Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

Thurston Ave Apartments

Thurston Avenue Apartments Photo Update

March 2, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The RABCO Thurston Avenue Apartments project has shown some progress since mid-February. The ground level Fox Block walls have been filled with concrete, western foundation walls have been assembled, some additional grading work has been completed, and stud walls are beginning to take shape on the northern-most structure (Building C).

As shown on the construction fence sign, G.M. Crisalli Construction out of Syracuse is the general contractor on this project. They’ve managed and constructed a lot of projects, most notably within Ithaca: the Taughannock Boulevard Island Health and Fitness Center. The project is designed by all-local firms: architecture by HOLT Architects, whose recently completed projects include Seneca Way and Breckenridge Place Apartments, landscape plan by Trowbidge Wolf Michaels, and survey work by TG Miller.

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Thurston Ave Apartments Block Work

February 18, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The RABCO Thurston Ave Apartments project has begun wall assembly work for the ground stories of Buildings 1, 2 and 3, as the foundations were dug, formed, and poured over the course of late November to early February. As corrected in the previous post, this project is obviously going to be framed on-site, rather than modular, which comes as a surprise to me, since the floor layouts have the dimensions for truck transport, and would lend themselves quite well to that form of assembly. Also, given the timeline (leased for August occupancy), this may be cutting it close, but I imagine with a big enough crew, this can get done.

The walls are being constructed with Fox Blocks, which are an insulated concrete form (ICF) product made of recycled plastic. The walls are assembled block-by-block on top of the foundation walls, then concrete is poured on the inside gap. The tarps on top are covering the gaps so that snow doesn’t make its way in there.

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Thurston Ave Apartments Foundation Work

January 30, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Rabco’s Thurston Avenue Apartments project is showing more foundation work since last time I swung around in late December. Concrete has been poured and covered for the foundation footers, and vertical rebar is in place for concrete block reinforcement. There are pallets of foam board insulation around the site to be used for foundation wall insulation once the block walls are assembled. The trenches for the foundation usually aren’t backfilled with soil until the modular pieces are secured on top of the foundations.
I’ve just learned that in fact, this project is not going to be modular, much to my amazement. An August deadline is going to be quite a difficult task for stick-built, but I suppose where there’s a will, there’s a way.

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Here’s a double three bedroom unit floor plate from the site plan review documents:

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Thurston Avenue Apartments Movin’ Dirt

December 26, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The Thurston Avenue Apartments project’s excavation has been well underway, with earth-movers still on site for more. There are several wooden forms for concrete footers down in the pits, and if I’m reading the plans correctly, these are situated for the two future apartment buildings closest to the intersection of Highland and Thurston Ave, or to the left of the future drive entry. The site had quite a steep grade to start, and lots of trees, which have been cleared since late Fall.

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Thurston Ave Apartments Begins

November 25, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The Thurston Avenue Apartments project has a construction fence up, and has cleared all the site trees and brush in prep for site excavation.

The plan is to build four 3-story multi-unit buildings for a total of 2 one bedrooms, 15 three bedrooms, and 3 four bedrooms (44 beds total). Here’s a link to the previous post containing the full site plan review materials, and the project itself was given final City of Ithaca site plan approval back in June. The buildings have been designed to match the character of their surroundings, and I think HOLT Architects did quite a nice job on this one.

I’m not entirely sure, but since there’s a crane on site already and the floor plan layouts have some uniformly-spaced wall breaks, there may be some modular components to this project. Should be nice to watch either way- if it is modular, then once the foundations are in, we should expect to see these go up quite rapidly, much like houses at Belle Sherman Cottages.

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Thurston Ave Apartments: Existing Property Photos

August 7, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

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Swung by Thurston Ave to see first-hand what this parcel looks like at the moment. The planned driveway will go over an existing gravel drive, and it looks like the larger trees on the edge of Highland and Thurston will be spared. This project was granted final site plan approval back in June, so I bet we’ll see something happening by this Fall.

 

Thurston Ave Minor Site Plan Revisions

July 1, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Just some minor changes to the site plan here: curb and signage revisions from HOLT for RABCO Highland House’s project next door to their existing apartment complex. This project hasn’t changed all that much since its first site plan submission, probably because of few objections to the plans; definitely a “fitting addition.”

 

Thurston Ave Apartments Site Plan

May 12, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Ithacating in Cornell Heights picked up on this new development about a year ago, and the site plans have just been submitted for review (see below). It looks as if the developer has scaled down this project, as the plan now calls for four buildings holding 20 units (mostly three bedrooms) on the corner of Highland Ave and Thurston Ave (across from Seal and Serpent). Page 23 shows a nice render of what the project would look like without any vegetation, and page four shows a nice breakdown of the properties surrounding the site.

Site Plan- updated 5/28/13

Site Plan Review Application