Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

Tag Archives: cbd

The Carey Building

January 17, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

As noted in the Ithaca Journal this morning, plans for a business incubator by Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Tompkins-Cortland Community College have been unveiled for the Carey Building in downtown Ithaca, owned and managed by Travis Hyde Properties since 2010. The grant funding originates from a program through New York State’s Regional Economic Development Council, with funding awarded to the Southern Tier Economic Development Council for Innovation Hot Spots.

I’ll have more information to share about the project next week (I’m employed by Travis Hyde Properties, so I’d rather not publish any specific plans or materials before they’re made public). What I’d like to do is provide a series of posts and updates as the project progresses. I hope it will be interesting and informative, and provide a good look at what’s involved in these kinds of projects.

Incubator Space Rendering:
Carey-Biz-Incubator-Render
Render property of Cornell University

To start, here’s a brief history of the building: the Tudor/Gothic Carey Building was finished in 1922, and was designed to match the Tudor Revival entry facade of the Strand Theatre, which sat directly to the west (shared walls), and then north and behind, filling what is now a dirt lot for parking.

Former Strand Theatre footprint:
Strand-Theatre-Diagram

Carey Building, 1930s:
Carey-Building-1930s

The Strand Theatre Entry:
Strand-Theatre-Opening

Strand Theatre and Carey Building:
Carey-Building-Strand-Theatre

The building was built by Henry A. Carey, an insurance broker, whom owned the “Carey McKinney Group,” an insurance brokerage, later bought by Tompkins Trust Company in 2006. The building has housed a variety of tenants over the years- the earliest records I could find were for the NY Telephone Company in 1933, back when some commercial leases were recorded as deeds in public record. Mayers moved to the building in 1968, and the picture from the 1930s shows a haberdashery, oriental rug shop, Dunlop, and the photo from ~1975 the late 60s or 70s (I’m not sure) shows a Pet shop.

The second story was previously shaped like a “U”, with the top facing east, and windows facing inwards for daylight, shown in the 1970 photo below, when Sherwin-Williams occupied part of the first floor. The cutout was later roofed, and subsumed into the second floor interior space. The Strand Theatre (built in 1916) was demolished in 1993 after being closed for many years.

Carey-Building-0117141

Commons Rebuild Phase Three: Surfaces Part Two

January 15, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

This is a relatively image-heavy post, and there are still so many details I’m leaving out, but I hope these shots taken from Sasaki‘s final presentation and the bid drawings documents give a rough idea of each of these features.

Benches, Tables, and Bike Racks

Part of the new design is focused on providing multiple seating options with fixed benches, fixed swivel chairs and tables, and also some movable seating areas. The previous Commons design relied heavily on wide concrete planters for bench seating, but the new design allow for easier re-configurations over time.
The seats and bike racks will be from Landscape Forms, a company out of Kalamazoo, Michigan (see Parc Centre, Catena, Escofet (benches), and Bola (bike racks))

Commons-Seating

Commons-Seating-2

Commons-Planters-Racks-Rails

Plantings

As I’ve stated before, I’m quite far from a working knowledge of plants, but I think these look to be tasteful options, and the angular ground cover designs are certainly interesting. I hope that the trees are trimmed so that they don’t grow to expansive- the view of the facades on the Commons has really grown on me, and all of the tree options max out at heights of 25 feet, and all the way up to 100 feet for the Honey Locust (although there’s probably not enough soil to provide the nutrients to grow that big).

Commons-Street-Trees

Commons-Planter-Ground-Covers

Commons-Planter-Ground-Covers-Bank-Alley

Bernie Milton Pavilion

Named after the much-loved and sorely missed Bernie Milton (1942-2002) the Soul musician, and former DJ at WICB Radio, the proposed pavilion is an interesting steel and glass structure, designed to be situated at the end of Bank Alley. The roof will funnel water onto a shaded drip piece to provide effect, then down into a trench drain. The positioning at Bank Alley is designed to draw interest from Seneca Street, and provide more space for concert venues, since viewers will now have a much longer line of sight.

Commons-Bernie-Milton

Commons-Bernie-Milton-Rain

Gateways

Out of all the features, I have to admit, these are probably my favorite. The former signs were rather small in comparison, but these large gateway structures are perfect for giving visitors a strong first impression. For people that have never been here, it’s not so easy to identify where the Commons is located. Large, tasteful signage goes a long way.

Commons-Gateway-West

Gateways-1

Water Feature

The water feature is a series of stepped-up stone blocks with water misting jets and puddle drains embedded in the crevices, and one under a stone cantilever, inspired by the effect of water streaming over rock layers in the Ithaca’s gorges. The water lines will run south to a main water vault with pumps and drains. It’s no Trevi Fountain, but I think it’s a rather well-planned and inspired design.

Gorges-Fountain

Fountain-Sections-1

Fountain-Sections-2

Water-Feature-M&E

Full documents here:
Set Drawings
Set Spec
Soils Report
Contract Part A
Contract Part B

Commons Rebuild Phase Three: Surfaces Part One

January 13, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Phase Three (the last phase) of the Commons Rebuild project will start this Spring (bid opening is January 23rd), with the focus on installing the surfaces and amenities for the redesign. The full scope and contract documents run up to the 1,000-page range, so I thought I’d condense a few of the items down with basic explanations on finishes.

Commons_Rebuild_11281

Erosion & Soils

To prevent soil erosion and ensure proper drainage, cast iron surface and scupper drains will be put in place, much like the ones that exist now, and current drains will be cleared of any existing debris. The drains are primarily located in the side areas where surface water funnels, since the surface is designed to elevate slightly towards the center, much like a street. Each drain then feeds into the main stormwater sewer via PVC pipe.

NYSDOT-Drainage-Set-1of4

Drainage-Around-Trolley-Circle

Surface Materials

The surfaces will mainly comprise of textured and non-textured granite pavers, mortared granite pavers, concrete pavers, and cast in place concrete paving. The granite pavers will be supplied by J.C. Stone (or equivalent- see Englishman’s Bay), and the concrete pavers will be from Hanover Architectural Products (or equivalent- see PlankStone).

Sasaki-Pavers-Shot

Surface-Around-Trolley-Circle

Surface-to-Seneca-Street

Surfaces-to-North-Cayuga

Electric Utility Enclosures

Pretty self-explanatory- there are two different sizes, with various locations.
Electric-Utility-Enclosure

Lighting

The final lighting will be mostly a combination of lamp post and cable-suspended (the term is “catenary lighting”) Selux Discera 600 LEDs (along the pedestrian way and Bank Alley), Selux Ritorno LED Retrofit Kits (at gateways), BK Lighting “El Dorado” series (at the pavilion and gateways), and “BK Lighting Integral AriStars” (at the pavilion).

Selux Discera 600:
Selux-Discera-600
slx-discera-catenary-600-03

BK-Lighting-El-Dorado

BK-Lighting-Integral-Aristar

Commons-Catenary-Cables

Commons-Catenary-Cables-2

Here are the full documents:
Set Drawings
Set Spec
Soils Report
Contract Part A
Contract Part B

Part Two will contain details on benches, tables, bike racks, plantings, the pavilion, and water features.

The New Google Maps

December 17, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, I’d highly recommend doing so- as has been expected for a while now, Google Maps is now in 3D: terrain, buildings, everything. Here’s a screenshot of a view over Ithaca, but you can see the new map engine by going to Google Maps, then hit the lower left for “Earth view”, then bottom right for “Tilt” to see varying degrees of view. Just make sure you’re free for several hours before doing so.

Google-Maps

Some screenshots here, updated January 22nd, 2014:

Core Downtown
Core-Downtown

Cornell North Campus:
Cornell_North_Campus

Cornell Main Campus:
Cornell-Campus

East Hill Plaza:
East-Hill-Plaza

Ithaca College:
Ithaca-College-South-Hill

The Route 13 Strip:
Ithaca-The-Strip

Lakefront:
The-Lakefront-Mouth

Ithaca Commons Rebuild Play Structure RFP

December 17, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Last month, the City of Ithaca requested proposals to design the new future custom play structure for the Commons Rebuild project. Below are the location map documents, and the RFP. The initial design was a proposed model from Sasaki Associates, the design consultants for the Commons Rebuild project. The design proposals would likely be reviewed at a future Planning & Development Meeting.

The proposal calls for play features that exceed ADA requirements- there is a section in the Americans with Disabilities Act that outlines the requirements for these features, which include accessible routes, ground level activities, and transfer stations (there’s a good link here to some short descriptions of each requirement).

Architect Robert Leathers, founder of Playgrounds by Leathers is originally from Ithaca and has practiced here for quite a long time (his son Marc now runs the company). He is quite well-known in the playground design world for his work all over the country and outside with over 3,000 playgrounds designed and built. Their process focuses on bringing-in local residents, and especially, the children to help design each project. I don’t know if his firm has submitted a proposed design, however, it would make for an interesting turn of events.

Ithaca_Commons_Play_Structure_11_07_13-(dragged)-1

Ithaca_Commons_Play_Structure_11_07_13-(dragged)-1

 

Beckenridge Place Updated Photos

December 11, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The roof fascia has mostly made its way around, and there’s some new material covering-over the steel framing section on the roof; it may be screening for mechanical equipment, possibly makeup air units. There have been bricks removed on either side of each window header along the Seneca Street side, but I’m not sure why. The render (below) shows the architectural shades about 2/3rd of the way up, but perhaps they’ll be installed at the top of each window.

Breckenridge_Place_12112

Breckenridge_Place_1211-11

Breckenridge-Final-Render

Press Bay Alley Garage Door Installations

December 11, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The garage doors on the Press Bay Alley project are going in this week, so we should expect fully enclosed spaces soon. The excavator was there today to dig-out soil in preparation for the new iron pipe water service to the sprinkler system and water supply. The corner space on Green Street is targeted for a café/espresso bar, but no tenant has yet been announced.

Press_Bay_Alley_12111

Press_Bay_Alley_12113

Commons Rebuild Updated Photos

December 3, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

As announced on the Ithaca Commons project page, Vacri Construction‘s team wrapped-up last week for this year’s Phase Two, but they’ll be returning sometime between January and March to finish-up some additional telecom work. For now, the space in front of Center Ithaca is opened-up and paved for events (Ice Wars and Chowder Cook-Off is December 13th & 14th).
The Surface Improvements Phase begins Spring 2014, which will see the installation of the new pavers, chairs, tables, play structures, pavillion, and other features that will greatly enhance the public space. Plans for the improvements posted here.

Commons_Rebuild_11281

Commons_Rebuild_11282

Press Bay Alley Interior Work Photos

December 1, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The Press Bay Alley project now has framed interior walls along the western side with spray foam insulation going the full length from floor to ceiling instead of fiberglass insulation. Spray foams have been common in new home construction since the 1970s and are seeing wider use in many insulation applications nowadays due to their superior thermal resistance (R-values) and tax incentives for residential building envelope improvements. A typical home has a significant portion of their thermal loss attributed to barriers with insulation, so improvements in insulation are commonly the “low-hanging fruit” for energy cost reductions. Snug Planet does a lot of insulation work locally, and has some case studies online for those interested in browsing a few thermal-efficiency projects.

 

Press_Bay_Alley_112405

Press_Bay_Alley_112407

Press_Bay_Alley_112410

Seneca Way Updated Photos

November 29, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Still awaiting that section of facade to be finished, and also the column wraps to go around the exposed support columns on the ground and second levels, railings on the steps and along the walkway on the east side, and parking signage. I’m not sure of the status on the interior, but with apartments rented for January, it must be quite far along. Hopefully once Spring arrives, the landscaping along Seneca will come alive, but the building itself creates a nice new visual anchor on the way down State Street.

Seneca_Way_11243

Seneca_Way_11242