An update on the Seneca Way project from the Ithaca Times.
Seneca Way project: bringing more residents to downtown Ithaca
Posted: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 12:00 am | Updated: 5:13 pm, Fri Nov 1, 2013.
By Bill Chaisson
140 Seneca Way is a 56,000 square-foot, six-story mixed-use building going up on the curve that connects East State Street with East Seneca Street. The Holt Architects-designed building will be the new home of the Park Foundation and Warren Real Estate, as well as 33 one-bedroom and five two-bedroom apartments.
“This is the first true mixed-used building in Ithaca,” said Bryan Warren of Warren Real Estate and the largest single personal investor in the Seneca Way project. “The city likes to see mixed use now, but that wasn’t always the case. I talked with Mac Travis because Center Ithaca was at the forefront of this here, and back then it was unpopular.”
Warren has been working with Newman Development out of Binghamton. The company also has offices in San Francisco and Philadelphia and is experienced in the construction of mixed-use buildings.
Warren moved back to Ithaca in 1998 after spending a few years living in larger cities following his graduation from college. He grew to like downtown living and when he returned home he moved into the Park Building on East State Street, across the street from his office.
In the 15 years since he became a downtown resident he has watched his neighborhood become less and less quiet. His investment in 140 Seneca Way is about making a contribution to the growing liveliness of downtown by giving people more places to live in what has long been a part of the city more heavily devoted to retail and office space.
The ground floor of the new building includes a 14-car parking garage (with two outside lots for nine and 32 cars); a bike storage room with enough space to do repairs; a large utilities room; an entrance lobby; a storage room for residents; a work-out room; and a recycling room.
“We had to chisel this out of solid rock,” said Warren. “It wasn’t just shale either; it was real rock. And then over toward State Street we hit soggy ground, so we had to drive pilings. It was a little bit of everything.”
The utility room is an immaculate shrine to the idea of having back up. There is a gas-fired Lochinvar boiler and an identical one right next to it. An amazingly small Shield hot-water heater is mounted on the opposite wall with an identical back-up next to it. There is a third hot-water heater, said Warren, just in case everything goes wrong. “But,” he grinned, “that’ll never happen.”
The view from the fifth floor is impressive. Residents will be able to look over the rooftops of Ithaca to the western wall of the Cayuga valley.
The one-bedroom units cover 950 square feet and the monthly rent includes heat and hot water, while your electric bill will be your own.
The kitchen is open to a large living room that is combined with a dining area. The bedroom has two large closets. Each unit has its own washer and dryer in an alcove next to the bathroom.
Although there is central air conditioning, the windows in this building are “operable.” You are not sealed in.
If you want even more fresh air, there is a roof terrace carved into the southwest corner of the top floor.
The apartments that face south and east into the hillside have windows that look out into the tree canopy and a rocky cliff. At one point during our visit we saw a deer gingerly picking its way through the trees, a few hundred yards from the Commons.
In deference to neighbors who live behind 140 Seneca Way, the rear of the building was “stepped down” to decrease the mass that borders the backyards of people living along East Seneca Street. The top floor of the building is truncated to break up the height of the wall that faces these neighbors.
At 1,650 square feet the two-bedroom apartments are as large as a typical house a century ago. The units include a master suite and an additional bathroom for general use.
All the apartments will have hardwood floors, which will be available in both darker and lighter finishes. The color schemes on the walls will also have two alternatives. The kitchens will have solid surface “granite” counters and stainless steel appliances.
Warren noted that downtown is accumulating the amenties needed to serve residents. It now has a pharmacy, and he is pushing to add a walk-in clinic.
Eight of the apartments have already been reserved with deposits. Warren expects the building to be completed in mid-January 2014.
CSP Management is handling the rentals at 140 Seneca Way.
Here's the link:
http://www.ithaca.com/news/seneca-wa...9bb2963f4.html