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Old Posted Oct 24, 2012, 9:59 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2002
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Whoa, I didn't see this one coming. What a major change for downtown if it ever happens. Looking at the cell phone pic, it appears the 6 story apartment building will be built on top of the back of the office/retail building. (from the Ithaca Journal)



New retail-office-apartment complex proposed for Commons

Six-story apartment building part of plan for site extending from Commons toward Green Street
12:20 PM, Oct 24, 2012
Written by
David Hill



The family company that owns the former Harold’s Army Navy store and adjacent buildings on The Commons plan to redevelop them into a retail-office complex and add an adjacent six-story apartment building between there and Green Street.

The new building, with 60- to 72-market-rate apartments, would be perhaps downtown Ithaca’s tallest at more than 135 feet.

The Commons-side buildings would include retail and office space with a three-story inner atrium. The complex would have an exterior bridge connecting its third floor to the Green Street parking garage.

L Enterprises, majority-owned by brother and sister David Lubin of Elmira and Enid Littman of Ithaca, showed the idea to the city Planning and Development Board Tuesday night and announced details today. The project must go through the board’s site plan review process and will likely require variances from city codes, such as a height variance.

If approved, plans are for construction to coincide with the planned renovation of the Commons itself, now in the final planning stages. The owners hope to complete the retail and office parts in the summer of 2014, with the apartment tower to follow.

It will include redevelopment of the Henry Miller Building, most recently occupied on the ground floor by Benchwarmer’s restaurant, along with new construction extended west to include 135 and 123-27 The Commons, recently housing Race Office Supply.

The project will be called Harold’s Square. Their father acquired the National Army-navy Store on Cayuga Street, renamed it Harold’s and relocated it to State Street in 1969. It closed in 1998. The family kept 137-139 and 135, and acquired 123-27 earlier this year, and anticipate completing the purchase of 133 The Commons in early 2013.

The Commons side is being designed to emulate the scale and texture of the historic buildings on the downtown pedestrian mall, including the adjacent Home Dairy building, now occupied on the ground floor by the Mate Factor cafe. The Green Street side would be in a more modern style, according to the company.

The developers estimatethe project will help create or retain 110 to 115 full-time office jobs, 12 to 15 full-time retail positions and 100 construction jobs, while generating $500,000 in revenue from property taxes to local taxing authorities over what the existing properties produce.

“Retaining and renovating historic structures in downtown is very important,” Lubin said in the project announcement, “but so is recognizing that change is also a good thing. We’re restoring a key part of Ithaca’s history that once housed the office of 19th century architect William Henry Miller. At the same time, we’re replacing three primarily single-story buildings that, while may be part of people’s cherished memories, including my own, can’t meet downtown’s need for more housing, shopping choices, and modern office space. That need has been documented in study after study, and we’re pleased to be a part of the solution.”
Lubin developed and operated three Hilton-brand hotels, including one each in Horseheads and Oneonta, as well as commercial property in Horseheads and Corning.
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Last edited by Ex-Ithacan; Oct 24, 2012 at 10:13 PM.
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