Purity Ice Cream will be developing a five-story apartment building in the back portion of the current single story building. The new construction will add between 20-24 market-rate apartments on the edge of the City’s downtown density zone.
Construction is expected to begin in the Fall of 2013. The front retail portion of the building has been an Ithaca landmark for decades (and Ithaca is said to be the birthplace of the ice cream sundae), but several years back, production was shifted to a Byrne Dairy facility, so much of the building has sat mostly idle since then, thus the opportunity for redevelopment. The developer has also acquired a couple parcels down the street, which will serve as tenant parking due to the parking requirements per number of apartments as determined by current zoning.