Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

Klarman Hall Schedule & Goldwin Smith Roofing for March

March 26, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Cornell University’s Klarman Hall project has posted a schedule for the next six months, while LeChase Construction and Welliver have completed more roofing work throughout the month of march. The southern wing’s roof looks nearly complete, along with most of the southern portion of the main building, as the previous slate and metal roofing has been completely removed, re-surfaced with synthetic underlayment, and replaced with new slate and metal.

Underpinnings for Goldwin Smith and Klarman’s foundation have begun installation as indicated on the schedule. They’re typically used to support an existing foundation by digging underneath section by section, and backfilling the trench with concrete to provide additional support and stabilization. The crews will be digging all along Klarman’s future footprint, and along East Avenue. The future weight of Klarman Hall would likely have an adverse affect on existing footings as the new building settles into the soil, so the work will ensure that the existing foundations are safe and sufficient. For certain situations (especially repairing unlevel settling), a building’s foundation is actually jacked up with hydraulics to fix the level.

Photos from March 24th:

Photos from March 10th:

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Planned Parenthood Facade Work and Window Installations

March 20, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The 16,000 square foot Planned Parenthood project on Seneca Street in Ithaca’s West End has been transforming on the exterior at a rapid pace. The fiber cement panel siding has been finished-up on much of the Seneca side, and all of the eastern side within the past two weeks, and windows have been installed along the Seneca side. The brick portions were completed back in early February, and hanging the remaining fiber cement panels will probably go quickly now that the weather is becoming more favorable.

For those interested, the last post contained some information about ground source heat pump systems; one will be installed on this project, as the drilling concluded a couple weeks ago- see the series of tubes sticking out of the ground on the western side (those are the refrigerant loops).

This project is being constructed by LeChase Construction (which now has an office in Ithaca), and was designed by Chiang O’Brien Architects.

371 Elmira Road Current Site Photos: Future 4-Story Hotel

March 18, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

I wanted to follow-up with some existing site photos for the future Holiday Inn Express at 371 Elmira Road, so I stopped-by to take a few. If all goes well, I’d expect to see site work beginning this Spring or Summer. The existing 960 square foot former auto-body garage on Spencer Road and the 7,554 square foot one-story commercial office building along Route 13 will be demolished, and the two parcels will be consolidated into one parcel. Vegetation along Spencer Road will be cleared-up, and because of the grade, a retaining wall is being planned along that back end to support the slope soil to make room for the parking lot.
The hotel plans are still slated for a 4-story, 11,769 square foot, 76 room and 76 parking space project, developed by Rudra Management and Rosewood Hotels based out of Cheektowaga, NY (east of Buffalo).

Final Colored Elevations:

Original Renderings:

Site will undergo Parcel consolidation (combining parcels 128.-2-8.11 with 128-2-7.1) and the existing structures will be demolished:

Collegetown Terrace Mid-March Project Photos

March 16, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Novarr-Mackesey‘s Collegetown Terrace project is showing good progress on both facades of Building 5 & 6, as work by Welliver is picking-up steam on the exterior for the start of construction season, which will likely coincide with the start for Building 7 along the southern edge of the site. Both buildings have full polypropylene wrap, and the northern facade of Building 5 looks complete along the western end (except the stair tower), and both southern faces of Building 5 & 6 are moving along with what I believe are a combination of fiber cement panels, metal panels, and sections of synthetic stucco. It’s hard to believe, but only 5 months ago, Building 6 looked like this (left), and this end of Building 5 looked like this (right):

Now in March 2014, we’re coming-up on both Buildings 5 & 6 ready for leasing for the start of Fall semester, which, as noted in Ithacating, means an addition of 167 units (Building 5) and 71 units (Building 6), for a total of 238 units. Building 7 is now planning for 247 units (up from 178), with the appeal before the Board of Zoning Appeals to convert the second parking level to dorm-style units, which will be leased at more affordable rates. The appeal must be sought due to zoning for minimum parking requirements and minimum lot area per number of housing units.

Photos from Friday, March 14th:

Building 5:

Building 6:

South end of the site, where excavation for Building 7 will begin this year:

North face of Building 5:

Longest Night Solstice Towers March Photo Update

March 13, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The Barradas and Partners, Ciappa & Marinelli Builders Tower/Thing Two on the Longest Night Solstice Towers is nearing full frame-out, as all three levels and exterior sheathing has been completed, and most of the interior is framed, with the stairs to follow. Doors to the outside have been hung on every level, and most of the 12″ x 12″ box windows have been installed. Once the crazy weather subsides, we should be seeing the exterior Tyvek house wrap completed, and the facade going up. Tower One has completed electrical rough-in, so plumbing rough-in will proceed next (domestic piping will be all copper, and heating will be PEX, or cross-linked polyethylene, which has become more popular in the last 10 years), then drywall installation. The buildings will be fully-sprinklered as well, so the main riser will follow along the stair paths, then branch out along floor joist cavity paths.

Last update from back in mid-February here

Photos from late February to March 13th:

Commons Rebuild Phase Three Begins this Week

March 11, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

As was announced in the Ithaca Times, the Commons Rebuild Phase Three is a go, with work starting this week. Phase Three of the Commons Rebuild will focus on the demolition of the remaining concrete surfaces, installation of new pavers, and installation of surface amenities (see earlier posts for more detail: Part One, and Part Two here). The Power & Construction Group (out of Scottsville, NY) was awarded the electrical work contract, and will begin work by transitioning to a temporary lighting system, as the current pole lights are removed to prepare the edge strips in front of businesses for demolition. NYSEG will be on site to finish-up a new gas main, and Vacri Construction (out of Binghamton, NY) is back for phase three as the only bidder and recipient of the general contract. The general bid came in at $2 million over-budget, which includes the reductions in three project scope addendums. Some original design items have been removed from the project:

Items that have been removed:
-Entrance Gateways
-Granite Pavers for fill sections
-Water Feature
-Playground

Items still included:
-Bernie Milton Pavilion
-Benches, Planters, Tables & Chairs, Bike Racks, & various standard surface amenities

Common Council approved a resolution at their meeting on February 19th to fund the amount, and the Board of Public Works accepted the contract at their meeting on February 24th.

Addendum Two Material & Finish Changes:

Final Concrete Paver Layout:

Cayuga Place Residences Moving Forward this Year

March 5, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Bloomfield/Schon’s 45-unit Cayuga Place Residences project looks set to break ground this year, as the Ithaca Times has reported that the team has come up with a foundation system addressing the poor soil conditions, and financing for the project has been secured. The land purchase option will be extended by the City and a $10,000 payment by the developer so that the bank financing the project can finalize their review of the Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment and subsequently provide proof of financing.

The design and engineering team came up with a plan to use “shallow depth augur grouted steel core displacement piles,” probably from IDEAL, a company based out of Rochester, NY that manufactures a system called STELCOR. The drilling auger goes into the soil, creates displacement in the soil, 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 topped-off. The steel auger core stays in the ground as part of the structure of the pile.

Planned Parenthood Progress Photos & Geothermal

March 4, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The Planned Parenthood project on Ithaca’s West End has been moving along steadily, as LeChase Construction has installed Dow TUFF-R boards on the exterior, which boosts the overall R-value (resistance to heat flow) of the thermal envelope. Over the boards, pressure-treated wood strips have been fastened to hang the fiber-cement panels that make up the finish layer of most of the facade, which has begun installation along the northern west face. The sections of stone base along the bottom have also been completed, and once the weather gets warmer and more panels have been installed, the windows should follow-up right afterwards.

American Auger & Ditching Company is on site to drill the well field for the vertical loop geothermal system (ground source heat pump), which requires drilling a set of well loops anywhere from 50 to 400 feet deep, depending on system size, soil, heat pump specifications, climate, and other design factors. Heat pumps are a broad term, but it simply means moving heat from one place to another. A closed loop geothermal heat pump system works by circulating refrigerant (or anti-freeze) through the loops, which allows the refrigerant to exchange thermal energy with the ground due to thermal inertia (lag) of the soil at these depths.

The ground temperature is warmer than outside air in the winter, and cooler in the summer, since the thermal energy from the sun and precipitation lessens in effect the deeper (and denser) the soil mass in between, until there’s almost no variation. The refrigerant fluid gains thermal energy (heat) from the ground in the winter, but flowing in-reverse, loses heat in the ground during the summer. Once inside, the heat pump exchanges the energy with a heating system, and/or a cooling system, depending on the season, space, and type of system. Heat pump systems work in conjunction with other devices, typically forced-air HVAC systems (servicing air through return and supply ducts) and hydronic systems (servicing air by circulating water through radiators and baseboards).

In addition to this project, we’ll be seeing Purity Ice Cream installing a geothermal heat pump system as well. The latest updates and a new serving area render are on their Facebook Page.

Design by Chiang O’Brien Architects

Thurston Avenue Apartments Photo Update

March 2, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The RABCO Thurston Avenue Apartments project has shown some progress since mid-February. The ground level Fox Block walls have been filled with concrete, western foundation walls have been assembled, some additional grading work has been completed, and stud walls are beginning to take shape on the northern-most structure (Building C).

As shown on the construction fence sign, G.M. Crisalli Construction out of Syracuse is the general contractor on this project. They’ve managed and constructed a lot of projects, most notably within Ithaca: the Taughannock Boulevard Island Health and Fitness Center. The project is designed by all-local firms: architecture by HOLT Architects, whose recently completed projects include Seneca Way and Breckenridge Place Apartments, landscape plan by Trowbidge Wolf Michaels, and survey work by TG Miller.

Carey Building VI: Ceiling Demo Done, ACM Removal

February 28, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The plaster ceiling demolition has been completed by Compass Builders, and asbestos-containing material (ACM) remediation began earlier this week, so the space is completely closed-off. There’s about 366 linear feet of pipe-wrap and sections of old 9×9 floor tile being removed on the second floor by Sunstream Corp, out of Binghamton, NY. The supply loop for the radiators runs up from the basement, then around the perimeter of the second floor roughly 12-13 feet off the floor, above where the plaster ceiling hung. The pipe was insulated wherever it was not exposed to finished space, so basically above the ceiling, and within exterior wall chases.

The ACM assessment survey was done by Microbac Laboratories out of Cortland, NY, and they stay on-site during the remediation phase to monitor air quality. Here’s the second floor map, indicating materials found in the survey:

John Snyder Architects is currently working on the details for the final incubator design in collaboration with the team from Cornell University. Here’s the demolition plan, showing all the walls that have been removed from the second floor:

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