Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

Lehigh Valley House Facade Work

June 30, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Work on the new facade for the Lehigh Valley House has been progressing, along with interiors for Ithaca’s very own (and I think first) West End condominium project. Timmy Ciaschi is renovating the entire building for six condominium units on the upper floors (hurry if you’re interested), and a few commercial spaces on the ground floor as the Lehigh Valley House Restaurant’s storied 113 years came to a close in 2010. The small one-story addition in the rear yard has been completely demo’ed out, and will be replaced with a new enclosed bump-out for garage parking spaces. After the remaining fiber cement siding and trim boards are installed, the ground floor will be receiving a new wrap-around awning to match the style of the original cornice and brackets (see elevations below).

Photos from today:

Photos from the 23rd below:

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.

323 Taughannock Boulevard Waterfront Project

June 20, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Rampart Real, LLC (managed by Steve Flash) and Architect Noah Demarest of Stream Collaborative have submitted site plan review materials for the upcoming City Planning & Development meeting this Tuesday, June 24th for what may become the first waterfront inlet project of its kind in Ithaca. Picked-up by Ithacating a couple weeks ago (just turned six years old!), the plan calls for a $3.5 million mixed-use building consisting of 23,000 square feet, with ground-level office, 18 covered parking spaces, and 20 apartment units on the three stories above (total of four stories, 50′ height). The existing parcel contains an asphalt lot and a one-story building, between The Dock (former Castaways) and Kelly’s Dock-Side Cafe, photos below.

Full PDF here

Photos of the surrounding area:

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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.

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).

INHS Stone Quarry Apartments Revised Site Plan & Design

June 14, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services has submitted an updated site plan and designs for the Stone Quarry Apartments project, on the site of the Ithaca Dispatch (behind Cole Muffler on Spencer Street). The updated plans are the result of new information on site conditions (existing soil), and constructability (design issues and cost projection).

The revised site plan shows the same unit breakdown, 6 additional parking spaces, modified site walkways, a new fence along Spencer and no rear doors exiting to Spencer due to the site grading requirements, and Mews (interior courtyards) between the buildings. The loading zones have been reduced in size (allowing for more parking) due to the change in zoning requirements, the balconies have been nixed in favor of windows, and the facades have been updated. The plan outlines the intention to resolve the final review this month, for a building permit issue in August to begin sitework in September this year. The development would build:
16 three-bedroom Townhouses
2 three-bedroom Apartments
11 two-bedroom Apartments
6 one-bedroom Apartments

The design has been completed by HOLT Architects, Trowbridge Wolf Michaels Landscape Architects, and Elwyn & Palmer Consulting Engineers.

Full PDF Here, original November 2012 submission 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):

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