For Those Interested in Developments in Ithaca (New York, Buffalo: 2014, affordable apartment)

[Ex-Ithacan]

In case anyone would like to see a fairly updated summary of projects in Ithaca, here you go. I will be using info from Ithaca Builds ( Ithaca Builds « ) and Ithacating in Cornell Heights ( Ithacating in Cornell Heights | Everyone loves a little Cornelliana ).

1. Completed affordable apartment building in downtown - Breckenridge Place



Ithaca Builds « Breckenridge Place «


2. A recently completed mixed use building downtown - Seneca Way



Ithaca Builds « Seneca Way «


3. Site ground work has started for a long awaited downtown apartment building - Cayuga Place Residences.



Ithaca Builds « Cayuga Place Two «


4. The downtown pedestrian mall (The Commons) is undergoing a major renovation.



Ithaca Builds « Commons Rebuild «


5. The iconic old Carey Building is being renovated to serve as a downtown business incubator associated with the local colleges; Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins-Cortland Community College(know as TC3). The foundation is also being built up with the hopes of adding 5 additional stories to the the current two.



Ithaca Builds « Carey Building «


6. A new farm-to-bistro project (TC3 Coltivare) developed by the TC3 Culinary Arts program is under construction in the ground floor (retail area) of the Cayuga parking garage.



Ithaca Builds « TC3 Coltivare «


7. The old Holiday Inn tower downtown is undergoing a renovation as the start of a major project which will include an additional new tower and a name change to the Hotel Ithaca.



Ithaca Builds « Hotel Ithaca «


8. Speaking of hotels, the new downtown Ithaca Marriott Hotel hope to break ground as early as next month.



Ithaca Builds « Hotel Ithaca Marriot «


9. Another hotel proposal has been recently announced -a downtown Hampton Inn located next to the Carey Building.



Ithaca Builds « Hampton Inn «


10. Tompkins County had issued a Request for Expressions of Interest to redevelop the old county library site downtown. They received six responses and now must determine which developer to use. Here's a rendering of the one I hope they select.



The Six Contenders for the Old Library | Ithacating in Cornell Heights


11. Still not much movement on the biggest downtown mixed use project - Harold's Square. Hope this can get going soon.



Ithaca Builds « Harold’s Square «


12. Several blocks to the east of downtown a large apartment development is in the final phases. Collegetown Terrace will add over 1,200 beds spread throughout several new and renovated buildings.



Ithaca Builds « Collegetown Terrace «


13. Another project in the Collegetown neighborhood (Collegetown Crossing) which has been in limbo for quite a while has new life with a change in the city's parking requirements.



Ithaca Builds « Collegetown Crossing «


14. A new project (Dryden South) has recently been proposed just around the corner from Collegetown Crossing.



“Dryden South” Proposed for Collegetown | Ithacating in Cornell Heights


15. The biggest project of all is a redevelopment of a large factory complex located on South Hill between downtown and Ithaca College. Big stuff for a small city like Ithaca.

Ithaca Builds « Chain Works District «



There are quite a few other developments proposed, in progress or just completed in and around the city. Nearly all are covered in the two sites I linked in the first paragraph.

Sorry to give so much info (just excited and bragging a bit about the old home town I guess).

[ckhthankgod]

That's alright, as if you let some tell it, you wouldn't think that anything like this is going on in an Upstate community. Are you going to still post on that other forum?

[Ex-Ithacan]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

That's alright, as if you let some tell it, you wouldn't think that anything like this is going on in an Upstate community. Are you going to still post on that other forum?

You bet.

[rubygreta]

Too bad about The Commons. They should just open it to traffic - one way west with diagonal parking. That's how you get people into stores, not with a pedestrian mall located in a bad winter climate. And you could create a temporary pedestrian mall on summer weekends simply by blocking off the traffic. On a rainy November day, the lack of convenient parking kills all business.

Pedestrian malls in bad climate areas are so 1970's.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by rubygreta

Too bad about The Commons. They should just open it to traffic - one way west with diagonal parking. That's how you get people into stores, not with a pedestrian mall located in a bad winter climate. And you could create a temporary pedestrian mall on summer weekends simply by blocking off the traffic. On a rainy November day, the lack of convenient parking kills all business.

Pedestrian malls in bad climate areas are so 1970's.

Here's an interesting thread about this: Pedestrian only-streets almost always fail (in the U.S.)

[ki0eh]

Who is backing all this investment, and who is going to fill all these beds?

[ki0eh]

Originally Posted by rubygreta

Too bad about The Commons. They should just open it to traffic - one way west with diagonal parking. That's how you get people into stores, not with a pedestrian mall located in a bad winter climate. And you could create a temporary pedestrian mall on summer weekends simply by blocking off the traffic. On a rainy November day, the lack of convenient parking kills all business.

Pedestrian malls in bad climate areas are so 1970's.

I rather thought Ithaca Commons was the exception that proved the rule regarding pedestrian malls.

Cortland's downtown has one-way with diagonal parking. Relative to the American small city mean it honestly is more successful. The inevitable comparison there is to Ithaca, somewhat unfair due to the much higher level of money sloshing around Ithaca though.

[rubygreta]

Originally Posted by ki0eh

I rather thought Ithaca Commons was the exception that proved the rule regarding pedestrian malls.

Cortland's downtown has one-way with diagonal parking. Relative to the American small city mean it honestly is more successful. The inevitable comparison there is to Ithaca, somewhat unfair due to the much higher level of money sloshing around Ithaca though.

I haven't been to Ithaca in years. I will guess there is no coffee shop on The Commons because people who want coffee in the morning are not going to park in a parking deck near The Commons, and walk to the shop to get a quick cup of coffee. Especially when the weather stinks. Put diagonal parking there and presto, coffee shops!

[ckhthankgod]

Here is the new Downtown website: Downtown Ithaca - Downtown Ithaca Alliance

This appears to be the only coffeehouse on the Commons: Ithaca Restaurants - Downtown Ithaca Alliance

[Ex-Ithacan]

Originally Posted by ki0eh

Who is backing all this investment, and who is going to fill all these beds?

Much of the investment is coming from regional developers (Buffalo, Rochester, New York City areas) , but there are also several local developers including companies already heavily invested in the Ithaca area with student housing.

I don't think the beds will be hard to fill:


Ithaca Common Council passes Collegetown zoning measure
Form districts tackle aims of 2009 redevelopment plan

7:12 PM, Mar 6, 2014
Written by
David Hill

ITHACA — Applause broke out in the room when Common Council unanimously voted to adopt a new type of zoning for much of Collegetown that has been several years in the making.
The vote Wednesday evening came after nearly an hour of discussion about possible amendments, primarily adding to the intent section a goal of promoting affordable housing. But the council ended up making no more amendments, reaching an effective consensus that affordability is a good goal but largely beyond the scope of Collegetown zoning.
The ordinance adopted by council amends the city’s zoning code to establish Collegetown area form districts. The new section blends traditional zoning with form-based zoning governing items such as roof pitch, porches, glazing and size of plain, bare exteriors and street setbacks, along with height limits and parking rules.
The rezoning is intended to carry out the 2009 Collegetown Urban Plan and Conceptual Design Guidelines, adopted by Common Council that year to guide redevelopment of the neighborhood. The area is the city’s most dense and contains some of its most valuable property but is also filled with many old buildings divided into student apartments and widely considered not as safe and energy efficient as new construction.
Some council members expressed hope, too, that by encouraging denser development through measures such as allowing more of lots to be built on, more total apartments will be added, easing a Collegetown vacancy rate Fourth-Ward Alderman Steve Smith said remains one-half of 1 percent.
Several people spoke before council voted on the plan. Most supported the proposal, even if they thought it wasn’t perfect, while some called for holding off to specifically address affordability and energy efficiency.
“The result has been ... a balance between multiple goods, particularly those who are very concerned about preserving neighborhoods on the periphery of Collegetown and those concerned about promoting more development in the center of Collegetown,” said former Fourth Ward alderman and longtime Planning and Development Board member John Schroeder.
Others expressed concern about how the new rules affect certain streets and blocks, particularly calling for larger development on Linden Avenue. The street is in a form district intended to be medium-density with buildings up to four stories tall and serve as a transition between taller mixed-use and residential blocks.
John Graves of South Hill bemoaned a lack of specific affordable-housing language and unfavorably likened the adoption to a move in the 1960s to redevelop a block of Green Street as urban renewal.
“Micromanaging development through local codes and zoning requirements, if you are not careful, can limit the supply of innovative housing,” he said.
Cornell University student Max Weisbrod sought affordable-housing language but welcomed the change as potentially helping improve housing costs and quality. He said former single-family homes now have as many as 13 renters charged $700 a month each, often outdated and with poor maintenance.
“We need legal space for developers to profitably redevelop. We need to reduce the pressure for students to live further away from campus, causing disruptions and ill will in neighboring communities,” he told council. “We need to create a vibrant and walkable neighborhood that can offer our residents and neighbors and residents services and amenities that they need to live healthily and without cars.”
Among those endorsing the change were Historic Ithaca Executive Director Alphonse Pieper and Nathan Lyman, a city resident speaking for himself and major landlord Jason Fane.
A rezoning plan was successfully challenged by owners of affected property in 2011 over a provision in which developers could pay the city in lieu of providing parking. The ending of minimum parking requirements has been the most contentious issue, with proponents saying parking drives up costs and opponents fearing more spillover parking on adjacent residential streets. But the city has a residential parking permit system for some blocks near Collegetown and is adjusting its Dryden Road garage rates in hopes of boosting usage, and that objection has diminished.
Collegetown resident and landlord Steve Fontana told council only a quarter of his tenants now bring cars, down from a third 10 years ago.
Under the new zoning, the parking requirements are waived for the two new multi-use districts and, subject to approved parking-management plans, for new construction in the CR-4 multi-family residential district, the one on Linden Avenue.
The MU-1 district is to be along College Avenue between Catherine and Bool streets, and the MU-2 district centered on the College Avenue-Dryden Road corner, the heart of Collegetown. The mixed-use 1 district allows five stories and 70 feet, and the MU-2 six stories and 80 feet; both requirements would have to be met.

Here's the link:
http://www.ithacajournal.com/article...zoning-measure