Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

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.

Downtown Marriott Going For Design Revisions

June 9, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The Downtown Marriott project will be going before the City Planning & Development Board for Design Revisions Review at a special meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, June 10th) at 6pm, and below are the submission documents showing some revised elevations, and the facade materials. The final design submission was posted last year (it’s changed since the initial designs), and here’s the post and set from that time. This set looks the same: 10 stories, 160-room, same massing, but the specific facade materials are being presented; the total development cost was pegged at $32 million. Urgo Hotels and Rimland Equities (owns the parcel and the adjacent Rothschild Building) are developing the project, with design by Cooper Carry.

TC3’s Coltivare Project Updated Photos

June 7, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Updated photos here for the TC3 Farm-to-Bistro Coltivare project: more framing work complete, and most of the below-slab plumbing work has been closed-up and re-poured- you can see the hot and cold PEX supply lines sticking out, along with the new drains for various fixtures. There’s a nice series of archways framed right at the main entry hallway, and we should be seeing electric rough-ins starting shortly, before the walls are closed-up with sheetrock later this summer. The Ithaca Times featured a great write-up about the culinary program and the space this past week: TC3’s ‘Farm-to-Bistro’ Program Takes Root in Ithaca, Dryden, and the previous post contained the link to the video explaining the program. The buildout is on schedule for an early September opening.

Press Bay Alley is Complete!

June 5, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Well, this project turned out pretty awesome, and what a great transformation of what was previously a bay of loading garages. Stop by the end of Green Street before crossing Cayuga Street downtown and check-out Boxy Bikes and Amuse: Modern Cottage Industry, retail tenants that have now occupied the building.

The previous surface asphalt has been demoed and taken away, and new sections of sidewalk slab now fill the open space, flanked by steel bollards and planters. The project was completed by John Guttridge and David Kuckuck of Urban Core, LLC, with design by John and Claudia Brenner Architects, garage doors by Overhead Door, metal work by Accufab, masonry by McPherson Builders and general carpentry by RG Builders. The west face of the building is still whitewashed in preparation for a mural artist, but the site is open and ready for business.

Downtown Hampton Inn Sketch Plan Submission

June 1, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

A revised sketch plan proposal was presented by Scott Whitham of Whitham Planning and Design at the last City of Ithaca Planning Board Meeting, and below are some shots from the presentation along with a link to the PDF.

The proposed site spans across the former Strand Theatre lot (behind the Carey Building), which is now private parking, and the two lots of municipal parking owned by the City and Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (the IURA owns the northern portion, and the City, the southern portion). The project team will be moving towards conversations with the IURA and the City with the aim of divestiture so that the land can be developed. Although Hampton Inn projects are typically suburban, there are a few examples around the country that are designed and adapted to a more urban setting, which is the intent of this new project design. The ground floor would have program space for the hotel, and ~2,000 SF retail/restaurant facing Seneca Way, and the upper floors would be hotel rooms.

Ithacating has an article on the first submission here.

Full Sketch Plan Submission PDF Here

TC3’s Coltivare Space Plumbing and Framing Work

May 21, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Tompkins Cortland Community College‘s 17,000 square foot Coltivare space inside the ground floor of the Cayuga Street Garage has been moving along with a ton of below-slab plumbing work, and metal stud wall framing. Cuts made into the concrete floor slab have been jackhammered out, dug, and pipes laid by HALCO Plumbing & Heating for a slew of drains that will serve bar, prep, kitchen, classroom, and restroom sinks and toilets.

Due to the downward sloping ceiling deck in the back half of the space from south to north, the floor layout utilizes the lower-clearance space for storage, then restrooms, then classroom space towards the southeast. The southwest to center-west portion will comprise the public restaurant, along with ample outside seating along the corner and following East Clinton Street. The plan is to be ready and open this August, in time for the Fall semester. The design for the space is by Ramsgard Architectural Design, with general contracting services by Turnbull-Wahlert. Along with Coltivare, this corner of Ithaca will be seeing quite a transformation with the addition of the 39-apartment unit Cayuga Place Residences over the course of the next year.

There’s a new online video from TC3 explaining the Farm to Bistro program, containing interviews from locals in the food and wine industry:

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:

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.

TC3’s Coltivare Build-Out Begins

April 25, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

TC3’s Farm to Bistro space Coltivare will be big: the plans are to take up the space of the former Finger Lakes Wine Center and the adjacent vacant first floor commercial space, which comprises the rest of the available retail space in the Cayuga Street Parking Garage. The former Wine Center has been demoed-out, along with the partition wall, so beyond the raw concrete ceilings, walls, and existing utility runs, the space is totally bare. The ceiling towards the eastern half is slightly angled due to the slopes of the garage ramps.
The general contractor is Turnbull-Wahlert Construction, based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, and sub-contractors will include several local and regional companies.

New Tenant for Press Bay Alley & Future Mural

April 21, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Amuse Press Bay Alley at the end of Green Street across from Life’s So Sweet will be hosting a new tenant Amuse: Modern Cottage Industry starting July 1st, in addition to Boxy Bikes, which was announced back in February. Amuse will be a gift shop (photos here), and both retailers will be open during Ithaca Festival May 29th-June 1st so you can check them out.

In addition to the added retailer debuting this Summer, the building now has complete metal coping along the roof edge, and a fresh paint coat base in preparation for a talented mural artist to bring this canvas to life.

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