Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

Project Updates

Hobby Lobby Repaving, Front Facade & Prep for Sign

October 29, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Here are some dusty shots taken today from the Hobby Lobby store site opening November 11th in the former K-Mart shell. In addition to the 56,444 square foot store, the property owner/developer Benderson Development is seeking a 14,744 square foot expansion along the southern wall (where the K-Mart garden center was previously) for a retail tenant- perhaps a store that commonly pairs-up with Hobby Lobby. Many major retailers partner-up with another complementary store in strip malls, creating clusters of complementary goods in the same area to boost sales- like a salon and a café, or a sports pub and a women’s clothing store for example; you can’t do both of those activities in the same store, but they would go together.
From the looks of it, the front facade is basically done, re-paving and striping has been well underway, and will probably be finished this week. The sign was in a trailer on site already, and the store was filled with retail racks.

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Updated Scenes from the Commons Rebuild Project

October 28, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Here are some updated photos of the Commons Rebuild project from today and late last week. The excavation outside the Maté Factor is for a new sanitary service, and the main Tompkins Trust building on Bank Alley is being connected to the new water main along Bank Alley. According to the project site, four more buildings on State Street remain to be connected to the new water main, along with two on Bank Alley (including Tompkins Trust).

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Press Bay Alley Updated Progress Photos

October 28, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Overhead Door was on site last week to install the upper sections of each bay opening. The roof now has a membrane layer, which will be covered-over with fascia trim along the edges. It will be interesting to see how the individual spaces are built out, mostly dependent on the tenants that rent them out. The immediate area gets plenty of foot traffic, and there have been regular pop-up gallery events (Art in the Alley), along with activities hosted by Ithaca Generator, located down the stairs past Life’s So Sweet, the chocolatier next door.

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Seneca Way Updated Photos

October 27, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Here are some updated photos of the Seneca Way project from last week. The render below doesn’t show the window shades, and they haven’t been installed yet, so I imagine that they’ve been dropped. The steel support columns on the exterior will be wrapped to form a cylindrical shape, and the western lot will be due for walls shortly.
The website contains some nice interior renderings of what the apartments will look like (one shot attached below). The sidewalks have been in place for a while now, so they may open-up once all the work along the exterior has been completed.

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Planned Parenthood Exterior Wall Framing and Sheathing

October 26, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The Planned Parenthood site is well underway with exterior wall stud framing. The crews have started to install sheathing the ground-level and the northern sections of the walls with glass-mat sheathing panels. Roofing tiles are being installed on the hipped-roof section, and I bet there’s probably a membrane going up on the flat roof (the entryway flat roof has a layer already). As you can see from the renders, the long, open horizontal wall sections on the southern and eastern sides will be filled-in with windows.

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Collegetown Terrace Buildings 5 & 6 Updated Photos

October 25, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Novarr-Mackesey’s Collegetown Terrace project is showing good progress on Buildings 5 and 6. Building 5’s facade panels on the north face are up on the west end, and the rest of this side is almost fully sheathed. I’m not entirely sure what the middle section opening on this side will be- possibly a common room with large windows [found out- it’s for the bridges between the buildings]. The east end floor has been poured and floated, and a new stairwell/elevator tower is being assembled block-by-block at the end. Building 6 has begun framing-up another level (fourth floor now), and the exterior walls and sheathing has been hung on both the north and south faces. Quite amazing progress every time I swing by- I see no reason why the majority of the exterior work on these buildings won’t be done before it starts getting into the dead of winter.

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Cherry Street Crossfit Gym Proposal

October 24, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

There’s a proposal for a 10,368 Gross square foot steel-sided building on Cherry Street for a Crossfit Gym, by the company Mad4Cherry, LLC. The floor plan shows a 6,000 SF open gym area, a 1,900 SF separate gym, a couple offices, two locker rooms, and a utility room. Site plans and a map are embedded below. The site is situated between e2e Materials and Evaporated Metal Films Corp. The parcel shows up on the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency’s (IURA) 2011 real property inventory as a 1.02 acre site for light manufacturing assessed at $180,000 with a lessee “J. Moro”.

 

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Rick’s Rental World Expansion Plans

October 23, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

A regular go-to shop for contractors and weekend warriors alike in Ithaca, Rick’s Rental World has intentions to expand on their parcel at 800 Cascadilla Street (all the way at the west end of Cascadilla). Plans had already been established last year for the 2,300 square foot metal building addition at the south end, and here’s a newer proposal including a 30′ x 39′ pole barn at the north end. The site plan and project narrative are embedded below. The two additions will help the operation consolidate rental equipment into enclosed areas for storage and maintenance.

 

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South Hill Digicomp ATM Drive-Thru & Restaurant Space Proposal

October 22, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Here’s a proposal from ICS Development Partners & Architect Jagat P. Sharma to build out the current Digicomp building on South Hill Route 96B into a drive-thru ATM and restaurant space, keeping the current Digicomp space in the basement. I’m not familiar with ICS Development Partners, but the entity filing is in Tompkins County and dates back to 1994 on this address (930 Danby Rd) listing the same chief executive officer as Digicomp, so it’s clearly the same owner. The Town Planning Board presentation was given back on the 15th for consideration, and the proposed use variances were granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals back in July.

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Breckenridge Sidewalks Nearly Complete

October 22, 2013 // by James Douglas

Downtown pedestrians will have noticed that sidewalk work at Breckenridge has essentially been completed over the past several weeks. I’ve gotta say, it’s really nice to start imagining this location being a functional intersection again, after months of construction activity and disruption.

 

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