Just Places Lab

Collegetown is a neighborhood in Ithaca that was annexed to the City by the end of the 19th century. This area mainly hosted large farms and water-powered industries located around Cascadilla Creek. However, the neighborhood started to transform into a residential area after Cornell University was founded in 1865 (BERO Architecture PLCC, 2016). During the first decades, professors and professionals working at Cornell lived in Collegetown, but these houses were gradually transformed into rentals for students. Since then, Collegetown’s development has been oriented to respond mainly to the housing demand of Cornell’s students, which has led to making it one of the densest areas in town.

Collegetown is a mixed-use and vibrant neighborhood that illustrates the influence of Cornell University in the evolution of the real estate market in the City of Ithaca. According to the City’s Comprehensive Plan, this neighborhood is “notable for its high concentration of student residents and a lack of owner-occupied housing” (Plan Ithaca: City of Ithaca Comprehensive Plan, 2015, p. 43). Additionally, some of its most visible characteristics are the predominance of multi-story mixed-use buildings with stores and restaurants on the first floor, 2- to 3-story residential buildings, and narrow streets (see Map 02). Such a composition contrasts with the residential character of the adjacent neighborhoods east and south of Collegetown.

The City of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance defines the current urban regulations for the 119, 121, and 125 College Avenue parcels. The ordinance included an amendment in 2014 that updated the applicable rules for the Collegetown area. Such an amendment, called the Collegetown Area Form Districts, established six zoning districts that looked for concentrating development in the central areas of Collegetown and protecting the character of the surrounding neighborhoods. According to the Ordinance, the three parcels in this report belong to the Collegetown Residential 4 (CR-4) district (Collegetown Area Form Districts, 2014). Such areas should serve as a bridge between Collegetown’s densest area and the adjacent residential neighborhoods.

As a result, the CR-4 district establishes a set of norms that gradually reduce the housing density and buildings’ height. The form district highlights that existing and new buildings have a height limit of four floors and 45 feet and a maximum occupation of 50% of the parcels. The ordinance also requests that a minimum of 25% of the parcels should be green space. Lastly, the current regulation allows new projects to omit the off-street parking requirements as long as the developer provides a transportation demand management plan (Collegetown Area Form Districts, 2014; District Regulations for CR-4 Use District, 2014). The requirements defined by the Zoning Ordinance are in direct relationship with the City of Ithaca Comprehensive Plan’s vision. Such a document establishes the long-term vision for the City, and the zoning ordinance defines the regulations that help materialize those ideals. According to the Plan, Collegetown is an urban mixed-use area with dense development that should gradually transition in scale into the neighboring areas. Furthermore, the document explains that this neighborhood needs more pedestrian, bicycle, and transit facilities due to the increasing density and the necessity to reduce the usage of private automobiles. Additionally, the plan mentions the lack of green space as a current planning challenge in Collegetown.

119 College Ave.

Before the Collegetown Townhouses project was built, there was a two-and-one-half-story building house at 119 College Avenue. The Property Documentation and History Report (BERO Architecture PLCC, 2016) describes the building as a Queen-Anne-style house built in the 1890s. The house had a rubble stone foundation, wood clapboard siding on the first and second floors, continuous cornices, and a porch with wood columns (see images 03 and 04). Additionally, the document explains that the building was mainly used as a single-family house until 1951 when the owner began to rent out rooms to students after his retirement. Later in 1963, the house was sold to William Johanson, an Ithaca Gun Company employee, who transformed the house into three rental units that have been used for renting since then. Johanson also owned the homes at 121 and 125 College Avenue.

121 College Ave.

Similarly, the pre-demolition building at 121 College Avenue was a two-and-one-half story Italianate-style house built in the 1870s. This building also had a rubble stone foundation and wood clapboard siding in all the facades (see images 05 and 06). The house, moreover, had a front porch with wood columns that was similar in style to most of the homes in the block. This single-family house maintained its original use until the Johansons purchased the property in 1969 and started renting it to Cornell students (BERO Architecture PLCC, 2016)

125 College Ave.

The building at 125 College Avenue was a two-story and L-shaped Italianate-style house that was built in 1872 (see images 07 and 08). According to the History Report, the facades had pebble-dash stucco applied over the original wood clapboard siding and a continuous cornice with oversized brackets (BERO Architecture PLCC, 2016). Like the other two houses, this building was used as a single-family house with sporadic renters until the Johansons acquired the property in 1955 and rented it to Cornell students