ITHACA, N.Y. — When the Salvation Army was founded in 1865, Catherine and William Booth sought to help the poor, destitute, and hungry by meeting both their “physical and spiritual needs”. In Ithaca, over 150 years later, the organization is teaming up with Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services (INHS) to go one step further in meeting those physical needs.
The non-profit duo plan to replace the low-slung, one-story 7,486 square-foot brick building at 150 North Albany Street with a multi-story mixed-use building, containing offices and service space for the Salvation Army on the first floor, and affordable housing above.
The project was previously unnamed in IURA documents because of the internal governance and approval process of the Salvation Army. Under the current plan, they will sell the building and land to INHS, and rent the 20,000 square-foot lower-level commercial office and service space, including an expanded food pantry. INHS would manage the new apartments on the upper floors, of which there will be approximately 40, with 20% (8) set aside for formerly homeless individuals. The rest would rent from 30-60% area median income (AMI), or $16-$32k for a single-person household (exact guidelines here). Most units are expected to be one-bedroom units, with a handful of two-bedroom and three-bedroom units in the mix. The project, which will pursue LEED Certification for energy efficiency, is expected to cost about $16 million.
Design-wise, there are no official drawings yet. It is expected the building will rise five stories along the corner of West State and North Albany Street, and step back to four stories along West Seneca Street. T. SWBR Architects of Rochester has signed on to be the project architect. Site plan review by the city is expected to commence this summer, after a formal application is filed. The location offers the benefit of not just the Salvation Army’s services, but being close to other community services, buses and many downtown employers.
“INHS is excited to be working with the Salvation Army on the potential redevelopment of their site in downtown Ithaca. We’re still in the process of evaluation, but we think the site can comfortably accommodate around 40 new upper floor apartments, above an expanded space for the Salvation Army. This is obviously a great, walkable location, in an area of the City where it makes sense to increase density. Our hope is the project will go in for funding later this year with an eye toward a late 2019 construction start,” said Lynn Truame, Senior Real Estate Developer with INHS.