Cover letter with brief description here, renders and site photos here. The site is currently home to the “Fontana Apartments”, although Cornell students might better recognize it as the home of Club Sudz and Pixel in the rear. The Fontanas are famous for their 107-year old shoe store, they’ve been long-time landlords on Eddy street and developed the apartment buildings north of the site in 1985/86. The project would tear Club Sudz and Pixel down and replace them with a 28-unit, 64-bedroom building, designed by local firm Jagat Sharma (which I have no problems with, but seeing as Sharma Architecture has designed almost every large building in Collegetown, including the two on the left in the rendering, I would love to see something different). Retail space will be on the first floor, which is required in the Collegetown MU-2 zone. MU-2 also has no parking requirements – we’re following a theme here with the MU properties; now that the parking requirement is gone, it’s been nothing short a development bonanza.
The building is six floors – things look a little weird because it’s built on a hill, and it steps back. I wouldn’t begrudge a passerby on Eddy for thinking it’s nine floors.
It’s just a sketch plan, but given the size, it would not be off to suggest that the developers want this building to welcome its first tenants in August 2015, assuming approvals are granted this summer. If approved, that would mean 5 projects would be underway in Collegetown next spring, with 223 bedrooms. I’m certain there will be more proposals for inner Collegetown in the meanwhile.
Ithacating in Cornell Heights 
I’m not sure there are many angles from Eddy that would actually make this look like it’s “nine stories” tall. Maybe if you stood on the roof of the building across the street. Otherwise, the setbacks will be hidden.
I kind of like the way Pixel looks in its alley, but otherwise the building here is no great loss. I wonder about the availability of laundry machines in Collegetown, though…are there others?
Honestly, I’m not sure if there are other laundromats in Collegetown (there are a few down in Fall Creek/West End). But given the commercial vacancies in Collegetown, I am not all that concerned if they decide to relocate to another retail space.
More housing in Collegetown is awesome! There is sooo much parking all around, lots that are empty, garages that developers were forced to build at great cost to them–then to the tenants (even if they don’t have a car!) I’m glad there is more development planned that isn’t forced to build parking. It’s time this city focusing on allowing more housing, partly measured by an increase in vacancy rate from our not-so-tenant-friendly 0.5%! Better tax base, more supportive of public transit. With the currently proposed developments and knowledge of a few more in the near future, Collegetown is really coming along!
Where did you see that they plan to have move-ins by August 2015? That seems like a super aggressive timeline.
Nothing solid yet, it was only a suggested completion date on my part. Collegetown projects are generally geared towards August openings because of the student market cycle, and the project proposed for 205 Dryden (“Dryden South”) is shooting for a August 2015 opening. August 2015 seems pretty aggressive, August 2016 seems rather conservative, but it would be one of those two dates, I suspect.
[…] Cover letter here, application here, and drawings here. I remember thinking the sketch render looked a little weird with the brick above the courtyard, and the design has been tweaked as this proposal materializes […]