ITHACA, N.Y. — As the 2019 construction season tapers down, several new projects have opened their doors in and around Ithaca. City Centre. The Hilton Canopy Hotel. The Amici House housing for vulnerable youth is complete, as is the pre-school. Several smaller projects, such as Boathouse Landing, 128 West Falls Street, and 815-17 North Aurora Street opened for occupancy.
That said, several projects are expected to keep on going through the cold and snow of the incoming winter. Here’s a look at some of those new builds underway in the city of Ithaca.
Cornell North Campus Residential Expansion
Cornell’s $175 million, 2,000-bed dorm project is moving along at fast clip for its size. After receiving approvals from the city to apply for building permits in June 2019, Cornell and its contractor Welliver started construction just a few weeks later on the sophomore village site, on what was formerly the CC parking lot. As of this past week, the excavation work and concrete footer pours are already underway. Wood forms are in place to hold the concrete in place as it cures, and rebar, for structural strength, is ready for the pour, capped with orange plastic toppers for safety reasons. Underground utilities installations and excavation work are ongoing at the freshman village site (first photo), which started a little later in the fall.
Plans are to have the sophomore village open by August 2021, and the freshman village by August 2022. A project of this size will require a sizable number of workers. The project team expects that 75-100 construction workers will be employed at any one time, 140 on average, and 280 at peak construction periods. The new dorms would create 85-110 jobs after opening, mostly in maintenance and program support roles.
Library Place (314 North Cayuga Street)
With the foundation piles in place, wood forms have been erected for the pouring of the concrete footers and exterior foundation walls for the four-story building. Part of the old library’s foundation is being reused in the project, but the two buildings have somewhat different footprints, so some new foundation walls are necessary. The rebar extended from the steel piles is encased in concrete and capped, and the steel bolts rising out of the cap will tie into the structural skeleton of the building above. Underground water pipes are being connected from the building to the city’s water system this week.
You might notice some similarities with the Cornell project with the forming and pouring walls, but also note some big differences as well – some of the building sites in Cornell (the sophomore village buildings) don’t require deep foundations. The soil on the hills is in better shape than it is in the more low-lying areas, and can generally handle a heavier load. This gives Cornell the benefit of being able to do quicker, less expensive foundation work in those areas where a shallow foundation is feasible.
The $17 million mixed-use building, which will contain commercial space, space administered by Lifelong and 66 senior apartments, is anticipating opening at the tail end of 2020 or early 2021.
Harold’s Square (133-139 The Commons)
It’s a boxy yellow giant. That bright material going over the exterior steel stud walls is the outer layer for Georgia-Pacific DensGlass fiberglass mat-faced gypsum sheathing. Fire-proof and mold-proof, DensGlass is common for commercial and mixed-use structures. The blue material around the rough window opening is likely a water-resistive barrier to prevent any rain or outside moisture from getting in under the window frames. Then a more general waterproof coating is applied over the structural walls, mineral wool insulation is attached, and then rails and clips for the aluminum exterior finishing panels.
On the inside, utilities rough-ins (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) are probably underway, but interior walls have yet to be fully built out on the uppermost levels. The large opening facing the Commons (to be a glass curtain wall section with decorative metal panels and fins) only shows fireproofing and sprinkler systems in place.
Completion of the 78 apartments, 52,000 SF of office space, and 14,400 SF of retail space is planned for summer 2020 – a little earlier on the office space and retail, a little later on the apartments. There have been rumors of an office tenant lined up, but no official announcement, and there have been neither rumors or announcements for potential occupants of the Commons-facing retail space.
College Townhouses (119-125 College Avenue)
John Novarr and Phil Proujansky’s latest Collegetown development appears to be in the home stretch. The glass and steel facade is basically complete, the concrete entry stairs have been poured and cured, and railings, trim and other exterior finish work is ongoing. Interestingly, these appear to come pre-furnished. Peering inside the windows, unopened mattresses were laid out on new frames and tables and chairs had been stocked in the apartment units.
Part of the reason for that might be the intended market – during the approvals process, the project team stated that the 67 units of rental housing geared towards Cornell visiting faculty and researchers. Reasonably, many of those folks would arrive in Ithaca with little in the way of furniture, and given the relatively short appointments for visiting faculty and staff (a year typically, maybe two), it would make sense to offer units pre-furnished. It would also probably explain why these units aren’t advertised online. Welliver and their partners should have the apartments ready for their first tenants by the end of this year.
Maguire Ford-Lincoln (504 South Meadow Street)
The Maguire Family of Dealerships is pressing forward with the $1.5 million expansion of its Ford-Lincoln dealership on the southwest retail strip (Maguire Nissan will be moving to a new building in the village of Lansing). While the southern wing remains open to customers, the rest of the structure has been gutted to the studs, and new structural steel has been built for the additions. Purple gypsum sheathing panels are starting to be attached to the exterior walls.
Ford corporate requirements dictate the new metal exterior panels that will encompass all sides of the building. The showroom (north side) will be differentiated from the service side of the building with differing types of metal panels. The showroom addition also includes the new Ford “foil” curved vestibule. The interior will also feature new plumbing, electrical, mechanical and HVAC. On the outside, new striping, LED lighting and landscaping will be deployed. To quote the application, “(t)his will transform the exterior appearance of the building making the exterior of this “utilitarian” car dealership into a modern, contemporary car showroom and service center.”
John Snyder Architects of Ithaca is the project architect, and local firm Elwyn and Palmer is the structural engineer for the project. Saratoga Associates (of Saratoga Springs, fittingly) is the site and civil engineer. G. M. Crisalli of Syracuse is the general contractor.
Look for an opening of the new showroom sometime next spring.