Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

140 College Ave Project Starts Framing

October 20, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Small update here since a couple weeks ago, but the 140 College Ave 12-bedroom, 3,800 SF addition project has finished-up foundation work, and the lower level and a portion of the first level have been framed-up in the past week. The wood sole (or bottom) plates were installed around the perimeter base, then then the walls laid out and installed, along with floor joists for the first floor, exterior sheathing (plywood and OSB) and subfloor (DryPly). The addition should be fully-framed and closed-up for winter so that it’s ready in time for the next Fall semester.

October 14th:

October 17th:

140 College Ave Foundation and Floor Slab Poured

October 8, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Po Family Realty‘s 140 College Ave 12-bedroom, 3,800 SF addition has been moving along with foundation footers wrapping-up in mid-September, and foundation walls and floor slab for the rest of September. The addition (designed by Architect Jason Demarest) is intended to match the style of the existing 12-bedroom Second-Empire style house, with a visual relief in the form of a glass-covered hallway between the two structures. Next up, we should be seeing the wall system installed over the new foundation walls.

Photos taken on September 16th:

Photos taken on September 21st:

Photos taken on October 5th:

140 College Ave Expansion Starts Foundation Work

September 13, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Foundation holes have been dug out and forms have been assembled on a portion of the footprint for the 140 College Ave 3,800 square foot, 12-bedroom expansion on the south side of the building. The expansion will feature a windowed hall between the structures to provide visual relief, but the design is intended to maintain historic integrity by matching the Second Empire-Styled building. As with many other projects in Collegetown, the construction may commence due to the Collegetown re-zoning, which eliminated requirements for minimum parking in several zones.

The building is owned and managed by Po Family Realty, and the expansion is designed by Jason Demarest, a local architect.

Collegetown Dryden Project Site Plan & Renders

August 26, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Novarr-Mackesey submitted plans for a three-building series of six-story structures along Dryden Road from College Avenue to Linden Avenue last month: renders and site plan images are below. The sites were assembled over the course of several years as outlined by Ithacating’s Post here, under the name Dry-Lin, LLC. The designs are done by ikon.5 architects, the same as for the Collegetown Terrace Project.

The total project would create 141 studio units, 11 parking spaces, 10,510 square feet of retail, and 9,000 square feet of cellar space for a grand total of 107,302 square feet for all three buildings (breakdown below).

Novarr-Dryden-College-Ave-Ithaca-0624144

Novarr-Dryden-College-Ave-Ithaca-0624143

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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.

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

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327-Eddy-Fontana-Apartments-Ithaca-0628142

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

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:

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