Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

323 Taughannock Boulevard: Updated Plans for 20-Unit Waterfront Project

July 28, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

It’s clear that a lot of attention has been paid to the design of this proposal, and I thought it worthwhile to post some of the revised images and presentation materials for Rampart Real’s 20-unit 323 Taughannock Boulevard Project, designed by Stream Collaborative, with MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) and structural engineering by Taitem Engineering, and civil engineering and surveying by TG Miller. (If you’re interested in green building design, I can’t recommend a better book than Green Building Illustrated, co-authored by Taitem’s Ian Shapiro, previous article here).

Old photo of the inlet:

The Cayuga Inlet got its major start with the 1819 launch of the Cayuga Steamboat Company’s first ship (The Enterprise), then the 1825 completion of the Erie Canal, which connected to Cayuga Lake by another canal. This gave Ithaca waterway access to Chicago and the Atlantic. The Ithaca-Owego Railroad opened in 1834, with a line going to the Susquehanna and Southern Tier. The Cayuga Inlet provided a water-to-rail-to-land and vice-versa loading point, but Ithaca never took off as a major shipping hub for a variety of reasons which included financial Depressions, the difficult surrounding terrain, and further construction of major railways to the south- most importantly, Binghamton. (Snodderly, Ithaca and its Past)

The architectural style of harbor and waterfront buildings are taken into full account in the design here, which blends aspects of traditional industrial freight/warehouse buildings and modern techniques to connect occupants to the waterfront. Skylight and louver-style roofs are iconic of harbor warehouse and freight buildings, in order to gain sunlight, but also natural ventilation for large enclosed spaces (although I believe the angled racks are for solar panels- creating the same visual effect). Many residential waterfront projects include large bay windows, terraces facing the water, and an immediate area to access the waterfront, all of which are here. There’s even a four-seasons greenhouse planned for the fourth floor.

Design references and inspiration:

Rendered Elevation with material selections and architectural features of buildings nearby:

The material selections look respectful to context, and the rendered elevation helps to show how they fit together within the design: wood siding on the roof level, possibly slate or dark metal standing seam roofing, lap siding for the second and third floors, and a brick veneer with stone base on the ground level. The vertically-oriented siding and multi-level windows on the stairwells also draw a nice visual interest. Hope to see this one move forward- it would probably be the first new, primarily residential building of this size on the inlet since, well, ever. I’m not sure if these would be for rental or condominium, but Ithaca’s West End has been seeing some very nice projects as of late.

North, South and East Elevations:

Site Plan and Floor Plans:

Cayuga Place Residences Core Block Work at 6th Story

July 27, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Bloomfield/Schon + Partners‘ 45-unit, 49,244 gross square-foot Cayuga Place Residences Project has been moving full steam ahead with core concrete block work in the last few weeks, and looks on-pace for the final 7th story this week or early next. The foundation was finished-up in late June, which included foundation footers supported by steel auger micropiles.

The project will be joining Breckenridge Place (50 apartments) and Seneca Way (office space plus 38 apartments) as recently completed downtown projects.

Unit layouts by floor:

12-Story Building Proposed for 330 College Ave

July 27, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

As reported by Ithacating and the Ithaca Voice, Jason Fane, property developer and owner of Ithaca Renting and The Fane Organization presented a sketch plan proposal at the last City of Ithaca Planning Board meeting to build a 12-story building on his parcel at the corner of College Avenue and Dryden Road (former home to the Green Cafe). The plans show a 12-story L-shaped structure with three ground floor retail spaces, a stairwell/elevator core, circulation layout, and apartments adjacent to Collegetown Center, a 6-story mixed-use building owned by Mr. Fane and managed by Ithaca Renting. The plans were done by Architect Jagat P. Sharma. In addition to Ithaca, The Fane Organization owns property in Harlem, NY, and is developing a 47-storey condo tower in Toronto, Chaz Yorkville (latest construction update with photos here).

The current zoning of the parcel is MU-2, which carries a height restriction of 80 feet at 6 stories maximum, so the proposal would need to seek and be approved for a zoning variance to build higher than current zoning allows.

Thurston Avenue Apartments July Photo Update

July 24, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

RABCO‘s 18-unit, 57-bedroom Thurston Avenue Apartments project is showing completed brick facade work, sitework to prep for a new parking lot and driveway, some landscaping stonework, and the HardieTrim panels and synthetic stucco is coming along on Buildings C & D. The Marvin Integrity windows were installed back in June, and the buildings were fully-framed, wrapped, and roofed throughout the month of May.

The project is being built by G.M. Crisalli & Associates, with design by HOLT Architects, and landscape by TWLA. Occupancy is expected in August, for students moving-in to begin the Fall semester.

July 24th:

Building C:

Building D:

Site Plan below (Building A, the small one in the corner will be a later phase):

July 2nd:

Cayuga Place Residences Block Work

July 10, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Well, there is no available time wasted here, as foundation footings and walls have wrapped-up and we are on to block work for the stairwell towers and elevator shaft on the western wall of Bloomfield/Schon + Partners’ Cayuga Place Residences project that will rise to seven stories. It had never occurred to me to take photos from the parking garage until B.C.’s post here, but this should be a fun project to watch from many different angles and elevations. General construction by Turnbull-Wahlert Construction of Cincinnati, Ohio. The building will contain 45 market-rate apartment units, with a walkway into the adjacent Green Street Parking Garage.

327 Eddy Street Mixed-Use Building Proposal

June 30, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

No doubt, more housing for collegetown here as Ithacating noted last week: the Fontana Apartments building (Club Sudz, former Tung Fong, and Pixel bar in back) may be demolished to make way for a stepped-foundation 6-story mixed-use building to contain 28 apartments on the upper floors and probably retail commercial on the ground floors (plus core space for utilities and stairwells/elevator). The sketch plan submission images are below, done by Architect Jagat Sharma.

I can’t help but be reminded of the Old Town/Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland, where some of the earliest-recorded skyscrapers were built to a height up to 14-stories high, aided by stepped foundations along the steep hillside of the ridge below the castle, so many of the floors were partially supported by solid ground, then stepped-down further up or down. Still, in the days before modern concrete and steel framing techniques, it must have been quite a feat, since they were built entirely out of stone for foundations and facades, and wood framing (a fire in 1700 forced many of these down, however, a large amount of great buildings remain in excellent condition, part of the reason it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

This parcel shows a lot of 52 x 119 feet, so if we back-out rear-yard setback and the courtyard areas, six stories times ~5,000 SF per floor gets to a rough total of ~30,000 SF. Minus ground floor commercial (5,000 including some mechanical space) and circulation (say around 12% for the remaining floors), average unit size may be around 800 SF.

Full Plans Here

327-Eddy-Fontana-Apartments-Ithaca-0628143

327-Eddy-Fontana-Apartments-Ithaca-0628142

Collegetown Terrace Late June Photo Update

June 25, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

So admittedly, I post a lot of photos of this project, but it’s quite a spectacle now that the site is relatively opened-up. It looks like Welliver has completed their major portion of the work contract for Novarr-Mackesey, and crews for interior finish work and cleaning have moved on site to have the apartments ready for incoming occupants; on the left (west) side, Building 5 contains 167 units and Building 6 (east) contains 71 units. Landscaping work has been progressing around the building edges, and the new drive lanes south of Buildings 5 & 6 have been paved and curbed. There will probably be some sort of barrier or fence constructed along the south slope for excavation work for the final structure, Building 7, which will be the largest, likely to come-in at 247 units. I’m not sure of a start date, but my guess would be sometime late Fall.

Dryden South Project Updated Drawings

June 24, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The drawings of the six-story Dryden South project by Architect Jagat Sharma for Pat Kraft of Kraftees in College Town have been updated for today’s planning board meeting with rendered, dimensioned elevations, and additional three-dimensional renders. The drawings show a 5 foot front yard setback, 10-foot floor-to-floor heights, an inner court area way for light and ventilation on the west side of the proposed building, projected bay windows, and facade materials (light colored brick facade, with limestone and colored metal window projections). The project still shows ten 4-bedroom units, and 2,120 square feet of commercial space.

Full Drawings PDF Here

140 College Avenue Current Photos

June 23, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Photos here for the existing 12-bedroom house at 140 College Avenue owned by Po Family Realty, and here’s a previous post explaining the proposed 3,800 square foot addition, which will be adding 12 bedrooms, and satisfying a second egress within the interior rather than the existing exterior fire escape. The Transportation Demand Management plan will go before the City Planning and Development Board Tuesday this week, as the site plan was fully approved back in April 2011.

Cayuga Place Residences Foundation Work Continues

June 17, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Foundation work by Turnbull-Wahlert Construction has progressed on Bloomfield/Schon + Partners‘ 45-unit Cayuga Place Residences project, as the foundation pours have made their way west, then counter-clockwise around the footprint of the future building.

The foundation footings are being set on top of the STELCOR auger micro-piles for soil support, with rebar sticking-out to tie-in the walls as they’re built-up. The foundation corners have plates with bolts on top of the footings for structural steel to form the building superstructure. The foundation walls are poured in certain areas between these large rectangular footings at specific dimensions, according to the weight they will hold. The footings supported by the micro-piles take the major point loads of the structure. The long solid footing with the high rebar heights will be holding the stairwells, elevator shaft, and utility rooms.

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