ITHACA, NY – Three construction projects along Elmira Road in Ithaca are nearing completion. Here’s the latest:

Dibella’s sub shop

From the outside, the Dibella’s pad building is just about done. All that’s left is signage and accessory installations such as bike racks. The open paved space south of the building will be a patio for outdoor dining, which would be a nice spot on a day like this.

The inside is still being finished out – looks like the some interior walls are still waiting for their drywall to be hung, and in other spots, the drywall has been primed but trim and paint have yet to be applied. Allowing a few weeks for trimming and painting and equipment installation, it looks like the sub shop could open by Halloween.

Marx Realty might have switched contractors when work shifted from the building itself to the outfitting of the interior. A&E Construction handled the construction of the building (the “shell space”), but Marco Contractors Inc. of suburban Pittsburgh is handling the interior fit-out. More info about the DiBella’s project can be found here.

Perhaps because of its high visibility, by a wide margin more emails come in asking about what’s being built here than any other project in the county.

Holiday Inn Express

When I paid a visit to the Holiday Inn Express site at 371 Elmira Road, I had figured the hotel would be complete and open by now. Unfortunately for them, it is not, which means not only did they miss the cash cow of student move-ins, they’re also missing the early fall, when the tourism trade is still strong and there’s plenty of business activity spurred on by the new academic session. Winters tend to be rough for Ithaca’s hospitality industry due to the seasonal drop in occupancy, and it looks like this hotel will have to suffer through that during its first few months of service.

That noted, it does look like the 79-room hotel will open by late fall. The porte-cochere has been assembled and the HIE brand signage has been attached to the facade. The only remaining exterior work on the building seems to be applying the EPDM synthetic rubber coating to the roof, and the rear stairwell. They might be waiting until the interiors are far enough along (i.e. most of the materials have been moved in) before closing up the building, installing the rest of the insulation boards and applying the moisture barrier coats before finishing out the EIFS with the rest of the south face.

Outside the building, curbing has been laid (if you’ve never watched a curbing machine in action, it’s actually really cool – video here) and the lighting has been installed, but landscaping and paving have yet to be completed.

Maguire addition

The small addition the Maguire Family of Dealerships is putting on their Fiat/Chrysler location looks to be nearly complete from the outside. The aluminum panels are up, the new east wing is fully glazed and new signage has been posted, both on the building and the stand alone podium signage near Route 13. The parking lot and display have been reconfigured, and the entry drive has been modified. It looks like the only thing left is landscaping and paving by the front of the building. Welliver will be wrapped up within a few weeks, and Maguire’s 2-story, 1,836 SF addition will be done. More info on the project can be found here.