Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

Commons Rebuild Updated Photos

December 3, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

As announced on the Ithaca Commons project page, Vacri Construction‘s team wrapped-up last week for this year’s Phase Two, but they’ll be returning sometime between January and March to finish-up some additional telecom work. For now, the space in front of Center Ithaca is opened-up and paved for events (Ice Wars and Chowder Cook-Off is December 13th & 14th).
The Surface Improvements Phase begins Spring 2014, which will see the installation of the new pavers, chairs, tables, play structures, pavillion, and other features that will greatly enhance the public space. Plans for the improvements posted here.

Press Bay Alley Interior Work Photos

December 1, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The Press Bay Alley project now has framed interior walls along the western side with spray foam insulation going the full length from floor to ceiling instead of fiberglass insulation. Spray foams have been common in new home construction since the 1970s and are seeing wider use in many insulation applications nowadays due to their superior thermal resistance (R-values) and tax incentives for residential building envelope improvements. A typical home has a significant portion of their thermal loss attributed to barriers with insulation, so improvements in insulation are commonly the “low-hanging fruit” for energy cost reductions. Snug Planet does a lot of insulation work locally, and has some case studies online for those interested in browsing a few thermal-efficiency projects.

Klarman Hall Progress, Goldwin’s Roof Replacement

November 30, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Goldwin Smith Hall’s roof replacement project is well underway, and there’s a new concrete electric and telecom duct along East Ave. that has been run and poured as part of the enabling work for the Klarman Hall project. There’s a photo grab of the section below, showing the new service area, and where the new building’s retaining wall will sit. The future sidewalk area will be directly above the duct, and then offices will be built-in beneath this grade right beyond the retaining wall.

Seneca Way Updated Photos

November 29, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Still awaiting that section of facade to be finished, and also the column wraps to go around the exposed support columns on the ground and second levels, railings on the steps and along the walkway on the east side, and parking signage. I’m not sure of the status on the interior, but with apartments rented for January, it must be quite far along. Hopefully once Spring arrives, the landscaping along Seneca will come alive, but the building itself creates a nice new visual anchor on the way down State Street.

Gates Hall Continues Looking Cool

November 28, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The entry structure is really coming together now, and with the fencing down, the view from the street is fantastic. There’s a bit of framing to form concrete for the stepped entry along the southeastern end where the sign for the building will be attached. The entryway on that side will match the shape of the cantilever above to create an interesting perspective.

Breckenridge Place Updated Photos

November 27, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Service’s Breckenridge Place project is still going, with a goal of completion for early 2014. The Seneca Street-side glass bay pop-out has been completed, and there have been two lifts going at once on that side to work on the roof. I imagine by now it’s crunch-time to finish the roof, since too much snow would make the work quite a lot more time consuming. In the photo below there’s some fascia installation on the Seneca side. At night some of the interiors are lit up and I’ve seen some units that look complete on the first and second stories- windows are framed in on every story except the top story along the back portion used for loading materials from a lift to each floor.

Planned Parenthood Updated Photos

November 27, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

I actually drove by yesterday and now the project is fully closed-in with glass-mat sheathing and the window openings covered with plastic sheeting. Here are some photos taken this past Sunday. We may not see much outside change on this one until it’s time to put up the facade in slightly better weather, but it’s been quite a fast project so far.

State & Mitchell: Light Poles Installed, Lights to Come

November 26, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The State & Mitchell Intersection now has poles installed for the future traffic lights at this crossroad of over 17,000 vehicles per day. The temporary all-way stop has generated some backed-up traffic for the past few months, especially during rush hours, but it looks as if the lights will be installed within a month.

Thurston Ave Apartments Begins

November 25, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The Thurston Avenue Apartments project has a construction fence up, and has cleared all the site trees and brush in prep for site excavation.

The plan is to build four 3-story multi-unit buildings for a total of 2 one bedrooms, 15 three bedrooms, and 3 four bedrooms (44 beds total). Here’s a link to the previous post containing the full site plan review materials, and the project itself was given final City of Ithaca site plan approval back in June. The buildings have been designed to match the character of their surroundings, and I think HOLT Architects did quite a nice job on this one.

I’m not entirely sure, but since there’s a crane on site already and the floor plan layouts have some uniformly-spaced wall breaks, there may be some modular components to this project. Should be nice to watch either way- if it is modular, then once the foundations are in, we should expect to see these go up quite rapidly, much like houses at Belle Sherman Cottages.

Collegetown Terrace Construction Photo Update

November 24, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

Got a chance to swing by each site today, so I’ll be releasing a bunch of photos this week. Even in the cold, everything seems to be moving along nicely.

The Collegetown Terrace project has kept pace with construction on Building 5 & 6. This phase has seen the project transfer from Hayner Hoyt to Welliver for general construction and management. Welliver is also working on Gates Hall for Cornell, and the Law School expansion/renovation project, which I haven’t covered much here, but there’s a brief write-up from Cornell here and some photos from Ithacating’s blog.

Facade-work has progressed on the southern face of Building 5, and has just begun on Building 6, where the wrap material (I think it’s one of the polypropylene woven types) is covering over the sheathing before panels are placed on top. There’s also new sheathing on the third level of the far east section of Building 5, where the concrete floor was poured not long ago. Building 6 has begun its final level of exterior wall framing, as the sixth level is being built-up on the southern face.

Building 5 also has a new section on the top floor of the northern side that has been covered in glass panels, so it must be a future common area, and I think the opening is for the landing of one of the bridges that will span across the gap. Mitchell Plaza now has painted illustrations in the window boxes- some plants and birds, looks nice.

Looking north from hillside: