Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

A Peek Inside the Future Chain Works District

March 1, 2015 // by Jason Henderson

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800,000 square feet is a lot to comprehend, especially when separated into a total of 26 buildings, built in various interlocking shapes, at different times, with various building systems, and various ceiling heights, as is the case with the Emerson site on South Hill. Including the end zones, a football field is about 57,000 square feet, so the existing structures constitute around 14 football fields of enclosed space. These photos are from a site visit taken a couple weeks ago.

For a brief history, Morse Chain first built and occupied the site from 1906 until 1928 when they were acquired by BorgWarner, which owned the property from 1928 to 1982. In 1982, BorgWarner sold the property to Emerson Power Transmission, which continued manufacturing at the site from 1983 until its closure in 2011. Unchained Properties, LLC has negotiated with Emerson for several years and obtained an agreement to acquire the site for redevelopment. The 95-acre site is being re-named the Chain Works District, with the intention of developing the site into a “live, work, play” mixed-use district.

For development rights, the project is utilizing PUD/PDZ (planned-unit development/planned development zone) zoning to fit the zoning requirements with the redevelopment site plans, and is currently in the process of writing a Draft GEIS (Generic Environmental Impact Statement) for municipal and state review. For more information about the process, see the planning page here. Some further remediation will be required on the site, but major portions have been remediated in the past few decades, and the updated environmental studies for the redevelopment project are extensive (the combined Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments go over 60,000 pages of documentation). There was an Ithaca Times article last November on the topic.

For starters, it’s easy to forget how close the site is to downtown. The building behind this shot is building 24, slated for Mixed-Use:

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The current plan involves select demolition of the structures between the long corridor buildings (the original factory is one of them) and the newer structures to the southeast:

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07_11_14_Chain_Works_PUD_Application_and_Attachments (dragged)

 

Here’s the northern end of Building 13B, slated for workshop space (23,200 square feet). It has a 3-Ton rack crane and loading bays:

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This shot is looking northeast in Building 3/3A. Buildings 11A, 10A, 3A, 8A, 9, and 6A are being demolished to open-up the interior space on the site. Buildings 2, 3, and 4 are slated for multi-level residential with the ground floor as parking:

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Here’s another shot in 3/3A looking the other direction (southwest) down the really long interior corridor. You can see all the way to building 6:

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Moving south, here’s a shot of Building 34, slated for manufacturing. It’s massive- Buildings 33 and 34 make up 170,000 square feet, with a clear ceiling height of about 30 feet:

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If I remember correctly, this is an upper-level of Building 6/6A, at the southwest end of the long corridor:

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The wood floor planks are about a foot thick, since they were required to hold the weight of lots of heavy machinery:

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Upper-level of Building 4:

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The views are fantastic: windows on Buildings 2 through 6 lining the hillside provide a panorama from the Southwest Area, across Downtown and the lake in the background, then up to Cornell:

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This is the NYSEG substation for South Hill:

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Upper-level of Building 8:

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Building 35, very high ceiling, and two 6-ton rack cranes:

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Shot looking the other way, Building 35 and 15:

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Ground level of Building 4, which would be used for a parking level, stretching from 2 to 4:

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Here’s the overall use-concept from the presentation materials:

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For more information about the site, the project website and Facebook page contain public meeting agendas and presentation materials.

 

140 College Ave Project Starts Framing

October 20, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Small update here since a couple weeks ago, but the 140 College Ave 12-bedroom, 3,800 SF addition project has finished-up foundation work, and the lower level and a portion of the first level have been framed-up in the past week. The wood sole (or bottom) plates were installed around the perimeter base, then then the walls laid out and installed, along with floor joists for the first floor, exterior sheathing (plywood and OSB) and subfloor (DryPly). The addition should be fully-framed and closed-up for winter so that it’s ready in time for the next Fall semester.

October 14th:
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October 17th:
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Belle Sherman Cottages Photo Update October 2014

October 16, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The Belle Sherman Cottages project developed by Agora Development and built by Carina Construction has been on a roll with home sales this year, with only one home remaining to be sold. Deposits are currently being taken for the townhome units, of which there will be ten total (Karen Eldridge is the listing agent for brokerage). There were four homes currently underway when I stopped by October 5th, one of which (Lot 18) looks finished-up, with the others to be completed soon. The foundations are excavated, poured, and CMU block wall foundations assembled before Simplex modular pieces are brought on site and fitted. The interior is finished out at the same time each structure is roofed, sided, and porches, driveway, garage, and various finishes built.

Photos taken September 9th:

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Photos taken October 5th:

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Magnolia House Final Photos

September 24, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

This $2.7 million project actually finished-up back in June (forgot to update), but I wanted to post some final photos. Tompkins Community Action headed-up this project to produce 14 studio units to rent to women recovering from substance abuse. It was funded by a New York State Homeless Housing and Assistance Program grant. The copper cladding caused some double-takes, but the color has developed into a green patina with treatment and weathering. The architects are from the D.C. area: Travis Price Architects

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Thurston Ave Apartments August Photo Update

August 8, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Photo update here for RABCO‘s 18-unit Thurston Ave Apartments project in Cornell Heights (taken August 3rd and 6th). The exterior facade is shaping-up, as Hardie Stucco Panels and Hardie Trim boards make their way up the three buildings, along with roof fascia boards and soffit panels at the roof edge. The curbing for the parking lot has been set, and looks ready for pouring stone base, then asphalt. The leasing indicated August start dates, so this project should be wrapped-up in the next two weeks to allow for student occupancy for this Fall semester.

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Chain Works District August Meeting

August 5, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

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Unchained Properties and the project team for the 95-acre Chain Works District (former Emerson site) held a second public meeting today (August 5th), primarily to discuss their approach to zoning and to give more information on proposed site layout. Mayor Myrick began the meeting by noting that the community involvement this early-on in a project bodes well for its development, and that the local economy is seeing some of the best numbers statewide as far as unemployment, job growth, and housing creation, so this project will inevitably become a major part of the change we should continue to see in the City.

Myrick and the project team explained the reasoning behind the developer’s decision to seek a Planned Development Zone (PDZ) in the Town of Ithaca, and a Planned Unit Development (PUD) in the City of Ithaca, since the parcel is split between City and Town. The PDZ and PUD are essentially the same thing: it’s a form of zoning and regulatory process that can be approved by the municipality in order to allow a project to develop outside of the current zoning on a parcel or set of parcels.

Scott Whitham of Whitham Planning and Design observed that since the current zoning for the Emerson parcel is Industrial, it would not be applicable or realistic to a large mixed-use redevelopment, as is being proposed, so the project team is submitting zoning materials to both the City and Town to consider in their PDZ and PUD processes, which carry the same requirements as a rezoning of any other area: the community has input and commentary in public meetings throughout the process, and the rezoning would fall under the requirements of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR), and review from the Tompkins County Planning Board. Once the zoning portion is complete, then the project team may submit Site Plan Review applications to the corresponding Planning Boards.

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Craig Jensen of Chaintreuil | Jensen | Stark Architects summarized some items from the previous presentation: several buildings would likely be demolished to create open spaces between mixed-uses, and the design team is studying similar projects that have incorporated adaptive reuse practices on former industrial sites. The 1/2 mile distance to downtown (closer than Collegetown) will make non-automotive transportation options an attractive prospect.

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In addition to working on the zoning proposal for this site, Noah Demarest of Stream Collaborative is working on combining the two Town and City Zoning Codes to conform with the Town Zoning & Comprehensive Plan and the forthcoming City of Ithaca Comprehensive Plan. The combination would be adapted into a Form-Based Zoning Code, with Transect Zones rather than the existing zones and codes we have today, which can be over-complicated and use-based, and contain more amended content than original content.

Transect and Form-based zoning seeks to establish allowable building massing as a priority over accepted uses, and emphasizes a logical transition from rural areas to urban centers, mimicking the transitions found in natural geography. More information is available from the Form-Based Codes Institute and the Center for Applied Transect Studies (which was founded by Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, who wrote the first form-based code for the town of Seaside, Florida). The zoning code suggested here is adapted from SmartCode template, which is a Transect-based subset of form-based codes.

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Transect-Based Zones are as follows: T1 (Natural) included in project, T2 (Rural) not included, T3 (Neighborhood Edge Zone) not included, T4 (Neighborhood General Zone) included in project, T5 (Neighborhood Center Zone) included in project, T6 (Central Business District Zone) not included.

The existing topography affects these zone decisions: a 15% or greater slope is not realistically developable, so there are several areas, especially towards the south end of the site that would not be developed.
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The question and answer session brought-up traffic concerns on surrounding streets. The Project Team has employed Steve Ferranti of SRF Associates to study the current and historic traffic and transportation patterns, along with trip generation estimates based on the proposal as part of the SEQR process. The team noted that mixed-use projects generally have different peak patterns than single-use, which should help with congestion. Concerns about environmental remediation and removal needs surfaced, which will be studied in detail by the team’s environmental consultant LaBella Associates throughout the same SEQR process, in both rezoning and site plan review. The response from the public was again, quite positive overall.

Belle Sherman Cottages July Photo Update

August 4, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Agora Development‘s 29-home Belle Sherman Cottages project has seen strong sales throughout the winter and this year, and Carina Construction has been working away at new foundations, Simplex modular placements and finish work for four lots since early this year. Lots 4 and 6 are being completed as Lot 18’s foundation awaits four Craftsman-style modular pieces to be delivered and craned into place.

The four pieces are set, levelled and fitted together with steel plates all in one day, then the custom interior work begins (fixtures, finishes, flooring, etc.), along with porch-framing, siding, backfilling the foundation, and landscaping. It shouldn’t be long now until the development really fills-in: three homes remain, plus the two rows of townhouses, which will be constructed once enough sales accrue.

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Photos from June 29th:

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Photos from July 29th:

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Thurston Avenue Apartments July Photo Update

July 24, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Thurston Ave Apartments Inventory

RABCO‘s 18-unit, 57-bedroom Thurston Avenue Apartments project is showing completed brick facade work, sitework to prep for a new parking lot and driveway, some landscaping stonework, and the HardieTrim panels and synthetic stucco is coming along on Buildings C & D. The Marvin Integrity windows were installed back in June, and the buildings were fully-framed, wrapped, and roofed throughout the month of May.

The project is being built by G.M. Crisalli & Associates, with design by HOLT Architects, and landscape by TWLA.  Occupancy is expected in August, for students moving-in to begin the Fall semester.

 

July 24th:
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Building C:
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Building D:
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Site Plan below (Building A, the small one in the corner will be a later phase):

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July 2nd:

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Stone Quarry Apartments Updated Design Renders

July 14, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The designs for Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Service‘s 35-unit Stone Quarry Apartments project have been further revised, and new renders were released for the final City Site Plan Review last month, as noted by BC on Ithacating. The plans remain largely the same for 400 Spencer Road, as INHS will be building:
16 three-bedroom Townhouses
2 three-bedroom Apartments
11 two-bedroom Apartments
6 one-bedroom Apartments

National contractor Lecesse Construction with an office out of Henrietta, NY has been tapped for General Construction, with sub-contracting bids currently being solicited this month.

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400 Spencer Road - INHS - Revised Site Plan Drawings - 06-16-14_Page_05

Updated renders for Townhouse Units:

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Apartment Building:

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Design by HOLT Architects, Trowbridge Wolf Michaels Landscape Architects, and Elwyn & Palmer Consulting Engineers.

Cayuga Place Residences Block Work

July 10, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Well, there is no available time wasted here, as foundation footings and walls have wrapped-up and we are on to block work for the stairwell towers and elevator shaft on the western wall of Bloomfield/Schon + Partners’ Cayuga Place Residences project that will rise to seven stories. It had never occurred to me to take photos from the parking garage until B.C.’s post here, but this should be a fun project to watch from many different angles and elevations. General construction by Turnbull-Wahlert Construction of Cincinnati, Ohio. The building will contain 45 market-rate apartment units, with a walkway into the adjacent Green Street Parking Garage.

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Cayuga Place Two - Revised Plans and Elevations - 08-26-13

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