, curbing, sidewalks and a parklet are included in the plans. The total square footage in phase two is about 9,000 SF.”

8. 105 Dearborn has received a construction loan to move forward. The 10,930 SF, 12-bedroom, 16-person high-end skilled care facility will cost $4.2 million to build according to the loan filed this Friday the 20th, and over the next year it’ll slowly take form on what is now a vacant corner in leafy Cornell Heights. Bridges Cornell Heights will run the facility, and add a handful of news jobs as a result of the new addition. Tompkins Trust Company is the lender, and the historically-inspired design was penned by Rochester-based Bero Architecture.

7. Looks like a fairly interesting monthly meeting ahead for the Ithaca City Planning Board. Here’s the agenda:

1. Agenda Review 6:00
2. Privilege of the Floor 6:01

3. Subdivision Review

A. Project: Minor Subdivision 6:15
Location: 508-512 Edgewood Place
Actions: Determination of Environmental Significance – Consideration of Preliminary and Final Approval

This subdivision at the end of a private street in the East Hill neighborhood would re-subdivide a double lot that had been consolidated after the original house burnt down in the late 1930s. Any news structure on the newly created .326 acre lot would be subject to Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission design review. No specific plans are on file.

4. Site Plan Review

A. Project: Stewart Park Inclusive Playground 6:30
Location: Stewart Park
Applicant: Rick Manning for the City of Ithaca
Actions: Consideration of Project Changes

Project Description: The project was approved by the Planning Board on March 27, 2018. The applicant is now requesting project changes, including relocation and redesign of the bathrooms and parking area, and layout and programming changes to the overall playground.

The bathroom building was to be combined with a pavilion, but that proved to be expensive and the playground architects had bad experiences with the original structural supplier, so local architecture firm STREAM Collaborative stepped in to design a separate 24′ x 24′ bathroom building with utility rooms and storage space. The pre-school playground and sand garden were moved, the splash pad tweaked, some swings were added and the adult wellness area was deleted for this initial buildout.

B. Project: Minor Subdivision & Construction of a Duplex 6:45
Location: 209 Hudson Street
Applicant: Jagat Sharma, architect, for Bia Stavropoulos, owner
Actions: Determination of Environmental Significance

Touched on this one a couple of weeks ago – the project was revised from two duplexes to just one, with three bedrooms per unit. Even development-averse councilwoman Cynthia Brock offered support for the plan (with minor aesthetic tweaks), which is about as good as one can hope for a green light to proceed. Note no approvals are planned because this has to go to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a lot size variance.

C. Project: Major Subdivision (3 Lots), Two Duplexes, One Single Family Home & Site Improvements 7:00
Location: 128 West Falls Street
Applicant: Ron Ronsvalle
Actions: Consideration of Preliminary and Final Subdivision Approval and Site Plan Approval

BZA gave Ronsvalle’s five-unit rental project in Fall Creek the all-clear. This project came up earlier this month in a previous news roundup – a five-unit infill project in Fall Creek, originally approved in February 2015, and revived now that the developer has found a way to continue working after a debilitating accident. Don’t foresee any issues here.

D. Project: North Campus Residential Initiative (NCRI)
Location: Cornell University Campus
Applicant: Trowbridge Wolf Michaels Landscape Architecture on behalf of Cornell
Actions: Intent to Declare Lead Agency

This will be huge – 766,000 SF of space for 2,000 student dormitory beds and associated program space, including a 1,200 seat dining hall. I’ll have more coverage next week. John Novarr favorite ikon.5 is the project architect.

E. Hudson Street Townhomes – 117-119 Coddington Road –Sketch Plan 7:50

One of this week’s new shinies. This project appears to be slated for a parking between two apartment complexes and across the street from the Elks Lodge just north of Ithaca College’s campus. Depending on how they reconfigure the existing parking lot, they could do a high single-digit or low double-digit number of townhomes. Zoning here is R-3b. Up to four floors/40 feet, 40% lot coverage, one parking space per unit of per three bedrooms (two spaces for 4-5 bed units). Lot coverage may end up being based on a subdivision, since this falls into the South Hill Zoning Overlay and no additional primary structures are allowed on a lot. The property has been owned by the Dennis family since 1979, but the developer may be someone else with a purchase deal on the subdivided lot.

F. Falls Park Project – 121-125 Lake Street – Sketch Plan 8:05

This would be whatever Travis Hyde Properties is planning for the former Ithaca Gun site on Gun Hill. I have been told this is “substantially different” from the earlier Ithaca Falls Residences plan. Assume residential. This was rezoned R-3a not long back, up to four floors/40 feet, 35% lot coverage, one parking space per unit of per three bedrooms (two spaces for 4-5 bed units). I would expect a fair number of units for a 1.42 acre property; the IFR plan was 45 units.

5. Zoning Appeals 8:10
#3102, 209 Hudson St., Area Variance
#3103, 216 University Ave., Area Variance
#3104, 737 Willow Ave., Area Variance

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Categories : affordable housing, construction, construction (planned), general housing, ithaca, news, Tompkins County