Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

Project Updates

Purity Ice Cream Project Scales Down- No Apartment Tower

October 14, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Bummer news here, but I imagine there are some strong reasons: The Purity Project has scaled down, and will no longer be seeking to build an apartment tower on the site. The revised project narrative (page 2 below) cites market conditions as the cause. The new plan is for an expansion of Purity Ice Cream’s store operations, and a buildout of the second story and roof level above to include 2,640 square feet of office space and a terrace area. The project is looking to start January 2014 with a construction schedule of 10-12 months. Here’s the first paragraph of the architectural narrative, providing a good summary of the revised project:

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New Site Plans and Parking Evaluation embedded below:

 

 

Press Bay Alley: Progress Photos I

October 14, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Accufab started off by securing the steel plate columns to each bay divider, then columns centered on each bay, which will form the new entry doors to each micro-retail unit space. The latest photo is from last week- more to come.

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Planned Parenthood Major Structural Work Complete

October 11, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The Planned Parenthood site looks about the same as last week, with nearly all of the major structural work complete. The steel post columns on the exterior edges are all in place, so we should probably see a big delivery of metal studded wall panels to form the exterior walls, but the floor decks would be poured with concrete first (although it’s hard to get a good view of anything above the ground level).

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Cayuga Place Two Site Still Clear

October 10, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

No action here yet- the latest plans are for 45 units at seven stories high, which would conceal this side of the parking garage. The project ran into soil problems, so it became much more expensive to build and engineer, thus the need for additional units in order to make the building project financially feasible. They may use something like micropiles to secure the foundation. There’s probably more to this story, but I think it would be a great addition to the Six Mile Creek walk area.

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Seneca Way Updated Facade Photos & Paved Lot

October 10, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Seneca Way’s EIFS facade is still coming along, with most of the faces either fully finished, or installed and base coated, and the eastern parking lot has been curbed and paved with asphalt. The future commercial office second story has new bays of windows on the east and west sides (you can see the grey steel frames), and the curved side will have full top to bottom windows.

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Updated Scenes from the Commons

October 9, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Various shots from the Commons here over the past few days. Mostly more lateral water connection work as planned, and Bank Alley’s telecom lines were freed up from concrete to prepare for the water main and sanitary sewer work on this end. The work is starting on the south side where the metal shield is situated deep in the ground, and will progress along the trench that has been dug out. There’s already a new sanitary access manhole form in place, which was put in a few weeks ago.

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RFEI Documents for the IURA’s Cherry Street Parcel

October 9, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Here are the RFEI (Request for Expression of Interest) documents for the IURA’s (Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency) Cherry Street Parcel, first announced back in June. The IURA’s homepage has links to the full application, engineering reports, and support documents- the deadline was last September, the 27th, so there may be applications in the review process at the moment.
Embedded below is the RFEI report, a GIS map, and a survey showing the 2.25 acre subdivision of the original 8 acre parcel the City plans to retain (it’s a section of wetland). The RFEI report explains the IURA’s objective, the site description, the selection process, zoning specifics, and the desired format of respondents. Hopefully we’ll hear soon whether or not there is a potential project here- I haven’t seen anything in the meeting minutes yet.

 

 

 

Klarman Hall Site Prep Photos

October 8, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

More site prep is underway at the future site of Klarman Hall on East Ave for a construction mobilization in early November. There is a series of concrete manhole access forms on the northeastern corner of the site, and there’s a long section of walkway that has been excavated in front of Goldwin Smith Hall on the southern side, revealing the concrete-encased electric duct (according to the utility & demolition plan, embedded below) running from the southeastern corner clockwise around the building to the front. I’m spotting a couple generators outside the in-ground electric room, which will be re-worked as part of the project as well.
It will be interesting seeing this hillside blasted and dug out for the new retaining wall. Part of the building will literally have offices sited underneath the new sidewalk runs along East Avenue running the length of Goldwin Smith Hall, with lit skylight arrays running north-south that protrude above ground several feet. The excavation will be going quite deep, almost right up to the edge of East Ave.

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Hobby Lobby’s Big Entrance Bay

October 7, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

As the work goes on inside the old Kmart to outfit the upcoming 56,444 square foot Hobby Lobby store for a November 11th opening, the large entrance bay is being constructed to prop-up the sign for drivers to see from Route 13. I had wondered last time around what the steel beams were for, and I suppose this is it.

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CAYUGA WATERFRONT TRAIL PHASE 2 PLANS

October 7, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Soo… at long last, like many other folks that use the current trails, I was overjoyed to see these plans pop-up for City Planning Board consideration. These Phase Two plans are for the anticipated connection between the Stewart Park/Golf Course waterfront trail section and the Cass Park trail section, including bridges spanning the two waterways between the Cayuga inlet island. The plans show a proposed path from the Park Road trail section, then over the inlet following the Cliff Street and Buffalo Street bridges, and up along the inlet waterfront to just past 3rd Street, where the current trail meets and wraps around the Ithaca Farmer’s Market.

The Cayuga Waterfront Trail Initiative just launched a new website, which will likely provide further information on the proposed connection.

The design work was completed by Bergman Associates, and the new pedestrian/bike bridges will be accepting bids for design, fabricate and build pricing from the bridge contractors listed on the bridge scope document below.