ITHACA, N.Y. — In the first step of what will likely be many, the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (IURA), the city’s urban development unit, will be voting later this week to be lead agency on reviewing the Green Street Garage redevelopment proposed by Ithaca Properties LLC.
The proposed project would replace the Green Street Garage with a conference center and hundreds of apartments. It would also offer more public parking and first-floor retail space.
By taking the lead, this means that, pending Common Council’s approval, the other city units defer to the IURA when coming up with a fair sales agreement, and that the IURA is in charge of selling the property if the city gives the green light. The very first step is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) in case any other developers were really chomping at the bit to do something with the garage and wanted to submit something for the city’s consideration.
It does come with a big caveat, one that the mayor and members of the Common Council acknowledged at the Planning Committee meeting that revealed the project – Ithaca Properties LLC, which includes Marriott co-developer Jeff Rimland, owns the ground rights for the eastern third of the garage, meaning that if anyone wanted to do something there, they’d have to negotiate. That adds additional uncertainty and expense to anyone else’s plan, while giving Ithaca Properties a smoother development process (formally called “entitlements”). Ithaca Properties also has a much greater knowledge of the condition of the garage, and used that information when formulating a proposal. For any other RFP entrant, it will be an uphill battle.
The sum of all that is this – this will be a long and complicated process. There will likely be many more stories from this news organizations and from our local peers as this redevelopment undergoes subtle and major plot points through the months, and likely years ahead.
On a lighter note, the IURA is also the first unit of the city to make the initial proposal public. While this design is subject to change as time goes on and various details are hashed out, let’s have a look at what Ithaca Properties LLC wants to do in the heart of Ithaca’s downtown.
So here is the eye candy that every news outlet in a 50 mile radius has been sharing. The two 15-story buildings look to be a combination of brick veneer, and either metal or fiber cement panels. The firm in charge of design is Atlanta’s Cooper Carry, who also did the Marriott on the far left. The tall building on the right is somewhat-accurate rendering David Lubin’s mixed-use Harold’s Square project, where demolition on the existing buildings is expected to start Oct. 9.
The ground floor can be divided into three sections. On the left (west) is the parking area and offices for maintenance and building management, along with amenity space (such as a gym, lounge, or computer room) and a retail space that opens to Green Street. The middle section is the garage entrance and Cinemapolis – work doesn’t have to be done on this part of the garage because it was rebuilt as part of the Cayuga Green project in the late 2000s. The right side (east) hosts the proposed 30,000 SF conference center’s meeting rooms and support spaces, as well as a second retail space and an enclosed walkway connecting the conference center to the Commons. Councilor Cynthia Brock (D-1st) asked that the project be tailored to preserve Home Dairy Alley as well.
On the next three floors, the garage will be just that – a garage, with parking from end to end. The latest numbers put out at the meeting by project representative James Trasher of Clough Harbour & Associates stated 525 parking spaces. The fourth floor will be an entirely new floor of parking on top of the existing levels. IURA Executive Director Nels Bohn said that if the council pushed for more parking, they would take it into consideration during any negotiations with potential garage developers.
The fifth floor would be the lowest level for the apartment units. Each building would contain a combination of 1-3 bedroom units. The percentage of those that would be set aside as affordable for lower-to-moderate income (LMI) renters has yet to be figured out, although Councilor Seph Murtagh (D-2nd) mused that the project would never be approved without some affordable housing mixed in with the market-rate units. Ithaca Properties has estimated about 350 apartments in total.
This is an elevation drawing of how the complex would look from Green Street. The garage is designed to blend in with the apartment buildings, and it looks like the middle portion will make use of a green roof, complete with an old-fashioned water tower. The large glassy space at the top of the western tower is intended to be used as a club room for residents. Although one of the development team members is a student housing developer (Peak Campus), it was stated at the planning meeting that the units were intended for a broad demographic, and that detail was added as a stipulation to the city’s demands. Council members are keen to avoid another State Street Triangle debate.
From the Commons-facing side, much of the western tower would be hidden by Harold’s Square. The city documents also give the first working name for the project – “Village on the Green”.
As mentioned earlier, this is an enormously complex undertaking for both the developer and city staff. While expected to put the garage back onto tax rolls, the municipal bonds that funded the middle section’s construction would have to be reflected in the sales price.
In the meanwhile, once granted the go-ahead, the RFP will be released, the city will review the bids and debate their feasibility, and make a decision as to whether or not to designate Ithaca Properties as preferred developer. During this time, Ithaca Properties gets the chance to refine and flesh out their plans, in the hopes that they are the city’s favorite for bringing new life to the old garage.