The new luxury apartment building downtown is getting ready to open. Yippee.
BTW Vis, it sure would be cool if you could take one of the tours and get a couple of shots from the penthouse.
Gateway opens doors to tenants
Thursday marks completion of brownfield's transformation
By Anne Ju
Special to The Journal
ITHACA — Windows in the Gateway Commons penthouse apartment boast a bird's-eye view of downtown Ithaca. Turn around, and peer into Six Mile Creek, an icy trickle this time of year.
Views like this will soon belong to tenants of the new building, set to open Thursday, March 1.
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Gateway Commons, a six-story high-rise of luxury apartments, is the second and final installment of Mack and Carol Travis' transformation of a four-acre lot at East State and Green streets into a mixed-use plaza.
The Travises broke ground on the $5.63 million Gateway Commons apartment building in September 2005. It completes the development of Gateway Plaza, a former brownfield and industrial site in the 300 and 400 blocks of East State Street.
Phase I of the project, the rehabilitation of the Dean of Ithaca Moving Company building into Gateway Center, was completed in 2003. That building now houses offices on its upper floors, while the History Center of Tompkins County, Napoli's, Sticky Rice and Domino's occupy its ground-level spaces.
In the new Gateway Commons apartment building, Ithaca Coffee Company will open a second location. Also located in Triphammer Mall, the coffee shop will fill one of the two 2,220-square-foot ground-floor retail spaces. No second tenant has yet been identified, Mack Travis said.
With about a third of the 25 one-, two- and three-bedroom units rented, Gateway Commons has worked aggressively toward the Thursday opening.
According to Mack Travis, apartment tenants so far have fallen into the building's target market — senior citizens relocating to Ithaca and professionals. While he's had some inquiries from graduate students, the building is not, and never was, marketed toward students.
“It's a very good cross-section of senior and professional tenants,” Travis said.
The rents being charged reflect the building's target market. One-bedroom units start at $1,475, two-bedrooms at $2,175, and three-bedrooms at $3,175.
Energy efficiency was a key consideration for the building, which includes Energy Star-rated appliances, low-flush toilets, an efficient water-source heat pump system and other features. The Travises also plan to apply for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) designation from the U.S. Green Building Council for their building, designed by Ithaca's Holt Architects.
The apartments are equipped with General Electric Profile series appliances, oak cabinets, bamboo floors, washer-dryers and that most precious commodity — space.
One-bedroom units start at 880 square feet, while two-bedrooms are about 1,220 square feet, and three-bedrooms are 1,780 square feet.
Gateway Plaza is a private endeavor, but the Travises explained that its location — which they see as a literal gateway to eastern downtown — is no coincidence.
“We bought the whole property to be able to help develop the vision of what downtown should be,” Carol Travis said.
The Ithaca Downtown Partnership's strategic plan, first written in 1999 and last updated in 2004, calls for 300 new units of downtown housing by the end of the decade, along with retail, offices and entertainment. The project received several tax abatements.
Gary Ferguson, the partnership's executive director, said the plan calls for housing at all levels — high-end, as well as mid-level or affordable.
“We're doing well,” Ferguson said. “We're still waiting to see if some of it will open. But we are hopeful to see more.”
On March 30, about 300 people are expected at a 5:30 p.m. ribbon-cutting and a tour of the project.
A May 9 “Business After Hours” program of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce will be at Gateway Commons. During the spring, the Travises plan to conduct 200 walking tours at the apartment complex.
article with a picture here:
http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps...WS01/702280319