Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

Thurston Avenue Apartments June Photo Update

June 16, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

RABCO Highland House‘s 57-bedroom Thurston Avenue Apartments project has had complete roofing for weeks now, and almost all of the double-hung grilled Marvin windows have now been installed in the rough openings. By now interior framing is complete, the electric, plumbing, sprinklers and fixtures are in the rough-ins phase, and drywall, paint, and flooring should follow along afterwards. The exterior already has brick veneer base, which will transition to Hardie boards and synthetic stucco the rest of the way up. The exterior facade and paving/curbing should go quickly, since the buildings are leased for August occupancy. The site design is by Trowbridge Wolf Michaels Landscape Architects, with architecture by HOLT, and construction managed by G.M. Crisalli & Associates.

Collegetown Terrace Updated Photos for June

June 16, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Updated photos here for Novarr-Mackesey‘s Collegetown Terrace Buildings 5 & 6 built by Welliver along the south slope of State Street. Buildings 5 & 6 will be finishing-up for occupancy later this summer, and the facades are 100% done now- the scales along the northern sides are complete, and the stucco/fiber cement panel combinations on the south sides were completed weeks ago. The metal pedestrian walkway connecting Building 5’s glass-walled common space to Building 3.4’s entry pavilion has been painted bright green, and there’s now an asphalt walkway between both buildings, as the concrete stairways and metal railings are finishing-up.

The project was designed by ikon.5 architects out of Princeton, New Jersey; the firm was judged as the 4th best design firm in the United States for 2013 by a panel from Architect Magazine (the AIA’s official publication, American Institute of Architects). The plans for Building 7 require a zoning variance to build 247 units (up from 178 due to the desire to forego parking on the second level for dorm-style units), but I haven’t seen a final resolution or record of vote for the revision. If approved, the net additional bed count for the whole project would go from 589 to 669 net additional bedrooms (the construction required the demolition of the former Valentine Apartment complexes).

Dryden South Project in Collegetown

June 14, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Pat Kraft, the owner of Kraftees College Town has proposed a new building on the site at which the business resides, 205 Dryden Road at last month’s City Planning and Development Board meeting. The current structure is a remodeled wood-framed house, with a rear addition and storefront. The consulting architect, Jagat P. Sharma, has developed a concept sketch plan showing a six-story building, with a west side centered stairwell and elevator tower, ground floor commercial space, and symmetrical four-bedroom units (two per floor), for a total of 10 four bedroom apartments. The development is allowable due to the Collegetown re-zoning, which does not require minimum parking for MU-2 (Mixed-Use 2) parcels, which 205 Dryden Road was re-zoned to. Sketch plan submission here, with shots below:

Collegetown Re-Zoning (Full Document Here):

140 College Ave 12 Bedroom Addition

June 11, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Po Family Realty‘s existing 12-bedroom student housing dwelling at 140 College Avenue at the corner of College Ave and Cook Street has a proposal to add-on a 3,800 square foot, 12-bedroom southern addition, matching the architectural style of the existing structure, with a glass transition between (this building is a late 1800s “Second Empire Style,” featuring a slate Mansard Roof, brick exterior, and rectangular massing). The architect on the project is Jason Demarest, whom has designed many projects in the area, perhaps most notably, the iconic 9,000 square-foot renovation for the Kitchen Theatre on State Street downtown about four years ago.

The project originally went up to site plan review a few years ago, but was denied due to minimum parking requirements, but since collegetown has been re-zoned into form districts, with many of the districts now without minimum parking requirements (or less parking required), the project is now allowed under zoning. Site plan review document is here, with images below:

Collegetown Crossing Sketch Plan

May 28, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Since Common Council passed the new Collegetown Area Form Districts back in March, most of Collegetown falls under a re-written form-based zoning ordinance, in which districts determine the massing, accepted uses, setbacks, parking requirements, and various other aspects of what can be built or modified. Form-based zoning seeks to establish allowable building massing as a priority over accepted uses, and emphasizes a logical transition from rural areas to urban centers, mimicking the transitions found in natural geography. More information available here (was once called the Center for Transect Studies, but the concept itself emerged in the 1970s from various individuals, with the first code written for the Florida town of Seaside by Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk).

307 College Avenue was re-zoned to MU-1, which has no minimum parking requirements (satisfying thing to read on a zoning ordinance), much like the CBD-zones downtown, therefore the project may continue without a zoning variance, which was attempted previously. The proposal is showing demolition of the existing two-story College Ave-fronting structure, and a six-story project with five first floor commercial spaces (one of which may be a Greenstar location), and 43 apartments: 13 studios, 15 two-bedrooms, 5 three-bedrooms, and 10 four-bedrooms.

The Owner/Developer is Josh Lower of Urban Ithaca, and the plans are being designed by Architect Jagat P. Sharma.

Here’s a map and shots of the sketch plan submission:

Photos of 307 College Avenue:

Site Plan:

First and Second Floor Plans:

Third & Fourth, and Fifth & Sixth Floor Plans:

Rendered Elevations:

Collegetown Terrace Late May Photo Update

May 28, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Novarr-Mackesey‘s 1,226 bed Collegetown Terrace project being constructed by Welliver is showing more progress as spring draws to a close in a few weeks, and the summer construction season gets into full swing: the retaining wall and sidewalk at the east end of Building 5 has been poured, further multicolored vinyl siding has been installed along the northern sides of Building 5 & 6, and the curbing, sidewalk, and drive lane gravel from the end of Quarry Street South (Casa Roma‘s entrance) to about the center of Building 5’s south side is set. There’s also been a lot of landscaping work, giving a sense of what the grounds will look like once the project is complete. The planters have nice big stone retaining walls, and the tree and shrub combinations look balanced.

…And for the time-warp, here are some shots taken around the same time last year: May 2013 Photos of Collegetown Terrace

Besides this project, Novarr-Mackesey is likely developing a project for a collection of parcels on a block in Collegetown, surrounding a recent sketch plan proposal: 200 Block of Dryden Road

North side of Building 5:

Southwest end of Building 5, new drive lane:

South sides of Building 5 and 6, these facades look complete:

Northeast side of Building 5, and Building 6 further back. Building 6’s northern facade looks complete by now:

Thurston Ave Apartments May Photo Update

May 20, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

With a target opening date of August, progress on RABCO Highland House‘s Thurston Avenue Apartments project has advanced along, with envelope framing completion on Buildings C & D and only a small section of tar paper and roofing tiles needed to complete the roof installation on Building D, as the other two buildings have been finished.

The base sections of brick facade were laid last month, and the rest of the facade will consist of a combination of Hardie trim boards, textured synthetic stucco (EIFS) finished in several different colors, and Hardie soffit panels. The windows and doors were reviewed by the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission late last year due to Cornell Heights Historic District considerations, and will include Integrity fiberglass grilled double hung windows, and Marvin commercial doors finished to match the facade colors.

Cayuga Place Residences Foundation Work

May 19, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The Bloomfield/Schon + Partners‘ 45-unit Cayuga Place Residences project is moving along on foundation work, with a combination of reinforced concrete footings and STELCOR augur grouted steel core displacement piles (the grid of steel tubes with caps sticking out of the ground). I mentioned these in a post back in March; they’re a form of micro-pile whereby the drilling auger goes into the soil, creates displacement, then the reservoir gap is filled with grout, water is poured in for the mixture to cure, then the interior core of the steel auger is filled with grout and stays in the ground. They’re necessary to stabilize the weight of the building in this soil, which is challenging to build on.

The excavation and footings will continue along the footprint of the building, then we should be seeing structural steelwork follow-up to frame the building. There’s also been some sitework for plumbing. The work is being done by Turnbull-Wahlert Construction, the same firm that completed Cayuga Place, the adjacent Cayuga Street Parking Garage, and also the general contractor for TC3’s Coltivare buildout on the ground floor.

More Photos from May 19th:

Photos from May 8th:

Collegetown Terrace Early May Photo Update

May 12, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Many of the remaining sections of synthetic stucco have been coated to their final finish along the southern faces of Buildings 5 & 6 since about three weeks ago (hard to believe there was snow on the ground then), and along the roof lines, it looks like some of the metal coping has been installed over top the EPDM membrane edges. When I swung by, there was a crew on the northern side of Building 5 installing the scale-like facade, which has also progressed on Building 6’s northern side. At the entrance between Buildings 5 & 6, there’s also a set of forms for pouring a new retaining wall along Building 5. I haven’t seen the interiors, but there’s no doubt they’re far along, as the extended cold winter provided ample time for focusing on interiors at many project sites in the area. Amenities for the Building 5 units listed here.. granite counters, limestone tile, fully furnished- sounds nice.

These two buildings will be done by the end of summer, in time for the Fall semester. The developer/management company, Novarr-Mackesey has posted a new site map of the project online (embedded below, minus the future Building 7), and the General Contractor, Welliver has also been busy over at Cornell’s Klarman Hall project, which should start foundation work later this summer.

Southern faces of Buildings 5 & 6:

Site Map:

Northern face of Building 5, vinyl facade installation:

Southern face of Building 5 (west end):

West end of Building 6:

East end of Building 5, looks like work for a new retaining wall:

Cayuga Place Residences Begins Sitework

April 29, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

It looks like the deal for this site has closed, and Bloomfield/Schon + Partner‘s Cayuga Place Residences (Cayuga Green Two) is off to an immediate start, beginning sitework this week. A bulldozer and two excavators are on site, and a construction fence has been put up around the future 45-unit market rate apartment building (latest plans from August here) that will reach seven stories high, with a gross floor space of over 50,000 square feet on a 6,920 square foot base.

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