News Tidbits 9/19/09: Stocking Hall’s Long Awaited Reconstruction is Approved — Dairy Plant to Shut Down

The Dairy Bar as we know it will soon be no more. According to Cornell, the new Stocking Hall will start construction next September. The $105 million project will last approximately four years (meaning that no current student will see it through to its full fruition while an undergrad…probably not even the kids in the class of 2014). The project calls for tearing down the east portion of the building and building a new glass-fronted modernist four-story structure. The older portion of the building (the part that actually looks attractive) will be refurbished. In the meanwhile, the Dairy Bar will temporarily be moved to Trillium while construction is in progress.

The project was originally slated to begin this year, but was pushed back amid concerns with state budget cuts (i.e. lass money allocated to CALS programs) and adequate funding for the project.

MINOR UPDATE: I think this is the first time I ever heard the project come up in a fraternity meeting, but it was announced at the end of the meeting with the same tone one would expect to hear that Christmas has been cancelled until 2014. I have underestimated people’s love of the Dairy Bar. I also did not account for the fact that Cornell is laying off all Cornell Dairy employees.

***

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept09/StockingHall.html

CALS plans major renovation of Stocking Hall

By Ted Boscia

With $105 million from the State University Construction Fund, Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) will build a new four-story building to replace Stocking Hall’s “runway” and refurbish Stocking Hall, starting September 2010, to give the Department of Food Science and the landmark Cornell Dairy Bar state-of-the art homes.

The innovative design — including a glass-fronted Dairy Bar and dairy plant and ground-floor laboratories for wine production and sensory studies of food — will invite the public to learn more about food and dairy processing. From an observational balcony above the Dairy Plant, visitors will have a bird’s-eye view as Cornell ice cream, milk, pudding and yogurt move from processing to pasteurization to packaging.

The four-year project calls for demolishing and rebuilding the middle “runway” portion of Stocking Hall, the Dairy Bar and dairy plant along Tower Road with the new four-story building; the Stocking Hall “tower” on Wing Drive will be refurbished. The more modern Food Science Lab, at Tower and Judd Falls roads, will operate as a food processing research facility while reconstruction occurs.

Stocking Hall, which dates to 1923, will be outfitted with new laboratories for the study of connections between foods and human health, food safety, and food and biomaterial processing. Other highlights include a campus teaching winery and crush pad for viticulture and enology students, and modern classrooms and networked meeting spaces.

“The Stocking Hall renovation project presents a timely opportunity for Cornell’s nationally top-ranked food science program to provide the campus and Ithaca communities with a better understanding of how food moves from the field to the marketplace,” said Kathryn Boor, food science chair. “Citizens around the globe are increasingly interested in where their food comes from and how it is handled, processed and marketed.”

Boor said the overhaul would improve research and extension directed at dairy and food processors, and expand training for inspectors from the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets, as well as state-authorized certified milk inspectors. A modernized facility will also allow CALS to compete for more food safety, quality and processing research funds from federal and state agencies and private companies.

“Because our program conducts research and outreach aimed at improving dairy product quality and safety and wine quality, this renovation project will directly contribute to improving the viability of the New York dairy and wine industries, which are typified by family-owned and -operated businesses,” Boor said.

The Dairy Plant’s ice cream freezer, outdated tanks and pasteurization equipment will be replaced with computer-controlled machinery capable of transmitting data directly from the floor of the plant to the Web for access by employees, researchers and students.

“The redesign of Stocking Hall will make our day-to-day operations more efficient, allowing us more time and resources to focus on our core mission of supporting teaching, research and extension,” said Jason Huck, general manager of the Dairy Plant.

Next summer, the Cornell Dairy Bar will move to a temporary scooping station in Kennedy Hall’s Trillium Express to make way for construction. Once the first phase of construction is complete in 2013, the iconic Dairy Bar will reopen in Stocking Hall with a revived look and an expanded menu and seating.

Each year, the dairy processes 1.5 million pounds of raw milk from cows at the Cornell Dairy Teaching and Research Center in Harford, N.Y. It produces 140,000 gallons of milk, 20,000 gallons of ice cream, and 4,000 gallons of yogurt and pudding annually. About 80 percent of these products are featured at Cornell Dining locations, while the remainder is distributed to Cornell group houses and departments.

***

Dear Food Science Faculty, Staff and Students,

With the Stocking Hall renovation project entering the last third of the design phase, and with project time lines becoming firm, we are beginning to prepare for ground-breaking for our new building, now less than 12 months away.

The fact is that the current Dairy Bar and Dairy Plant stand in the direct path of a wrecking ball.  In September 2010, the building in which these operations reside will be razed to make room for a new, state-of-the-art Food Science building. The finished renovation project will reveal a new dairy research and manufacturing facility as well as a new food service facility that will serve Cornell Dairy ice cream and more.
Together with CALS senior leadership, the Food Science Department has developed plans for continuing our core teaching, research and outreach programs during the renovation period.  As you know, the Dairy Operations is an integral component of our Food Science program, contributing to undergraduate and graduate instruction in food science; to basic and applied dairy foods research; to public service through extension programs; and as a designated training facility for New York State Certified Milk Inspectors, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Market Inspectors, and the dairy industry.  In addition, the Cornell Dairy supports many other academic programs (including many College of Engineering courses) and serves as an icon to much of the Cornell community, old and new, in Ithaca and beyond.

Due to budgetary constraints, it is not feasible nor practical to construct an interim dairy manufacturing plant or Dairy Bar during the renovation period. Therefore, we are facing at least 3-4 years from the time when demolition starts until we have a new dairy plant and food service operation up and running.  Specifically, as of June 18th, 2010, the Dairy Bar in Stocking Hall will close its doors and the Dairy Plant in Stocking Hall will eliminate its manufacturing operations.  The staff positions associated with these operations will also end, and those holding these positions will be laid off.

Although it is more than 9 months until the Dairy Bar and Dairy Plant activities will be directly affected by the renovation project, it is our intent to openly communicate the future direction of the Dairy Operations to our entire team and to the community. Our goal is to provide our staff with appropriate resources and support. The Department and CALS Human Resources will assist our staff through this difficult transition.

As our department embarks on a challenging period of change and uncertainty in the face of hope for a better future, our vision is to provide long-term sustainability to our dairy foods research and outreach program within CALS.  We believe that we’re moving in that direction, but it will come at considerable cost to our team.  We appreciate your assistance in helping us to support our staff and our program through this challenging and emotionally difficult period.
Please do not hesitate to let me, Matt Stratton or Jason Huck know if you have any questions about our situation.

Sincerely,

~~~

News Tibits 9/18/09: New Six-Story Apt. Building Proposed

Proposed Building on Left, DeWitt Mall on Right

The site is on the corner of Seneca and Cayuga Streets, currently the 1960s era Women’s Community Building. The six-story building is to hold 50 units of affordable apartment housing. As proposed, the building would require a zoning appeal, but local officials seem receptive to the project.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090917/NEWS01/909170385&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

ITHACA — Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services has proposed a plan to demolish the Women’s Community Building and replace it with a six-story, affordable housing apartment complex, with community meeting space on the bottom floor.

Plans were first presented to Common Council’s planning committee Wednesday night.

The move would require the city to change zoning on the lot. Current zoning allows four stories and requires one off-street parking space per unit.

INHS is asking that the lot be changed to match the zoning on the other three corners — the Clinton House, the Masonic Temple and the DeWitt Mall — which allows six stories and requires no off-street parking.

Planning committee members were supportive of the change, saying it would help the city meet goals for downtown density and affordable housing. They also urged INHS to maintain the community meeting space currently provided in the Women’s Community Building.

INHS Executive Director Paul Mazzarella said it’s certainly the organization’s intention to keep the space, but that financing and other issues may make it difficult.

One of the reasons the property’s current owner, the City Federation of Women’s Organizations of Ithaca, has agreed to sell is because they make so little money renting the meeting space, he said.

“They’re empty probably 90 percent of the time,” he said. “Quite honestly, it costs money to build and maintain that space.”

If built as proposed, the property would come back onto the tax rolls, based on a state formula for affordable housing complexes, Mazzarella said. The entire property is currently tax exempt.

As proposed, INHS would build 25 one-bedroom and 25 two-bedroom units, with rents ranging from $300 to $1,000 per month.

City Planning Director JoAnn Cornish said the zoning change “makes sense” and Alderman Dan Cogan, D-5th, said the proposed project is “ideal.”

Though parking wouldn’t be required under the proposed zoning, Mazzarella said INHS plans to build 15 spaces on site.

Planning Committee Chairwoman Jennifer Dotson, I-1st, supported the zoning change and encouraged INHS to create green space rather than on-site parking.

To meet state funding deadlines, Common Council would have to approve the zoning change, and the city Planning Board would have to grant site plan approval, before next February, Mazzarella said.

The planning committee agreed to circulate a memo with more information on the project, and address the issue again next month.

News Tidbits 9/14: Old People and Hippies Like Ithaca

Conifer Village

Two little planning tidbits of note. One is that a company that specializes in senior citizen housing complexs is scouting sites in the town of Ithaca near the Cayuga Medical Center [1]. The company is currently beginning work on a $10 million, 120-unit complex in Horseheads, which is effectively suburban Elmira (yes, people actually live in Elmira, and it’s a lot like Ithaca, just without the prosperity and colleges). The parcels the company is checking out aren’t too far from one senior citizens’ facility already located on West Hill, a 36-bed facility known as Alterra [2]. None of the company’s facilities are subsidized, so it’s unlikely to be different if an Ithaca location was constructed. This comes on the heels of the Conifer Village senior housing, which was also built on West Hill (72 units, completed last year). In the same vein, McGraw House in downtown Ithaca is planning a 25-50 unit expansion, and is currently in the development stages [3].

So yeah. Old people like Ithaca. I think it’s part of a trend of retirees moving to college towns to enjoy a “higher quality of life” and increased educational and cultural venues that are often associated with such communities. The New York Times did a story on it not too long ago [4].

In other news, Ecovillage is planning its third community, TREE. This goes with the previous two facilities in that area, SONG and FROG. The 30-unit addition, with a new “education facility”, has a tentative construction start in 2010, and for completion in early 2011 [5]. Ecovillage currently has 60 units at its West Hill location; White Hawk, another ecovillage, has plans for 30 total units over the next few years at its Danby location (for the record, Danby is a town just south of Ithaca). Hippies like Ithaca too. But, I s’pose that’s not really news.

[1] http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090914/NEWS01/909140356/New+senior-housing+center+may+be+coming+to+Ithaca

[2] http://www.health.state.ny.us/facilities/adult_care/county/tompkins.htm

[3] http://www.mcgrawhouse.org/expansion-project/

[4] http://www.nytimes.com/ref/realestate/greathomes/GH-Retire.html

[5]http://tree.ecovillageithaca.org/

News Tidbits 8/27/09: Phase Two of Coal Yard Apartments Planned

From the Ithaca Planning Board’s August agenda:

Coal Yard Apartments – Phase 2, 143 Maple Avenue, Steven & David Beer Owner/Applicant.

Declaration of Lead Agency, Public Hearing, Determination of Environmental Significance, Consideration of Preliminary & Final Approval. The applicant is proposing to construct an Energy Star-rated, 25 unit apartment building located between the existing coffee shop and the existing 10 unit apartment building that was constructed in 2007. The new building will have four residential stories built on top of a 16-space underground parking garage. The new building will have four 3 bedroom units, seven 2 bedroom units and fourteen 1 bedroom units and will have an elevator. The applicant anticipates that the majority of the bedrooms will be singly occupied. It will have a flat roof, and will include many of the design elements of the 10 unit building. Lower levels of the façade will be brick and upper levels will use similar fiber cement clapboard and solid board panels used on the 10 unit building. Colors will match or complement the existing building. The target market for the building will be graduate and profession students, professional academic staff and faculty, and seniors. The project is in the R3b Zoning District and will require a variance for height. This is a Type I Action under the City of Ithaca Environmental Quality Review Ordinance in accordance with §176-4 B (k) and an Unlisted Action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act and is subject to environmental review.

The property is part of the Beer Properties portfolio, which includes the Grandview House in central Collegetown. The trick here will be getting the height variance approvalas Ithacans are very protective of their sight lines. Here’s a picture of the 10-unit building taken from their website:

 

 

 

The apartments are aptly named, since this used to be the coal yard for the city of Ithaca back in the day [1]. Prior to discontinuation of passenger train traffic in 1963, the site was also home to the East Lehigh Valley Railroad Depot. The coffeeshop referenced in the city agenda is the “Queen of Tarts”, which sounds like a great name for a madam as well as being a cute pun.

The project falls outside of the Collegetown Vision area and would not be affected by any zoning changes as a result of the Collegetown plan.

 

[1]http://www.beerproperties.com/cya.html

Dear Ithaca, How I Missed You…

I suppose that most people, on their first arrival back to the place they call home, would call their friends and make their presence known. I on the other hand decided to avoid my overcrowded sub-subletted apartment by taking photo of the campus construction projects.

I have to come back to 107 weeks of this? I just lost one of my main walking paths to class. This is almost like coming back to my girlfriend in bed with someone else.  I s’pose I should be glad I’ll only be affected by this for a year before I head elsewhere.

Well, I guess if they were going to close off the street, they might as well take advantage to do soil testing for the Johnson addition. Speaking of which, am Ithaca Journal article mentioned that mercury was found at the site [1]. Considering that the building was a chemistry building, and its first incarnation burnt down back in the days before WWI, this shouldn’t be too much of a shock.

The physical sciences building continues on its merry way towards completion.

MVR North is also well into its construction. I’m personally hoping the concrete and mortar parking base receives an attractive stone veneer to reduce some of the brutalist qualities of the north facade.

The Vet School’s Diagnostic Center has received part of its brick facade, on track for its opening within the next year.

Meanwhile, Barton Hall and anabel Taylor (not pictured) are being renovated, mostly with replacement stone for the facade, and roof repairs. Barton has been particularly needy for a reno because the stone on the tower was getting to a point where it was liable to crumble away, and it reasonably couldn’t be put off any longer.

The Hotel School addition is on target for its winter completion date. For a 12,000 sq ft addition, it really sticks out, especially when approaching from the north on East Avenue. Where the Beck Center used to clash with the south facade, now the new addition clashes with the older southwest wing of the hotel school. I don’t think it’ll do much for Statler Hall, aesthetically speaking.

 

[1]http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090720/NEWS01/907200328/Mercury+buried+on+CU+campus

News Tidbits 5/20: More Info on the Collegetown Terrace Project

http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090519/NEWS01/905190332/Collegetown+developer+plans+2011+opening&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

The proposed Collegetown Terrace Apartments are scheduled to break ground in summer 2010, open in summer 2011 and house primarily graduate students.

On traffic and parking – a major concern for Collegetown residents – the project would provide more parking spaces than required by city zoning, as well as amenities intended to reduce car dependence, such as a shuttle to Cornell and Wegmans.

Ithaca developer John Novarr submitted his full review application report to the city’s Planning and Development Board last week, and he provided a copy to the Journal. Site plan review is scheduled to begin at the city’s Planning Board meeting at 6 p.m. May 26.

Ed Strong, a graduate student representative on the Cornell University Assembly, said graduate student housing is sorely needed and the apartments will be well-received among students.

While Cornell has recently added undergraduate housing on West Campus, on-campus graduate student housing is still inadequate, Strong said. The Maplewood complex is made of modular buildings that are already past their life expectancy, he said.

The Collegetown Terrace project calls for removing all but three buildings in the 16.4-acre area bounded by Quarry Street, East State Street, Valentine Place and Six Mile Creek. The historically designated Quarry Arms, Casa Roma and Boiler Works Apartments buildings would remain.

Seven buildings would be built on the site. The full site, including the three historic buildings, would contain 1,260 bedrooms and 860 parking spots.

The area currently contains 635 bedrooms and 430 spots.

On East State Street, plans call for four-story buildings that meet height restrictions imposed by city zoning.

As the topography slopes downhill toward Six Mile Creek, buildings are proposed to increase to five and then six stories, which would require a zoning variance.

Parking is housed in one or two stories underground and at ground level to minimize surface parking lots. In the initial presentation before the planning board, Novarr said his upper-floor apartments always rent out before ground-floor apartments, because students find them safer and more private.

Novarr plans to charge tenants separate rent for parking spaces and apartments, a measure intended to force people to consider the cost of having a car.

At the Casa Roma complex, parking is rolled into the rent.

Novarr told the planning board rent would be similar to the buildings to remain on-site.

They average between $1,500 and $1,800 for a two-bedroom apartment, according to listings available online.

News Tidbits 4/29: Massive New Development Slated for Collegetown

This is a very large project for this area. The proposed location is in southwest Collegetown, an area currently occupied by mostly student houses, with a couple small apartment complexes already in the area.

***

http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090429/NEWS01/904290336/1126/NEWS

The Collegetown Terrace Apartment project would remove almost all buildings in the area bounded by Valentine Place, East State Street, Quarry Street and Six Mile Creek, and replace them with 1,100 new rental beds.

Developer John Novarr presented plans for the massive, 16-acre project at Tuesday night’s city Planning and Development Board meeting.

The historically designated Quarry Arms, Casa Roma and Boiler Works Apartments buildings would remain on the site, said Kathryn Wolf, principal with Trowbridge & Wolf. Every other building on the site would be removed, she said.

The area now houses 650 rental beds, and when completed, there would be 1,250 beds and 820 parking spaces, Novarr said.

Novarr explained his long history with East Hill, beginning with growing up in Collegetown, to his purchase of land from Ithaca College in 1982, to his decision in the last couple years to buy the last 14 properties in the site area.

Novarr said that by 2007, he had already purchased several properties on the 800 block of East State Street and planned to begin re-developing them into apartments when the city’s Collegetown moratorium went into effect.

The year-and-a-half moratorium forced him to think about long-term planning, resulting in the Collegetown Terrace Apartments concept, Novarr said.

The project will meet the four-story height limit required by zoning on East State Street, but the developer will seek height variances to allow taller buildings as the land slopes downward toward Six Mile Creek, Wolf said.

The project would “meet or exceed” existing parking requirements, she said.

Parking would be placed in one or two stories on the ground floor, with apartments above, based on drawings presented to the planning board.

Above-ground pedestrian walkways would connect some of the buildings.

The project will come before the Planning Board again in May.

***

The proposed location, with rough boundaries of the site in question.

Trowbridge and Wolf is the firm responsible for the design of West Campus and the Health and Science building at IC, so they’re a fairly reputable choice [1].

In other news, the Ithaca Hotel is up to 124 rooms and 12 stories, according to the April 28, 2009 Planning Board minutes. Two outparcels are to be built near Uncle Wally on the flats (a drive thru restauant and another retail parcel, totaling 11,00 sq. ft and 17,000 sq ft), a 25,000 Maine’s warehouse to be built at the south edge of the city on Commercial Drive, and an eco-friendly three-dwelling development off of the 500 block of Aurora Street that is to be marketed as a co-op.

[1] http://www.twla.com/projects/education/

News Tidbits 4/16/09: Little Ithaca Grows Up

Looks like Ithaca’s downtown area is seeing some long awaited expansion.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090416/NEWS01/904160358&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

Major downtown construction projects are slated to move forward this year, a sign of Ithaca’s relative resilience in troubled economic times, city officials say.

The Hotel Ithaca project at the eastern end of The Commons should break ground this fall, and construction is scheduled to start by summer on the Cayuga Green condominiums between the Cayuga garage and Six Mile Creek, Downtown Ithaca Alliance Executive Director Gary Ferguson said.

This summer should also see the completion and opening of the new Cinemapolis in the ground-floor of the Green Street garage and Urban Outfitters on the ground-floor of the Cayuga Green apartment complex.

Hotel and condos

The $30 million, 100-room Hotel Ithaca project this month received city approval for zoning variances, and Common Council approval to jut several feet over the top of the Green Street garage. It’s scheduled to come for site plan review to the Planning and Development Board April 28.

The $12 million, 7-story Cayuga Green luxury apartment/condo project is the last piece of the years-long Cayuga Green downtown development. It already has needed approvals.

Ferguson said when he talks with fellow economic development planners around the state, “they’re just green with envy.”

“One, we’ve been planning them for some time so it’s not like these are just popping out of the ground. But secondly, while the economy’s been rough, this still is a very strong economy relative to other parts of the state, other parts of the country,” he said. “I think this malaise, if you will, is worse in a lot of other places and actually makes Ithaca look even more attractive to people.”

Bankers still seem to have faith in Ithaca, said Phyllisa DeSarno, deputy director for economic development for the city. This is evidenced by the fact that Cayuga Green developer Ken Schon has retained his financial backing.

“We were all crossing our fingers . . . because so many developers are losing their funding and banks are not going with projects,” she said. “But he said it does not look like that’s going to be his issue. He is moving ahead.”

The Hotel Ithaca was proposed to go up to the limit of 85 feet allowed by zoning, but the project developer received approval to go up an additional 21 feet, in order to enclose the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Under the city’s zoning, that kind of equipment is never considered part of a building’s height.

“This was a very, very major coup, really,” DeSarno said. “We were so thrilled that this happened because it sets a bar now I think for other developers, other builders to do something about mechanicals, which are really such a blight. When you’re coming off any of the hills, coming down from Ithaca College or Cornell (University), it’s going to be so much more aesthetically nice to have that screening there.”

The rooftop enclosure will also include meeting and conference space “to offset the cost of the structure,” according to information provided to the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals.

Openings

Construction continues on the future homes of Cinemapolis and Urban Outfitters on either side of Green Street.

Cinemapolis is scheduled to open in late May, potentially in conjunction with Ithaca Festival, said Lynne Cohen, one of the executive directors of Seventh Art, which oversees Cinemapolis.

Construction is scheduled to be complete in about a week, then all that will be left is to paint and install seating, projection equipment and refreshment equipment, Cohen said.

“With a little imagination, you can see what the theater’s going to look like,” she said.

Compared to the existing Cinemapolis theaters in Center Ithaca and at Fall Creek Pictures, the new location will have “fewer seats but better allocated,” Cohen said.

Cinemapolis’ contract at Fall Creek Pictures runs through the end of this year, but Seventh Art has not yet decided whether they’ll continue showing films there once the new location opens, said Rich Szanyi, Cohen’s husband and another Seventh Art executive director.

Tsvi Bokaer, founder of Fall Creek Pictures, could not be reached for comment.

Urban Outfitters, which will occupy the eastern half of the ground floor under the Cayuga Green apartments, is on schedule to open July 2, project architect David Levy said by email.

“Now obviously Urban Outfitters will be a big draw and all of the neighbors around Urban Outfitters, including The Commons, will benefit from them being here,” DeSarno said.

Ithaca will be the second Upstate New York location for college-age focused Urban Outfitters. The other is in Buffalo.

Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit also plans to rent space on the ground floor of the apartments, and Schon is in discussion with two local small businesses about filling the remaining area, DeSarno said.

“Obviously there are cuts throughout our city and the county in our businesses and in our employers,” she said. “But we certainly, like Bob Sweet from National Development Council always says to me, ‘(Ithaca is) an oasis amongst a muck and mire.’ “

The Hotel Ithaca was proposed to go up to the limit of 85 feet allowed by zoning, but the project developer received approval to go up an additional 21 feet, in order to enclose the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Under the city’s zoning, that kind of equipment is never considered part of a building’s height.

“This was a very, very major coup, really,” DeSarno said. “We were so thrilled that this happened because it sets a bar now I think for other developers, other builders to do something about mechanicals, which are really such a blight. When you’re coming off any of the hills, coming down from Ithaca College or Cornell (University), it’s going to be so much more aesthetically nice to have that screening there.”

The rooftop enclosure will also include meeting and conference space “to offset the cost of the structure,” according to information provided to the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals.

~~~

For the record:

Red box is part of the Hotel Ithaca site, green box is the Cayuga Green Condos site. Cayuga Green Apts, shown as under construction in this map, are where Cinemapolis and Urban Outfitters are going to be located. As Mr. Nagowski noted, Cinemapolis will be in the garage side of the construction area. Urban Outfitters is on the first floor of the apartment building.

Hotel Ithaca proposal:

http://www.gemstoneresorts.com/Properties.aspx

Cayuga Condos

http://www.josegarciadesign.com/images/cayuga-condo00.jpg

For reference, the height of Seneca Place is 121 feet, according to Emporis. The new apartment building on Green Street is 60 feet.

Ithaca Construction Isn’t Ending…Yet

With all the doom and gloom associated with the current economic times (rightfully so), it’s easy to forget that there are still some projects in the pipeline outside of Cornell, but in the surrounding Ithaca area. Since it’s been a while since I chronicled those, let’s do a quick overview.

Lansing

Ithaca’s northern suburb has a number of different projects  planned. Currently going through the pipeline are the Lansing Commons project (~50 units) and the Cayuga Farms projects (~138 units). The projects are typical suburban development, consisting of single-family homes, townhouses, and a few apartment buildings and commerical office buildings. The buildout would be over a period of several years.

Ithaca (town)

Apart from some minor subdivisions, an electrical substation and a wireless tower, the big project in the town of Ithaca is the Carrowmoor project [2].  The 400-unit project is an eco-friendly development of houses and a small village center of retail and office space. The residential units are a mix of single-family houses, townhouses and apartment buildings. The buildout is also over a period of several years. Building designs are meant to be a throwback to the days of Tudor England (for better of for worse [3 -The website for the development looks like it was built in 2000, and takes a long while to load]).

Ithaca City

Two outparcels (small-box retail no doubt) are planned for the SW commerical district. One is in front of the Tops Plaza, the other is next to Wal-Mart. Renovation for the Hangar Theatre, finalized drfats for the Ithaca College Athletics Center, and construction for Urban Outfitters planned downtown location are also going through the board. The Hotel Ithaca is still underway- technically. The 10-story, 100 ft. building is currently being held up because the building has a nine-foot overhang over the Green Street Garage—meaning it’s in city air space, and has to go in front of the board to get approval for that air space [4]. A little bit ridiculous, perhaps, but that’s how it’s done. anyways, the preliminary design has been brought in front of the board, but no image is widely available as of yet.

Technically, the Southwest neighborhood plan is still active too, but that one might just as well be considered in hibernation given the economic situation.

Heck, since I’m writing this, I might as well include progress photos of some of the campus projects.

Veterinary School Animal Health Diagnostic Center

Physical Sciences Building

MVR North expansion

 Hotel School Expansion

[1]http://www.lansingstar.com/content/view/4601/66/

[2]http://www.ithaca.com/main.asp?SectionID=16&SubSectionID=83&ArticleID=8385

[3]http://www.3dcinemation.com/carrowmoor/index.html

[4]http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090220/NEWS01/902200317/1002

Miracles Do NOT Happen…

http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090211/NEWS01/902110328/1002#pluckcomments

So, let’s start with the article:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090211/NEWS01/902110328/1002#pluckcomments

“A group of Cornell professors is urging the university to hold off on construction of Milstein Hall, citing concern about the economic recession and the building’s environmental footprint.

In response, a group of Cornell architecture faculty is urging the university to move forward, saying the new building is needed to keep its top-ranked department accredited.

The ultimate decision on whether to go forward with Milstein Hall lies with University President David Skorton, and he has not yet made that decision, Cornell spokesman Simeon Moss said Tuesday.

Skorton announced a university-wide construction “pause” in October. The pause extends through the end of the fiscal year in June.

“Basically all projects that don’t have a shovel in the ground are subject to the pause, and the president and the executive vice president are reviewing those projects,” Moss said. On whether Cornell will move forward with Milstein Hall, Moss said, “That decision by the president hasn’t been made yet.”

Throughout its city approval process, Cornell officials repeatedly said that Milstein Hall is not subject to the construction pause.

On Monday Mark Cruvellier, chair of the Department of Architecture, sent The Journal a joint statement in favor of Milstein.

“This is a building that is urgently needed by the Department in order to maintain our accreditations as a professional school of architecture,” reads the statement signed by 13 architecture professors. “The building permit is in hand, bids have been reconciled, and it is, in today’s parlance, shovel-ready. Given the current low cost of materials and competitive bidding situation, to delay construction of Milstein Hall yet again will only add to its cost.”

Cruvellier could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Milstein Hall has spent 10 years in the design and approval process, including two years gaining approvals from a variety of city boards. The city’s planning board and landmarks preservation commission have both signed off on the project.

Milstein Hall is proposed as a modern, glass structure that will physically connect with Rand and Sibley halls and stretch across University Avenue toward the Foundry. Another cantilevered extension would extend out into the arts quad.

A group of at least 25 Cornell faculty and alumni have petitioned the university to halt construction of Milstein, using The Cornell Daily Sun, other media and, today, the university’s faculty senate, government professor Elizabeth Sanders said.

Those opposed include an architecture professor, Jonathan Ochshorn, and music professor Martin Hatch, who has spoken against Milstein before a variety of city boards over the last two years.

Sanders contrasted the process and design for Milstein with Ithaca College’s new Park Center.

The Park Center received the highest rating possible from the U.S. Green Building Council, a LEED Platinum, and cost $19 million, according to the Ithaca College Web site.

“And we’re going to spend $60 (million) and get less space and much lower sustainability and a lot of offensive aspects?” Sanders said. “If Ithaca College can do this, why can’t Cornell do this?”

Andrew Magre, project manager for Milstein Hall and the Central Avenue Parking Garage, said last month the total project cost would be approximately $54 million.

Milstein Hall would be roughly 50,000 square feet, according to information presented to Ithaca’s planning board, and will include studio, gallery, meeting and exhibition space, and a 275-seat auditorium. The parking garage will include two underground levels and one surface level for a total of 199 parking spaces.”

***

Let’s consider the Park Center for a moment.

Photo by Granger Macy

The Park Center was a $19 million dollar project to build a 38,800 sq ft building [1] on the Ithaca College campus that was completed in early 2008 (it’s also the building that caught fire during the fourth of July celebrations).

So, let’s consider some key differences between the Park Center and Milstein Hall.

-Milstein is cantilvered and is connected to two structures that are a century old (Rand Hall) and ~110 years old (East Sibley). Park Center isn’t. The area was home to a green space that bordered a parking lot (and oddly enough, was not a suggested building site on the Ithaca College master plan [2], and to the contrary seems to throw off the master plan by cutting off the proposed green avenue through the main campus).

-Milstein had to go through red tape hell after Paul Milstein’s original $10 million donation in 2000. Park Center was launched with a major donation from Dorothy Park in 2002 [1]. The cost has gone from somewhere in the 20 million dollar range when first proposed to $40 million from a couple of years ago to about $54 million today. I wonder if that total includes the $2 million Cornell paid for University Avenue so they could actually build the damn building.

-Milstein incorporates a parking garage, auditorium, and bus stop. Park Center has a large atrium, but otherwise it’s mostly offices and smaller lacture spaces [1]. Park Center is LEED platinum (highest ranking), and Milstein is gold (second highest ranking).

My issue is that the comparison does an unfair presentation of facts. If we were to plop Milstein out on the alumni fields or near the vet school, I bet it would be a lot of cheaper too. Park Center didn’t have the red tape issues or ambient environment issues that Milstein Hall has to deal with.

My other issue is that some people are finding fault with the modern design. Let’s not start that crap again. In my own opinion. this is probably the least offensive design of the three that have been planned, if but just because it spares Rand from the wrecking ball. I’ll admit I’m no fan of it, but it’s less jarring than the previous two proposals. For one thing, architecture schools have a habit of wanting to be on the cutting edge of design (makes sense, considering building design is much of their field). Plus, the design is going to be different, because if people want to preserve Rand and Sibley the building has to build up or out. Being on the Arts Quad, I’m willing to wager some passionate people would rather burn the construction site down than let it build up.

As much as this site is a Cornell construction monitor, and as I much as I actually like seeing new projects go forward, I’m really torn opinion-wise. Yes, I’d like to see the the architecture build-out so it can have more (badly-needed) space. However, with operations cuts across the board, I don’t see a good reason this should be spared. My concern, however, is that prices will continue to skyrocket, costs will be prohibitive and the project will have to go back to the drawing board again, and AAP will have a crisis due to its trip through red tape hell.

[1] http://www.ithaca.edu/news/release.php?id=2501

[2]http://www.ithaca.edu/masterplan/reports/sept_2002_content_pages.pdf