Some Ithaca news

[Ex-Ithacan]

Finally, some common sense prevails.

1st article before the vote:

City hears comments on hotel
By Krisy Gashler
Journal Staff

ITHACA — Public comment on a proposed sale that would enable a developer to build a new hotel on The Commons lasted nearly an hour Wednesday night.

Developers and members of the business community spoke in favor of a sale of 2,140 square feet along the sidewalk on Aurora Street to Ithaca Properties, LLC to enable the construction of a 102-room hotel.


Advocates for low-wage workers asked that Common Council require developer Jeff Rimland to pay all workers in the hotel a living wage, $11.18 an hour. Rimland has promised to pay all housekeepers $11.18.

By press time, Council had not yet voted on the proposed sale.
Developer Mack Travis asked that the committee recognize “we are very fortunate to have him focusing on downtown Ithaca.”

“He doesn't need us. He can walk away from this project,” Travis said. “If you push and push and push beyond what is reasonable, he's going to leave. You've seen that happen in other projects in town.”

Kathy Russell, a self-described ethicist and philosopher, said Ithaca should show national leadership in encouraging employers like Rimland to pay all employees a living wage.

“A moral value is not an unreasonable demand or a hostile mandate, it's a moral value,” Russell said.

She asked that the committee take the principles they have espoused on a living wage and “put them into action here with this great opportunity to get all these workers, in an enforceable way, paid a living wage.”

Gary Ferguson, executive director of the Downtown Ithaca Alliance, said the hotel, which is scheduled to be built on what is now a surface parking lot, would help combat urban sprawl.

“This project is trying to put a hotel in ground zero, right where a hotel belongs,” Ferguson said. “If this project does not go through, I can assure you the next hotel to be built will not be built downtown.”

City resident Theresa Alt argued that “living wages for a few just won't do it.”

The hotel project is projected to produce $2.5 million in purchases on the Commons and provide $652,000 in sales and property tax revenues to the city, county and school district by 2010.

The developer is not asking for any tax abatements or public money to build the $17 million project.

Alt said it doesn't help the city to accommodate “rich tourists” shopping on The Commons if workers in the hotel can't afford to shop on The Commons.

“If it isn't a living wage for everybody, don't consider it economic development,” she said.


kgashler@ithacajournal.com


Originally published March 20, 2008



Update article after the vote:



Planning and economic development committee votes to sell strip of land

Common Council's planning and economic development committee voted unanimously late Wednesday to approve the sale of a strip of land to make possible a new hotel on the Commons.

Developer Jeffrey Rimland said after the vote he was "very, very pleased."
The process by which the city has decided to sell a 2,140-square foot strip of land along the sidewalk on Aurora Street has taken roughly three years, and been "long and arduous," Rimland said.


Common Council must also vote to approve the sale at its April meeting in two weeks. Alderman Joel Zumoff, who is not a member of the committee, attended the meeting and voiced his strong support for the project. If none of the committee members change their votes, the sale will pass.

If passed by Common Council, the hotel would still have to gain site plan approval from the city's planning board.

Alderwoman Maria Coles, D-1st, is also not a member of the committee but spoke passionately against the sale. She said that the national divide between "haves and have-nots" leads her to cast her vote based on whether that vote will increase or decrease that divide.

Coles said that vibrant downtowns need housing, not hotels.

Advocates for low-wage workers, especially from the Tompkins County Workers' Center, lobbied Common Council to require that Rimland pay all employees a living wage as defined by Alternatives Federal Credit Union - $11.18 an hour.
Rimland said he has developed hotels in New York state, particularly in Long Island, and the living wage request was “unique. Unique to Ithaca. Ithaca’s a very different and diverse place.”

Rimland had already agreed to pay all housekeepers at the hotel a living wage.
Asked why he wouldn't commit to pay all wokers a living wage, Rimland said he has to make sure the project is financially viable.

“It’s trying to compete with similar businesses in a similar community and charge the same rates and try to make the project viable,” he said.

Alderman Svante Myrick, D-4th, said that as one of four children of a single mother who has worked in the food service industry for 30 years and has spent nights in homeless shelters, he is very sympathetic to the living wage argumet.
He said the other benefits of the project, including the tax benefit to the city, convinced him to vote for the project.

"I would love to take a stand over this, but then I look at the budget," Myrick said.
The additional revenue brought in by the hotel could help the city strengthen the social safety net and pay for things like repairs at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, he said.

The committee also voted unanimousy to extend the leash exemption at the dog park on the Festival Lands through December. Common Council will also have to vote in favor of the extension.


Originally published March 20, 2008

[Ex-Ithacan]

If not good news for the whole state of NY, at least a bit of good news for the Ithaca area (Tompkins county)



Tompkins County population bucks trend, rises slightly
By Michael Hill
The Associated Press

ALBANY — Upstate New York's largest counties continued to lose people last year, according to census estimates released Thursday.

New York state's population nudged up by 15,741 in the 12 months ending July 2007 to 19.3 million people, according to the yearly estimates from the U.S. Census. Population changes among New York counties over the year followed a pattern that has been consistent in recent years: growth in and around New York City and losses in many Upstate areas.


Among the population losers were the counties that include Buffalo (Erie: 0.54 percent), Rochester (Monroe: 0.03 percent), Syracuse (Onondaga: 0.25 percent) and Albany (Albany: 0.11 percent). Albany is the only county in that group to post a net population gain since 2000.

There were losses in New York's rural counties, too, with Cattaraugus County's drop of 497 people giving it a state-high loss rate of 0.62 percent.
Politicians Upstate have been trying for years to stanch population losses as more people settle in the South and the West. The so-called brain drain of young, college-educated people is a particular concern.

Orange County in the Hudson Valley has been the fastest growing county in the state since 2000 and remained so last year with a growth rate of 0.82 percent. Neighboring Sullivan County was No. 2 with a 0.72 percent growth rate over the year.

The mid-Hudson Valley experienced a population boom over much of the decade, fueled in part by post-Sept. 11 jitters in New York City and sky-high home prices closer to the city. The area's real estate market has reportedly cooled recently, though.

New York City grew by 0.29 percent over the year.

While some counties in the Southwest experienced dramatic change over the year — growth rates were as high as 8 percent in Texas — no county in New York saw a percentage gain or loss of more than 1 percent.

The population estimates are based on records of births, deaths and migration patterns.






Originally published March 20, 2008




Some stats:

New York’s Population

Place 1-year change 7-year change July 1, 2007 July 1, 2006


New York state 0.08% 1.69% 19,297,729 19,281,988


Tompkins County 0.54% 4.72% 101,055 100,509


Cayuga County -0.36% -2.31% 80,066 80,352


Chemung County -0.20% -3.35% 88,015 8,8189


Cortland County -0.15% -0.47% 48,369 48,444


Schuyler County -0.06% -1.02% 19,027 19,038


Seneca County -0.03% 2.66% 34,228 34,238


Tioga County -0.22% -2.57% 50,453 50,565


Source: Population Division, US Census Bureau: Annual Estimates of the Population for Counties of New York: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007

[Ex-Ithacan]

Long article about a planning vision of my old hood in Ithaca - Collegetown.







Building a New Collegetown
By: Danielle Winterton
03/19/2008


Three days of meetings between city leaders, entrepreneurs, urban planners, property owners, business owners, residents and other important community players made one thing abundantly clear: Those who have put their passion and skills to work to create a vision for the city on the hill that is Collegetown seem committed to keeping the planning process on track to allow the current 12-month moratorium on development to end at its scheduled time, in October 2008. "Planning is always an optimistic undertaking," said Ron Mallis, Cornell class of '60, and project manager and senior planner for Goody Clancy Architecture, Planning and Preservation. "Otherwise we wouldn't be doing it. We need to say 'what if' instead of 'no way."
Representatives of Goody Clancy, a consulting company hired by the City of Ithaca to help design a plan to redevelop Collegetown and maximize its assets, came to town and hosted a series of presentations on at the beginning of the month, all of which were co-hosted by the City of Ithaca and the Collegetown Neighborhood Council.
The team has worked closely with the Collegetown Vision Statement document, which was released in May 2007 as a joint project of the Collegetown Vision Task Force, the City of Ithaca Department of Planning and Development, and residents and business owners of the Collegetown community. The statement detailed the strengths of Collegetown - its unique vibrant cultural and ethnic diversity, its potential for a strong retail market, the consistent demand for student housing, its potential for architectural excellence and its proximity to the University, as well as its weaknesses, which include limited green space and space for public gathering, deteriorating architecture and shoddy road conditions, insufficient sidewalk and bike space, parking shortages, retail slumps during student breaks and trash collection problems.
The vision, as put forth in the statement, would be to transform this area into "a thriving business district" by mixing in other age groups and families in residential and commercial capacities, and encouraging a strong population of year-long residents and office employees to keep high-quality retail business steady throughout the year. Making the most of the historic architecture and natural topography of the area, including its stunning views of the valley and the lake, are also part of the overall vision.
On March 7, a team of designers and urban planners did a presentation at St. Luke's, which highlighted some of their goals for the project and addressed some of the biggest challenges in the redevelopment process: negotiating foot traffic, motor traffic, land prices, relations between students and long-term residents, and, of course, parking and mass-transit problems.
The Goody Clancy group reconvened with students, residents, property owners, and business owners the next morning to brainstorm in design charrettes on two main questions: What do you want to see preserved, and what do you want to see improved? On Sunday, David Dixon, Goody Clancy's award-winning principal-in-charge of planning and urban design, gave a detailed summary of the collected suggestions by workshop participants.


Working Together
The disputes over building and development in Collegetown appear to primarily revolve around differences in economic, cultural and social beliefs and motivations. Those who support the principles of a free market and the dollar's value above all else might argue that immediately profitable interests should take the lead on building projects; from this perspective, a yearlong building moratorium and attempt at realizing a master plan could be seen as actions of social engineering, and to slow down potential profits on incoming rents is dangerous to a community's potential growth, and overall, just plain bad for business.
Those in local real estate have been frustrated with the city's repeated moratoriums, such as Nick Lambrou, partner-owner of Lambrou Real Estate, who mentioned support for the city's goals, but indicated he thought they might be somewhat idealistic.
"So far I like what they're coming up with," he said before the weekend meetings. "I hope it works, because it would be good for Collegetown. In the meantime, moratoriums are bad for everybody."
On the other hand, there is another kind of value that is less easily and immediately measured by dollar amounts, a kind of pleasure-value to be found in design assets and meticulous restoration, which is very often esteemed by some long-term residents, historians, preservationists, artists and culture-lovers. And of course, it must also be noted, that once neighborhoods are successfully preserved, charming aesthetics help to bring in money in tourism and to further increase local property values.
As such, many of Dixon's comments, summarizing the collaborative work done throughout the weekend, focused on preservation, quality-of-life and aesthetic issues: He mentioned restoring the richness of the homes on Eddy Street and Linden Avenue, "preserving the character" on Catherine Street, along Blair Street, building a lively town square at the end of College Avenue which would serve as the retail hub, and encouraging great street signs with character that would "bring the street to life." Another place he mentioned was along the gorge, where there is opportunity for use of open space with a park and perhaps a glass pavilion serving refreshments - "the best hot chocolate in the world, or something like that," he said.
A resident at the first meeting mentioned fear of losing more woodframe houses in Victorian and Italian styles to a trend of tearing down these buildings and putting up "ill-suited structures." Because students are not likely to become home renovators, Dixon mentioned on Sunday the possibility of offering incentives to people to move into these kinds of homes.
A map given out at the meeting indicated plans to improve paving, lighting, signage and landscape along Stewart Avenue and as well. "The pieces are literally all there," Dixon said. "It's a matter of getting the funding." "But," he noted later, "you can use everything except school tax as incentive to get people to come in to restore buildings ... you probably have more cash cows here than anywhere else in America."
Another popular idea was to consolidate student housing near the Dryden Road and College Avenue intersection and earmark lower Linden and College Avenues and their surrounding areas for non-student housing, encouraging single-family homes for faculty, staff and other city residents who opt to live in Collegetown for the vibrancy and diversity of its culture. Additional non-student housing could be built by the gorge, where there are currently parking lots facing out onto some of the best views in the city.
At the meetings, residents were shown foamboard photographs of high-density housing and streetscape designs in cities such as Boston, Washington, D.C., Newport, R.I., Seattle and Charlottesville, Virg. They were encouraged to write their comments on the boards, to indicate what they liked and what they did not, and why. Many rejected these designs, writing "NO," "this could be anywhere USA," "uninteresting, too uniform, contrived." Others were more encouraging: "nice shingles," "great use of color," "outdoor seating and soft lighting are great," "garbage cans - yeah!", and, perhaps most tellingly, "fine - but make it look like Ithaca."
As for traffic and parking issues, Dixon recommended letting "the market determine parking," rather than the city requiring it. Sarah Woodworth, an economic strategist from real-estate company W-ZHA, showed that increasing the height of buildings and moving parking off-site could potentially drop residential rents by 15 percent and retail or commercial rents by 22 percent. "If you could get people to live here who are willing to forego having a car, it would be a great deal for them," Dixon said.
Making Collegetown more pedestrian-friendly would, however, require working with Tompkins County Area Transit to improve bus service signage and service, and providing residents with access to a grocery store, something requested by multiple charrettes: either local install branches of Wegmans or GreenStar, or, as Mallis pointed out, perhaps a Wegman's shuttle could be arranged; he cited other cities which successfully drove out commercial traffic by using shuttles to get to major retail areas.
While some people at the Friday night meeting had questions and concerns about zoning and zoning enforcement, David Grissino, a senior urban designer with Goody Clancy repeatedly pointed out that all relevant concerns must be considered together: "design, transportation, parking, they're all inter-related," he said. "They can't be looked at separately."
Mayor Carolyn Peterson lent her support to the firm in her introduction at the first meeting, saying Collegetown upgrades have been "a long time coming," and that "there's a great process going on here."
Cornell University has also subscribed to the Collegetown vision and indicated they are willing to share resources to make the vision a reality over the course of the next several years. Steve Golding, Cornell's vice president for finance and administration, said a few words at the Friday presentation, indicating that "Cornell feels it's a very important project" for the university as well, which is why they have chosen to match the city's funds dollar for dollar to come up with the "best plan for everyone as possible."

Striking a Balance
While nearly any act of legislation or social action may be called "social engineering" if it aims to direct the actions of its citizens in any way, Mallis that the kind of urban planning taking place for Collegetown should be called social engineering.
"A city is not just bricks and mortar," he said. "The point is not to provide answers for everything all at once, but to come up with a map people can use as they go, working guidelines people feel comfortable with."
Mary Tomlan, D-1st, who introduced the moratorium last fall, said that it would have been a waste of the city's money to try to construct a master plan while building was going on.
"The city is taking the lead on it, but funding is half and half," she said, meaning, split evenly with Cornell funds. "Given the amount of money involved, it wouldn't make sense to have allowed to have building to go on if we are still trying to decide what it should like. The consultants would be working with a moving target, which is not an efficient use of our money. We had heard of several projects people wanted to do, owners and developers who didn't want to wait a long period of time. The moratorium was in essence to protect the area for the new plan."
Lee Einsweiler, who works as a principal for Code-Studio in Texas and is working on city zoning legislation for this project, explained the rationale and necessity for zoning codes to "temper the market for the greater good" and maintain a healthy "balance between the individual and the community."
"You have to harness market forces to a shared vision," he said at the meeting. "The university and the good firms will do the right thing, but there are the bottom feeders in every community, and we write the rules for them."
Goody Clancy will be back in April with a draft of an urban plan and design guidelines, Tomlan said, and by the end of April, they'll be giving a public presentation of that. After that, the public has a chance to give feedback. Then further refinements will be made, and "we can start seeing how this translates into the necessary legislation," she continued. "By sometime in early summer they should have something pretty final for us."
That would put the project on track to have building and zoning codes modified by the moratorium's end, allowing building to pick up and begin under the new guidelines, and working toward the new vision, in fall 2008. n




©Ithaca Times 2008

[Visiteur]

Darn it, I was just about to post that.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...d=546876&rfi=6

Is Ithaca the new South Florida?
By: Danielle Henbest
03/19/2008

The saying, "Ithaca is 10 square miles surrounded by reality" is certainly applicable when it comes to talking real estate. While the rest of the country is in the middle of a real estate nightmare, local housing sales are in an upswing.
With an upswing comes expansion. Bryan Warren, president of Warren Real Estate, wasn't expecting to open a second office in Ithaca. In fact, he says it was the best last minute decision he's ever made.
"I had no idea I was going to do this," Warren explains. "This wasn't in the master plan, but the space was available so it'd be stupid not to (do it)."
The third office of Warren Real Estate had a soft opening in December 2007 with business officially up and running by January. Located in the commercial heart of Tompkins County at 301 E. State St., adjacent to The Commons, Warren's new office has benefited from local foot traffic, prime parking, and being crowned the largest real estate office to open downtown, he explained.
"This is a different kind of business for downtown," Warren said. "This setting in the middle of everything is instrumental. Parking is such a key element that without it we wouldn't be here."
Warren Real Estate was started in 1953 by Ann Warren in her home on the edge of Cornell Heights. Since then the family business has grown to include two (now three) other offices: its headquarters located on Hanshaw Road and a branch in Cortland. The business has expanded in the midst of a recession, a flat market in the early '90s, and the sudden death of Ann, the family matriarch and one of Ithaca's first female realtors.
Bryan Warren joined the business in 1998, and with the market improving, he brought a fresh, new vision to the family legacy. In 2003, annual sales topped $75 million and in 2006 sales reached $126 million with projected sales hitting $175 million in 2007. While other parts of the country are suffering from a bubble burst, Warren continues to see just the opposite.
"Ithaca is protected by the colleges and hi-tech facilities," Warren said. "Hiring patterns are stable with few layoffs and alumni always love coming back."
Despite the harsh winters in upstate New York, rife with biting winds and heavy snow, Ithaca has a pretty safe climate with few natural disasters - unlike other real estate hot spots such as Southern Florida or Southern California. Cayuga Lake, Taughannock Falls, the gorges and many other natural forms of beauty serve as major attractions to retirees and returning alumni looking to settle down.
Ithaca residents and investors played it smart, too. During the national real estate boom felt across the country in the late 1990s with people investing in condos and building on more and more land, Ithaca did not permit overbuilding. People didn't buy houses based on speculation. Foreclosures are still few and far between, Warren said.
Though Ithaca is still affected by real estate trends from across the country, the decline and market changes here are gradual as opposed to dramatic peaks and falls.
"As people move here, they can't sell their homes in other markets so they end up holding off," Warren noted. "I always thought that Ithaca was conservative when it came to money and liberal in politics."
With spring on the horizon, the housing market in Ithaca is expected to hit another upswing. Luxury apartments are in demand like the sold-out Gateway Commons and Cayuga Green, which is being built next to the parking garage on Cayuga Street. Typically, college students, retirees, young professionals and Cornell alumni gravitate to Ithaca's new high-end living. Additionally, Ithaca's key neighborhoods are as popular as ever, Warren said. Fall Creek was the most coveted place to live two to five years ago, but other neighborhoods such as Belle Sherman, South Hill, West Hill, the urban scene in Collegetown, scenic land around Cornell University campus and cottages around the lake have made Ithaca real estate unyielding to the national decline, he said.
Warren is happy to be at the heart of it all. To celebrate the business' new home, Warren plans to have a grand opening sometime this summer. "Everyone loves it who's down here," he said. "It's a new world for us."

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ Yeah, that one is kind of humorous.

Hey Vis, did ya see the video from the Cornell Sun site about C-town?

http://cornellsun.com/content/colleg...towards-future

[Visiteur]

So, I noticed a new apartment building being advertised in the inky today. Conifer Village, a senior living facility. I checked the website, but ironically enough, while the newspaper had a rendering, the website, www.conifervillageithaca.com, did not. So I went through the company's profile (Conifer LLC) and took the rendering from a recently completed project in MA that looks very similar, sans some minor exterior details like colors.

The project is located in the Beverly Martin area.

Ex, you could retire here .

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ If I can ever afford to retire.


Nice find Vis. I guess that's up there next to Linderman Creek apartments.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Found this pic on Flickr ( by rjteeter). It show Six Mile Creek running through part of downtown(on the right). The building under construction in the middle of the pic is a new apartment building, a part of the Cayuga Green project.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Yippee, some common sense prevails.



Council approves land sale for new downtown hotel
By Krisy Gashler
Journal Staff

ITHACA — Common Council voted 9-1 late Wednesday night to approve the sale of a 2,140-square-foot piece of land near The Commons to enable a new hotel.

"We're very pleased," developer Jeffrey Rimland said after the vote.Council had been lobbied by advocates for low-wage workers to require that the developer pay all workers a living wage — $11.18 an hour — in exchange for the land sale. Council did not require that of the developer.Maria Coles, D-1st, voted against the sale because of the living wage issue.

Common Council also voted unanimously Wednesday night to extend the temporary leash law exemption at the city Festival Lands through December 2008.

Public comment was overwhelmingly in favor of a proposed $17 million hotel project on eastern end of The Commons next to the Rothschild's building.
Vicki Taylor, a city resident, said it's unfair for the city to demand a living wage promise from developer Jeffrey Rimland for his proposed hotel when it hasn't been required of other local employers.

“This can only be seen as discrimination,” Taylor said.

Much like how she supports the troops but not the war in Iraq, Taylor said she supports a living wage for all workers but not turning down a downtown hotel project because the developer won't promise to pay all employees a living wage.

Rimland has promised to pay all housekeepers $11.18 per hour, 156 percent of the New York State minimum wage and currently a living wage as defined by Alternatives Federal Credit Union in Ithaca.

Joseph Gaylord, president of the board of directors for the Downtown Ithaca Alliance, said the increased foot traffic downtown as a result of the hotel will be good for all small business owners.

“For the sake of small business owners in downtown, I wish this project could start tomorrow,” Gaylord said.

The Ithaca/Tompkins County Convention and Visitors Bureau calculates that the hotel will generate $2.2 million annually in food and retail purchases downtown.

The developers' consultants estimate the project will create $652,000 in sales and property tax revenues in 2010, and Rimland is seeking no tax abatements.

John Schroeder, chair of the city's planning board, read a statement from the board in strong support of the project.

The board supported the project because of, among other things, its “wise use of downtown resources,” economic benefits and the fact that housekeeping staff will be paid a living wage — something no other developer has promised to do before.

A handful of living wage advocates spoke against the sale unless the city requires Rimland to pay all workers a living wage.

City resident Jeff Furman argued that the majority of projects built downtown in the last few years have created low-income jobs below the living wage and urged Common Council to work with social activists to develop “truly sustainable projects.”

Audrey Cooper, president of the board of directors for the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, read a statement from the board supporting a living wage for all workers in Tompkins County.

In part, the statement argued that companies coming to Ithaca to “exploit opportunities” shouldn't also be allowed to “exploit workers.”

Cooper said the GIAC board was not in favor of the city making the land sale dependant on Rimland paying all workers a living wage but rather wanted to highlight the issue in general.

The project will still have to undergo site plan review by the city's planning board before it can be built.

Rimland has also agreed to undergo “a City-sanctioned peer architect review of the hotel project design prior to site plan approval,” according to the resolution before Common Council.


kgashler@ithacajournal.com




Originally published April 3, 2008

[Ex-Ithacan]

News about my old hood. Nothing too exciting, but I do hope the one participant's idea gets acted upon.




Collegetown Vision Implementation Committee Reviews Draft of Master Plan Ideas

April 9, 2008 - 12:00am
By Ben Eisen

The Collegetown Vision Implementation Committee has gotten used to thinking about the future. At its meeting yesterday in the basement of St. Luke’s Church, the group went over a draft of potential ideas for the Collegetown Master Plan that consulting firm Goody Clancy had prepared.

Following their last visit to Cornell at the beginning of March, the consultants drew up specific recommendations for the neighborhood that were separated by region in order to work within the atmosphere of each.

One suggestion that spurred much discussion among those in attendance was the idea to turn the area near the corner of Dryden Ave. and Linden Ave. into primarily graduate student housing.

“It’s hard to get graduate students to live on Linden,” said Josh Lower, a Collegetown landlord, adding that graduate students aren’t willing to pay as high rents as undergraduates because their parents aren’t footing the bill anymore.

Student Trustee Kate Duch ’09, who has been working on these issues, added that a few hundred undergraduates live in that section of Collegetown right now. In order to accommodate moving them to a different part of the neighborhood, developers would need to build bigger high-rises. This brought the participants to question what Cornell would do to house these students, but Svante Myrick ’09 (D-4th Ward) said that on-campus housing could not replace the Collegetown experience for undergrads.

He also added that taking students out of the neighborhood could be, “a threat to commercial activity in Collegetown.”

Stephen Golding, executive vice president for finance and administration, urged others at the meeting to look for creative solutions.

“It’s a bunch of public policy tradeoffs,” he said.

Among a number of suggestions, he came up with what he called an outlandish idea to get rid of all cars in Collegetown.

Another topic on the docket was the idea of creating ceremonial gateways into Cornell on College Ave. and Eddy St. Matthys Van Cort, former director of planning and development and a current consultant for the CVIC, felt strongly about the need to create a more welcoming urban entryway through Collegetown.

“You’re talking about a student from 88th St. in New York City who’s graduating from Bronx Science and who drives three hours through the woods and then the orchard,” Van Cort said. “If he comes to the back side of the campus, what would he say?”

All of these issues will be discussed when Goody Clancy comes back to formally present their work to the public. The meeting is currently scheduled for April 22nd, but may be changed to allow the committee more time to look over the consultants work beforehand.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Here's a pic (taken by mhaithaca at flickr) of a new apartment house under construction in Ithaca's Collegetown neighborhood:

[Ex-Ithacan]

Not the best news about old ithaca, but at least it isn't about industry leaving.



Entrepreneurs discuss growing pains in Ithaca
By Tim Ashmore
Journal Staff

ITHACA — Some of Tompkins County's top high-tech entrepreneurs gathered Thursday to speak on the finer points of starting or improving a business.

The roundtable discussion, attended by about 25 people at the Holiday Inn downtown, was organized by the Finger Lakes Entrepreneurs Forum as the program for its monthly meeting. It was co-sponsored by the Small Business Suites and Research Labs at the Cornell Business and Technology Park, the complex near the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport where many of the companies and other high-tech spin-offs do business.


The entrepreneurs and their companies, which largely focus on commercializing research and technological breakthroughs, help develop and diversify Tompkins County's economy. From the participants' tales, however, it was clear that turning ideas and ambitions into successful companies isn't easy or predictable.

A major concern is financing. The trick is getting creative and perceptive about who businesses take money from.
“If you're entertaining taking on investment from a potential investor you should call all their investee companies and say ‘What have they done for you, have they done anything?'” said Justin Smithline, CEO of Predict Systems, which is developing alternative Internet searching.

Some investors help, some hinder and some are neutral, Smithline said.

“So are your investors steering you along a different course? Are they taking up all of your time so you can't run your business? And those are all three different scenarios that you want to go in to with your eyes wide open,” Smithline said, “because once you take on someone's money you're connecting with those people forever — or until the company succeeds or fails.”

Charles Hamilton, president of Novomer, said it's important to know who the money is coming from because of investors' reputations and the possibility that doors may open down the line based on those connections. His company's technology enables carbon dioxide and other renewable materials to be cost-effectively transformed into polymers, plastics and other chemicals.

Hamilton also mentioned grants as a resource for startups. He said Novomer got $1.3 million in grants before it got any funding from investors.

Another challenge is getting and keeping employees in Ithaca and Upstate New York in general.

Smithline said there's essentially limitless raw talent at Cornell but very little experience, which means he'll have to hire the raw talent and an experienced individual to help bring the talent up to speed.

“There isn't a very large professional pool,” he said. Smithline has also tapped into the Johnson School of Business at Cornell for help on projects.

But manpower challenges can be more prosaic. Govang said he hasn't had any luck finding maintenance help. He said the Upstate workforce is “more desecrated” than he thought it was after the deindustrialization in areas such as Buffalo.

Another theme was the importance of perseverance and networking. At one point Hamilton called the work he does “demoralizing” for all the times he hears “no” from investors — a sentiment that echoed around the table.

John Reilly, president and chief operating officer of Widetronix, a designer and manufacturer of high voltage silicon carbide epitaxial wafers and power conversion devices, said Ithaca has been transformed over the years he's worked here. Specifically, it's gained a community of people starting businesses who provide camaraderie and moral support.

“I think there was a period in my existence here where this community was not here,” he said, motioning around the table. “It was pretty sparse. I think my first company, there was a three- or four-year period where it was like ‘wow.' I mean, definitely the Advions were out there — the poster children of the great company to come through — but a sense of peers doing it and doing it well wasn't there. So from that peer level perspective I think we're in a much better place.”


tashmore@ithacajournal.com




Originally published April 25, 2008

[Visiteur]

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps...804280323/1002

LANSING — Right now, Farm Pond Circle is nothing more than a driveway and 50 acres of abandoned farm land, littered with burrs and grasses and hedged by a run-down barn.

But Jack Jensen sees it becoming so much more — a 20-home, low-impact community similar to Ithaca's Ecovillage, though with less of a communal living requirement and an emphasis on reforestation and energy-efficiency.

Jensen and a crew of about 20 volunteers with the not-for-profit housing group Community Building Works — including former Ithaca mayor Alan Cohen — took the first step Saturday by planting a tree nursery with 1,000 pine, birch and spruce trees that will form the backbone of this residential reforestation project.

When Jensen, a 51-year-old veteran carpenter and architect, founded CBW last year, he had planned to build affordable housing around the county and abroad, but couldn't find any pre-cleared lots to build on. So he took it upon himself to buy and clear the old Lansing farm, and began the process of planning a “blue collar green” community.
“It became clear that the only way we were going to create affordable lots was to do it ourselves,” he said, taking a rest to wipe his hands on his dirty white T-shirt. “We took a leap of faith, and we're hoping the concept will be attractive.”

Jensen personally emptied out his retirement fund to pay for the land — “I'm scared,” he said — because he sees it as an investment in a more sustainable future.

The Farm Pond Circle neighborhood will include two ponds, a communal park-like area in the center, and a walking path around the perimeter with tree barriers designed to block wind and for solar shading.

The full road will go in this winter, and the rest of the project is dependent upon planning board approval. But the neighbors are happy, and the Lansing town planning board seems “enthusiastic” about his proposal, he said.

“We're not trying to compete with the Ecovillage model, where people really want to live together and share walls,” Jensen said. “We're a different model. (Residents) will be able to have their own space but still be able to tap into community amenities.”

Once approved, the first four homes will be built by CBW starting next year and then sold to families in the Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Service program, and the rest of the two-acre lots will be sold to developers for around $40,000 each. Jensen said he doesn't want developers to build “McMansions,” however, so deed restrictions will require that houses exceed Energy Star requirements, and will be limited to 2,400 square feet.

He said he's already heard from people interested in becoming homeowners in the neighborhood.

“Ecovillage has been successful, White Hawk (Ecovillage) I think is being successful, that's a market segment of folks who want to live like this,” he said. “This is more for people who want to be green, but don't want to spend a lot of time talking about it.”

Sheila Squier, 46, a partner in the organization and Jensen's fiancée, worked with Neighbor Works America for years building affordable housing before she joined CBW. She said this project will reach a group of people who don't qualify for low-income housing, but could still use assistance.

“We're trying to be kind of green and affordable,” she said. “Green (housing) should be available to everyone. There's a need for this.”

Jensen has been building houses and training others to do the same for more than 30 years — both across the country and for three years with INHS. But when he traveled to Ecuador last year to help build homes there, he was struck by how much the rest of the world needs affordable housing just as much as the United States does — if not more. So for every house they build stateside, they'll also send a group of volunteers to a developing country to build a house there, Jensen said.

CBW will also be refurbishing an old house under contract with INHS starting this summer. Jensen said that will provide funding for the first homes at Farm Pond Circle.

Richard Spingarn, a Trumansburg resident who went with his wife Penny to plant trees Saturday, said he likes the project because it tackles a number of problems at once.

“It's working for many goals, talking about lower-income housing, reforesting and donating overseas,” he said.

Jensen's 22-year-old daughter, Jamie, has planted tree nurseries with her dad since she was little, she said. She said although the project will take a long time to complete, her father is the kind of guy who always needs to be working on something.

“He's been wanting to do something like this for a really long time and finally got it all together,” she said. “It's going to take up a lot of his time, but that's what he likes to do — work all day long, for the greater good.”

[Ex-Ithacan]

Gettin' green on both sides of Cayuga Lake.

Thanks for the article Vis.

[Visiteur]

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps.../-1/NEWSFRONT2





Lab renamed for CU researcher
$51M expansion planned for Holley Center
By Aaron Munzer • Special to The Journal • May 13, 2008

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ITHACA — To honor a scientific researcher whose work paved the way for modern agricultural research, Cornell University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture renamed the USDA's campus facility the Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health on Monday.


Holley, who scientists at the rededication called a “revolutionary,” received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1968 for his breakthrough work on Cornell's campus to determine the molecular structure of transfer RNA. His discovery of the link between DNA and protein synthesis served as a springboard for agricultural research into the genetics and genomics of plants, insects and pathogens. He died in 1993.

Gale Buchanan, an undersecretary at the USDA, called Holley a “giant” who continues to support scientists today with the foundation of his breakthrough research.

“We're like dwarves, sitting on the shoulders of giants,” he said. “They raised us up, and by their great stature, added to ours. And that's exactly what Robert Holley did. He raised us up, so we could seek progress.”

The Holley Center, operated by the USDA's Agricultural Research Service and built in 1939, was previously known as the U.S. Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory. Scientists at the lab conduct research in genomics, genetics, biochemistry and physiology to improve the sustainability and productivity of U.S. and world agriculture.

Work at the center ranges from improving crop production on marginal soils to mapping the DNA sequences of insects and bacterial pathogens to develop new techniques to thwart pests and diseases.

In addition to the current building, plans are in motion to build a $51 million addition by 2013, which will allow the center's 27 research scientists to all work under one roof for increased efficiency, said Leon Kochian, the director of the Holley Center, and $11 million has already been earmarked for the project.

“We're growing the next class of giants in this center,” Kochian said, before turning to watch as Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-22nd Dist., helped to cut the ceremonial ribbon tied to the stairs of the building.

Hinchey spoke to those in attendance about his efforts in Congress to secure funding for agricultural research and the new facility at the Holley Center, noting that even from his perch on the agricultural subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, it was challenging to find the funds for continued agricultural research.

“The work done by Dr. Holley and all the scientists at this center is a testament to the reasons why the federal government should invest in the sciences,” Hinchey said. “Basic research — science for the sake of science — is the cornerstone of innovation. Without a base, many of the technologies we take for granted today would still be science fiction.”

Bryan Swingle is one of those researchers at the Holley Center. He studies how genes are regulated in a pathogen to better understand how to develop a plant's defenses against bacterial infections.

Like Holley once did in the same building, Swingle spends much of his time mapping DNA but does it much more efficiently; he can map millions of DNA sequences in an hour, while it took Holley years to map far fewer.

“But Holley was the first person to sequence a nucleic acid,” he said.

Swingle said the new building will encourage more collaboration among scientists who are now spread across campus.

“One of the major problems is we're spread out, but a new building will also bring us up to date in the facilities,” he said.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Thanks Vis, and so Cornell continues to grow.



I use to walk by this factory every day when I left high school. Kind of sad to see it go in a way.



The Ithaca Gun factory site is pictured May 5 in an aerial photograph, looking to the east, with Ithaca Falls at the top left and the Gun Hill Apartments at the lower right. (SIMON WHEELER / Journal Staff)




Gun factory to be razed
Demolition could begin by early summer, city official says
By Krisy Gashler • Journal Staff • May 15, 2008


ITHACA — After more than a century as an icon on Ithaca's East Hill, the Ithaca Gun factory could be gone by this summer.


Demolition of the dilapidated and environmentally contaminated factory could begin by “late June, early July,” said Nels Bohn, director of the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency. How long it will take to finish demolition will depend on the contractor, but it could be as little as a month, he said.

The project is going forward even though the city has not yet secured a state grant needed to clean up lead and other pollution in the ground around the factory.

Contractors will use standard practices, such as wetting material to minimize dust, Bohn said. Air monitors will be set up around the project and read daily to ensure that contamination from the demolition isn't entering the air and threatening neighbors, he said.

The project will not be enclosed in a tent, as is proposed for a coal tar remediation on Court Street, because it is not believed to be necessary and would be cost prohibitive, he said.

Truck routes for removing debris have not yet been established because no contractor has yet been chosen, but the city can “exert influence” in setting up designated truck routes, he said.

Last fall the City of Ithaca announced a private-public partnership with developer Frost Travis and property owner Wally Diehl to demolish the factory and replace it with 33 high-end condos.

Their plan was dependent on the city receiving two state grants: a Restore NY grant to demolish the factory and an Environmental Restoration Program grant to remediate sub-surface lead contamination in the area around the factory.

Former Governor Eliot Spitzer personally announced that the city received the Restore NY grant, worth $2.3 million, but the city has no guarantee on the ERP grant.

The Ithaca Gun Company produced munitions and guns, most notably shotguns and rifles, in Ithaca from 1880 to 1986.

Their operations left extensive lead contamination in the factory and in the ground surrounding the factory and leading into Fall Creek.

The Environmental Protection Agency undertook a $4.8 million cleanup project in Ithaca between 2002 and 2004, but extensive contamination still remains at the site, and in some locations lead-contaminated soil uphill has re-contaminated EPA-cleaned soil downhill.

Testing last November also uncovered trichloroethylene in groundwater near Ithaca Gun well above state standard.

Bohn is overseeing the project for the city. He said that the city is “very confident” that it will eventually get the additional funding needed to complete the project but that “we do not have anything formally in writing.”

The ERP program would pay to remediate sub-surface contamination along a strip of land proposed to be donated to the city for a public walkway to the island overlooking Fall Creek. The city has estimated that additional cleanup will cost $778,000, based on cost to dig down an average of 4 feet and remove contaminated soil.

Based on the almost $5 million EPA cleanup cost, Bohn admits that cleanup could be significantly more expensive but said that state authorities realize that happens with environmental cleanups.

In estimating cleanup cost, Bohn said the city is “trying to play a balance game here with the state to say, ‘it's not so expensive it's out of your budgetary authority to fund this project,' On the other hand, we don't want to short sell it and say it's cheaper than it really is.”

“We knew going into this process that they were running out of funds in the program,” Bohn said.

If the city demolishes the building and accepts the Restore NY funding but doesn't complete the remediation and redevelop the site, it is possible that the state could ask for its money back, Bohn said, but he doesn't think it's likely.

“I think we could get a knock on the door saying, ‘You sold this as a project that was gonna not just knock down a building and clean up the site but was gonna redevelop it.' However, in our application we were upfront saying, you know, this requires ERP funding as well,” he said.

Travis said there is a “clawback provision” in the contract with Restore NY but that “I don't know of a case in which the state has ever felt compelled to claw the money back.”

“We certainly don't want to leave the project half done. That doesn't do anyone any good,” he said.

In 2003, Diehl originally proposed to demolish the gun factory, remediate the site and build up to 160 units of condominiums on the site — a project that would have required no public financing.

Those proposals were abandoned in the face of outcry from neighbors opposed to the scale and the height of the project.

If the ERP funding does not come through, and the property owner does remain responsible for environmental cleanup, the developers could “re-visit that and see if we can make the project feasible in one form or another,” Travis said.

Bohn said that could include “(figuring) out a way to cut costs or increase revenues.”

“And of course, people's minds start turning around and pretty quickly that becomes, ‘Can we increase the number of housing units?'” Bohn said.

For now, the proposal for only 33 units is the one on the table. And the city and the developers remain confident that they will get state funding to remediate the site, confident enough to begin demolition.

“In the worst case, at the very least, a significant public health hazard would be removed. One that is attractive to kids and to teenagers and poses a very real threat to life and limb,” Travis said.

kgashler@ithacajournal.com

[Ex-Ithacan]

Here's another project at Cornell getting ready to start:


An artist's rendering of the expansion of the Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University. (Provided)


The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University plans to host a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday, May 17 to celebrate the construction of a new 16,000-square-foot wing being built on the existing north-facing wall. The groundbreaking ceremony is free and open to he public and will feature performances by the Burns Sisters and singer/songwriter John Simon, Japanese drumming and dance, magicians and art activities. Construction is anticipated to be completed in spring 2010. (ERIC STEWART / Journal Staff)



Johnson museum celebrates expansion
Groundbreaking on new wing Saturday
By Topher Sanders • Journal Staff • May 16, 2008

A celebration to recognize the groundbreaking of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University's new wing is planned this Saturday.


The free public event will also celebrate the museum's 35th anniversary and will feature a performance by the Burns Sisters, family art activities and refreshments. The event will run from 1-3 p.m.

Museum officials are looking forward to the additional space and features the new wing will provide. The 16,000-square-foot addition will cost $20 million. So far the museum has raised $18.7 million of the cost.

“The groundbreaking is fantastic and it is the most important event in the history of the museum since we opened,” said Frank Robinson, director of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum.

Robinson said the museum has been working on the new wing since 1996. The wing will be the museum's first expansion since opening in 1973. The project is expected to be completed and open to the public in 2010.

“We're really excited because we're going to be able to provide better access and more access to the collection,” said Cathy Klimaszewski, associate director for programs and curator of education for the museum. “We'll have the visible storage area which will feature more Pre-Columbian, African, Asian art and decorative art.”

The museum also plans to take advantage of new technology in the visible storage space.

“We're going to have an interpretive technology project that goes along with that, an iPod Touch tour that we're working on so that when people go through on their own in the visible storage area they'll actually be able to have the iPod Touch tour with them and get information about the objects as they walk through,” Klimaszewski said.

The iPod Touch tour is in the testing phase, Klimaszewski said. A prototype for the tour is being funded by an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant, she said.

The wing will house a 150-seat lecture room, a workshop studio, new galleries and office space.

“So when we do our lectures and have visiting artists' talks we'll have more space,” she said. “We'll also be able to use that space as a divided space for classrooms. It's a very flexible programming space that we can use for different types of things that we do. Right now the museum uses a lecture gallery which doubles as an exhibition space and only seats about 90 people.”

The museum will have an additional seminar room close to the visible storage area

“So when classes come to look at those objects we can actually go into the classroom for a longer session and discussion,” Klimaszewski said. “So we're going to be able to serve the public school program better (and) the Cornell classes better. It's going to be a much better situation for us and our visitors.”

Robinson said the museum will continue to operate while the wing is being constructed.

“We will stay open in the two years it will take,” Robinson said. “Some parts of the museum may close when we have to, but we will still have special exhibitions and education programs.”

cbsanders@ithacajournal.com

[Ex-Ithacan]

Sometimes I wonder how anything ever gets accomplished in Ithaca.


The Process of Progress...the man behind ithaca's new $17 million hotel project, jeff rimland, speaks
By: Danielle Henbest
04/16/2008



After a long and winding process, Long Island-based developer Jeffrey Rimland finally has his land. April 2 marked an important day for Rimland and his associates. The City of Ithaca Common Council approved the sale of a parcel of land on Green Street for the construction of a 102-bed, estimated $17 million dollar branded hotel.
"We're very pleased," said Rimland of the vote. "We're very happy that the community leaders voted for the project, supported the project...and now we're anxious to move forward."
Rimland isn't the only one. Some members of the Common Council, other city officials, business owners, downtown merchants and even residents are right behind him. Downtown Ithaca Alliance Executive Director Gary Ferguson expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Council for approving the sale and hailed Rimland's patience and integrity.
"Jeff Rimland is a seasoned developer who knows how to assess an opportunity and move it successfully forward," Ferguson said. "I have been impressed with his grit and persistence, working through the process of purchasing a small but essential piece of property for the project. I am also impressed with his understanding of the community and his willingness to try to address community needs, to the extent that his project allows." Now that the project is officially underway, what exactly does this mean for Ithaca?


A familiar face
Is Rimland another big, bad developer swooping in to take over our city? Maybe not. Rimland, like some before him, merely saw an opportunity to improve the community and went for it. The difference this time is that Rimland took what Ithaca most vocal residents wanted into consideration.
A Port Jefferson, Long Island resident for 25 years, Rimland boasts about his new granddaughter, Eden Hazel. While sitting in Center Ithaca with a couple of pages of notes as reference, Rimland adjusts his glasses, smiling at his screaming cell phone.
"It's my daughter," he said. "Hold on one minute. I have to take this." After a few friendly reminders and head nods, Rimland hangs up. "I'm a grandfather you know. What's the date today?" He looks at his watch. "One month old today. My granddaughter is one month old today. Her mother wants to celebrate every week, but I think celebrating each month is better."
Rimland and his family aren't new to the Ithaca community. Of his three children, his 31-year-old daughter graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in health science. After frequent trips back and forth to Ithaca for four years, Rimland says he found a lot of charm and warmth in the community.
"I knew a lot about the city in those four years while she was here," Rimland recalled. "As a property owner, landlord and frequent visitor to the community, I recognized the need for a hotel based on the success of the Hilton. I realized we could use another hotel downtown because I had a hard time getting a room. They were always sold out."
In 1984 Rimland founded Rimland Builders, a privately owned real estate firm that owns and invests in existing and developing commercial and residential properties. The business has developed and redeveloped over a million square feet of commercial property. Online, its headquarters are listed as Medford, Long Island, and a very familiar town: Ithaca, N.Y.
Rimland purchased the Rothschild Building about five years ago. Landlord to Madeline's, Sammy's Pizzeria and Home Green Home, his first big investment in the heart of Ithaca was the Rothschild building renovation. But the developer found himself in a fix when he realized he needed to purchase an additional 2,140 square feet of land along the sidewalk on Aurora Street to enable his hotel construction. "Ironically, it's land that the Rothschild building previously owned and gave to the city," said Rimland with a grin. "When I bought the building we actually still owned the property, not realizing that someday we'd want to develop it. We ended up giving it to the city. So, it's taken me three years to get the property we originally gave to the city back."
Developing in a small town like Ithaca can be akin to going to war. For a community that prides itself on peace, trying to build here is a battlefield where people hurl opinions like grenades. At the April 2nd Common Council meeting, Center Ithaca owner and fellow developer Mack Travis explained how "Ithaca is important to Ithacans" and that Rimland is, at his core, another Ithacan. Travis originally told Rimland that if he can develop in Long Island, then Ithaca would be a cakewalk. After a few votes, Travis asked the Long Island developer how he was holding up. "Ithaca is no longer a cake walk, Jeff told me," Travis said.
Phyllisa DeSarno, deputy director for economic development for the City of Ithaca, has worked with Rimland for about two years now. DeSarno, a 20-year veteran of the developing business, is no stranger to developers trying to strike gold in Ithaca. The word "developer" carries a stigma with the community - and even some city officials, says DeSarno. But she says there are the good developers, the bad ones, and then those like Rimland.
"I met Jeff early on in a meeting," DeSarno said. "I always take people at face value, but I've been very impressed with him. He asks the right questions. He's very sincere. He's very ethical. He's not a villain."

The long road
In the beginning, this slice of land was supposed to be used as residential housing. About five years ago, Ferguson approached Rimland with a study about housing downtown. But the site's location, squeezed between a parking garage and a large building, meant any financially viable residential development would need height - the third rail of developing in a place like Ithaca.
"It's quite apparent that you can't have apartments with windows looking at a brick wall," Rimland said. "We had to build higher to make it work, so we proposed building housing on the site. The same people who were the advocates for the living wage voted down that project. I can't tell you why. They didn't want the height, but they wanted the housing. Obviously you can't have both."
So, the process of developing a hotel began in 2005. In Ithaca, city property can't be sold without the consent of Common Council. For Rimland, who now needed the same slice of city-owned land that he had sold the city a few years back, that meant undergoing 15 votes and hearings until the Board of Public Works agreed that the slice was "surplus" land.
Three years and a few headaches later, Rimland can now call the land his own. "If someone had told me in 2005 that it was going to take three years and 15 votes I probably would've said, 'I don't have the energy for that,'" admitted Rimland. "But it wasn't expressed that way."
The city encouraged Rimland that the project was going to move along as quickly as possible, he says. According to him, the city made a good faith attempt to do things productively and in a timely manner, despite a system that is designed to take such an "enormous" amount of time.
"Every step of the way is a three-part project," Rimland said. The standard process is simple. Common Council can't vote without public comment; public comment can't be held without a committee meeting. After the committee meets to discuss the proposed project and the public voices its support or opposition, only then does it come up for the first vote. When one piece of the proposal is voted and agreed upon, the plans move to the next phase of the offer.
After some fierce opposition from the public and various community leaders, some local business owners, merchants and city officials feared that Rimland would walk away, especially when the living wage debate began.
If the city approved the construction of a Wal-mart without enforcing the standard of a living wage, then why ask any new businesses to pay a living wage? This was the question asked by city resident Vicki Taylor, who came out in support of the project on the April 2 vote.
Rimland has promised to pay all housekeepers $11.18 per hour, 156 percent of the New York State minimum wage and currently the number defined as a living wage by Alternatives Federal Credit Union.
"In my experience public comments are important," Rimland said. "Unfortunately most public comment situations are people who have a negative opinion. Ithaca, however, was very unique. The first couple of hearings, we had people who stood up for the project, unsolicited. I didn't know who they were. I was taken aback by how active they were."
But not everyone was actively in favor of Rimland's hotel. Many other residents voiced concern over the living wage as well as traffic issues, environmental concerns and downtown viability. Audrey Cooper, president of the board of directors for the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, read a statement at the April 2 meeting saying that companies coming to Ithaca shouldn't "exploit opportunities" while also "exploit(ing) workers" rights.
Taylor added that much like she supports the troops in Iraq, but not the war, she supports a living wage for all workers but will not turn down a hotel project because the developer can't promise to pay all employees a living wage. This issue is something Rimland says he has never faced before. As a developer, Rimland is accustomed to building then renting to a municipality or other business that runs on its own.
"Several of the community leaders wanted and felt strongly about those issues so it had to be dealt with and we did," Rimland said. "I was disappointed that even though we went the distance, it was not a unanimous vote. It wasn't enough. Even though we offered more and did more. I guess for some enough is never enough."
Before the April 2 vote, Ferguson sat in his office, concerned over the influence of the living wage argument. "He's not asking anything of the public, but the public is asking everything of him," said Ferguson. "I would hate to see this project go up in smoke because of one issue." Looks as if the fire has been put out.

Moving forward
This isn't the first time a hotel is going in this spot. The current location of this project is on and adjacent to the site of one of Ithaca's most famous hotels, the Hotel Ithaca. The hotel was demolished during the city's period of urban renewal in 1963, to the dismay of many Ithacans.
"Change is a natural part of what happens down here," Ferguson said of downtown. "The impact of the project on the downtown economy is substantial."
After many feasibility studies in association with the Ithaca/Tompkins County Convention and Visitors Bureau, a hotel could add in excess of $2.2 million dollars in retail, food and beverage sales to the 130 nearby restaurants and shops. Ferguson adds that the hotel will provide foot traffic in the center of downtown, where most shops and restaurants are. The hope is that the hotel's proposed 102 hotel rooms will create more opportunity for meetings and conventions in the heart of the city. In the middle of the green movement, a downtown hotel could reduce the reliance on cars, promoting more pedestrians to purchase, walk and eat right outside their hotel room, explains Ferguson.
Rimland's consultants estimate the project will create $652,000 in sales and property tax revenues in 2010. Rimland is seeking no tax abatements, and building a sustainable "green" hotel is a priority as well. The hotel would be one of few green buildings in the city. Fred Bond, director of Ithaca/Tompkins County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said at the April 2 vote, "I believe a third property in the downtown core means that people will have a much greener and sustainable downtown."
While Rimland refused to talk about which flag the hotel will bear because he's still in negotiations, he did say that the brand chosen will market toward tourists, families, business people and college visitors with families. Going green is a fundamental goal. "My son is the one who's into green building. He was ahead of the curve," said Rimland. "He has been pushing me in that direction now for about five years."
With energy costs climbing, Rimland plans to build as energy-efficiently as possible, utilizing construction guidelines as created by the U.S. Green Building Council. The guidelines stipulate that both the process of building and the eventual use of the building will use a considerably less amount of energy and water, will improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions. A few key points a project must take into account include using existing structure, being located near mass transit, relying on heavy foot traffic, choosing low-energy elevators and laundry machines, installing windows that open and planting water-efficient landscaping. So far, Rimland's proposed hotel meets most of the requirements.
The city is now going to begin its architectural review. Rimland says he plans to make the city part of the design process. Rimland hired his tenants, The Thomas Group, a local architectural firm, to design and engineer the project.
"We're uncertain as to what our relationship will be with the Thomas Group moving forward because the hotel may bring in their own architectural firm, but I intend to use Thomas as my consultants throughout the entire project," he added.
Scott Whitham of the Thomas Group says that the challenge of Rimland's project is the site. A suburban site with large dimensions and no existing constrictions is easier to build on than an urban site such as Rimland's, because of the staging, the neighboring buildings, public access and traffic, Whitham said. Code and zoning issues are also more stringent.
"This developer believes that downtown is the economic, culture and social center of the community," said Whitham. "Having your project there becomes a piece of the context, keeps it connected to the community. If you're in Ohio or Nebraska, the big box looks the same wherever you are. If you build downtown there's a different obligation aesthetically to attend to the architectural context of where we are. There are certain architectural technologies on The Commons that this building will have to have to fit in."
While Rimland has already chosen not to include a restaurant in the hotel, a coffee shop is possible.

Into the future
You have to rise to the occasion when you think about doing any kind of development in Ithaca," said DeSarno. "You'll be put to the test."
Rimland and crew have nearly endured one of the toughest stretches. Now that he has the land necessary to make the hotel viable, the project must now go through the site plan review process. Pending approval, construction is scheduled to begin late this year or in early 2009. "I have an interest in downtown as a property owner and as a landlord for other property," said Rimland. "So I have a vested interest in making sure downtown is viable five to 10 years from now. I've become very fond of the city. I've made some very good friendships here as well as relationships with other business owners and people within the community."
After the ride Rimland's been on for three years, when asked when construction will begin on the site he replies with a hearty laugh and grin. "It took us three years to get here...We're hopeful that we'll be building in 2009. How's that?"



©Ithaca Times 2008

[Visiteur]

I keep forgetting to post these...

[Ex-Ithacan]

Holy Cow, where the heck you been hidin' these rascals Vis? Love the 2nd shot of downtown and the one up Tower Rd. I hope the bells didn't make you go deaf.

Thanks for the pics.