Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

Marriott Project Digs and Drives Shoring Beams

February 26, 2015 // by Jason Henderson

William H. Lane Construction has been working away at the future 159-room, 10-story Downtown Marriott project since receiving notice to proceed last September from Developer Urgo Hotels. Partners in the project include Rimland Development and Ensemble Investments. A large crane is now on site, and a bulldozer and excavator have been digging out the small parcel’s hillside. The shoring beams along the South Aurora Street side will be used to support a shoring wall due to the need to excavate the site to start the foundation. A generator on site runs the electrical equipment, and part of the early sitework involved the relocation of electric utility services around the corner on Green Street (the site contained a small underground NYSEG substation).

The total development cost is pegged at $32 million, with a completion target of 2017. The project is designed by Cooper Carry Architects based in Atlanta, with offices out of Alexandria, VA and New York City.

Photos from February 24th:

Downtown Marriott Project Selects General Contractor

October 28, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Binghamton-based William H. Lane Inc. General Contractors has been selected to lead the construction for the downtown Ithaca Marriott project, which should be breaking ground later this year. The project is being developed by Urgo Hotels, a group out of Bethesda, Maryland with over 30 hotels under management.

The Marriott will be a 159-room, 10-story hotel with a restaurant/bar on the lobby level designed by Cooper Carry. The total development cost was pegged at $32 million, and is scheduled for spring 2017 completion.

Below are the updated renders and site plan review materials, reflecting the final designs and materials for the project:

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.

Hotel Ithaca Marriott Final Design

June 30, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Here are the final design submission documents for the future $32 million, 159-room Hotel Ithaca Marriott. These have the full floor plan layouts for every floor, lots of site renderings, a cutout shot of the cantilevered section, elevations with facade, framing, and lighting details, and various site plans. Cooper Carry is a national architecture and design firm, and the developer Urgo Hotels is based in Bethesda, Maryland, with over 30 hotels under ownership and/or management, primarily along the upper east coast and Florida.

The staging diagram shows loading zones on Aurora and Green streets, with the hoist located just north of the current bus shelter. The lanes on Aurora and Green will be closed off for 2-3 days per week in the daytime during the construction. It’s easy to see why: there’s no feasible alternative. Also with an urban site this small, I imagine most of the deliveries will be just in time, with trucks lined-up Green Street to unload one after the other. I haven’t seen a project timeline or schedule anywhere, but the plan late last year was to start construction in March 2013. The design has changed a bit since first proposed, and the granting of the $3.6 million tax abatement by the Tompkins County IDA pushed the project along earlier this year.

Hotel Ithaca Marriott Project Description

May 9, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The long awaited Hotel Ithaca Marriott project adds 160-guest rooms, a restaurant, and meeting space to the east end of the commons. Operated by Bethesda, Maryland based Urgo Hotels, the project has gone through several iterations involving design and ownership in order to secure financing. The new hotel will be located on a small triangular lot off of Green street, adjacent to the Green Street Parking Garage and the Rothschild’s Building. The Marriott was recently granted a 10-year PILOT by Tompkins County Area Development, as part of the City of Ithaca’s new, streamlined version of the Community Investment Incentive Tax Abatement Program (CIITAP), to secure the necessary financing to begin the project.