FINALLY
From the Cornell Sun:
Ithaca Approves Development After Years of Deliberation
September 24, 2014 2:06 am
By ZOE FERGUSON
After years of planning and evaluation, the City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board finally approved the new multipurpose building Collegetown Crossing to begin work at a meeting on Tuesday evening.
Collegetown Crossing will be a mixed-use building project that will combine residential and commercial properties in one 8,600 square foot building immediately south of Ithaca Fire Station No. 9. The project will consist of a new building at 307 College Ave. — designed by architect Jagat Sharma — with 46 apartments and 96 residents, according to the project description presented to the Planning Board Tuesday.
In addition to apartments, the building will include several commercial storefronts, including a GreenStar Cooperative Market, according to Josh Lower ’05, the developer of Collegetown Crossing.
A rendering shows a proposed vision of Collegetown Crossing, which was approved by the City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board Tuesday, which will be located at 307 College Ave. Courtesy of City of Ithaca
Lower said that he hopes to begin construction in spring 2015 and have the building available for apartment rentals by the 2016-17 academic year.
Lower has been presenting modified proposals for the new building since 2010, when The Sun first reported his initial request for a Board of Zoning Appeals variance to the city’s parking laws. Lower’s requests were rejected in 2013.
Without the parking variance, which would have allowed him to move forward with his project without creating 57 parking spaces on the site, Lower’s project was stalled until the Common Council approved its new form-based zoning, which removed the minimum parking requirements on the College Avenue portion of Lower’s project.
Ithacan Stephanie Hayes spoke during the public hearing in favor of Collegetown Crossing.
“This is something that would benefit this community hugely,” Hayes said. “What is proposed would actually do something for the entire community.”
Hayes added Collegetown Crossing would make her feel that she has “a place that is my home again.”
“There’s no reason to stay [in Collegetown] anymore,” she said. “This project actually starts giving back to what was there.”
After 45 minutes of discussion, the Planning Board unanimously voted to approve the project. Lower thanked the board members for devoting their time to the project for the past four years.
“I appreciate all the time and energy that you, especially the staff, have put in over the years. I think we have a better project,” Lower said. “Thank you for all of the late hours you have put in.”
After the hearing, Prof. Garrick Blalock, applied economics and management, a member of the Planning Board, described the magnitude of “excitement” about Collegetown Crossing that he has witnessed among Cornell students.
“The level of excitement when you tell the Cornell undergraduate body that there is going to be a real grocery store in Collegetown — people are really excited about it,” Blalock said. “I think that it’s going to be an enormous addition to the character of Collegetown.”
The project site will extend across the block between College and Linden Avenue and will include a public cross-block walkway to provide a pedestrian shortcut between these two major roads.
Collegetown Crossing will also include a new heated bus shelter for TCAT passengers within the building’s College Avenue facade. The bus shelter will be to the south of the building, next to the entrance of the GreenStar, Lower said, and will be intended to help improve TCAT passengers’ experience.
“There are a lot of people in our community that depend on our public transit,” Lower said. “Having a bus stop where people can wait in a heated, climate-controlled area is really big. We’re trying to help improve the system here, and we really want to make this nice.”
Members of the planning board expressed approval for the new heated bus shelter, which will be paid for entirely by Collegetown Crossing at no expense to TCAT.
“When I was an undergrad, the principal downtown bus stop was in the Rothschild’s store,” said, John Schroeder ’74, who is also the production manager of The Sun. “This has happened in the past. There is a history, so you’re really re-establishing part of that history.”
Daniel Keough grad said he had been involved with Collegetown Crossing for several years and was happy to see it approved.
“I was a volunteer advocate a number of years ago as the project was being proposed for the Planning Board,” Keough said. “I’m very excited that it has gone through the Planning Board phase and successfully been approved. It’s an incredible transit-oriented development and will bring better access to healthy foods in Collegetown.”
“This Collegetown Crossing project is the one that inspired me to learn about city planning and to apply to Cornell,” Keough said.
Through tears, Lower thanked his family and friends for their continuing support of the project.
“I’m really fortunate that I have this opportunity,” Lower said. “I can’t tell you how lucky I am to be able to build a bus stop, to bring a grocery store, to build this pedestrian walkway.”
Lower said that he sees an increasing “demand for walkable places and spaces where you can have things within a few blocks.”
“I think that this is just a shift in our thinking and the demands of our society,” Lower said. “I’m just trying to give the market what the market’s looking for.”
With the addition of Collegetown Crossing, Lower said he hopes to add an element of community that he feels Collegetown lacks.
“I live in Collegetown. It’s my neighborhood, and this is something that’s missing from the neighborhood,” Lower said. “I have an opportunity to provide it.”
Here's the link:
Cornell Daily Sun
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Snow only keeps Northerners indoors during major storms. No point in staying indoors 4 months of the year. Too many festivals and other events happening to stay home anyway.
