ITHACA, NY – An Ithaca resident is hoping to rally support to speak out against a planned development at 201 College Avenue in Collegetown during Tuesday’s Planning and Development Board meeting.
The meeting will take place at City Hall at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28.
Neil Golder, who lives at 203 College Avenue, has been pushing for a redesign of a five-story 44-unit apartment building planned for 201 College Avenue for several months.
Golder has said that he supports increased density in Collegetown, but feels that the design slated for 201 is monolithic and out of character with the lower Collegetown neighborhood. Golder believes the developer can come up with a design more fitting with the surrounding area.
Golder has received letters of support from Historic Ithaca and the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Committee, as well as over 300 signatures from passersby who wish to see the three massive spruce trees on the property saved.
The developer, Todd Fox of Visum Development Group, has argued that a smaller building simply isn’t feasible, let alone profitable. Fox says a bank simply would not finance a smaller project. Fox also believes that Collegetown as a whole will be changing in the coming years and that soon it will be Golder’s house, not his apartment building, that will look out of character.
For more about this development project and the possible future of Collegetown, see our previous coverage: