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Ithaca City Officials Get First Look at Major Mixed-Use Development in West Hill

ITHACA, NY – Members of the City of Ithaca Planning Board had the opportunity to share their initial thoughts on plans for a 400-unit Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND)-style retail and residential complex that Conifer Realty is planning for West Hill.

As it stands, the 50-acre master plan includes 25 single-family homes, 35 townhomes, 15 smaller apartment buildings with a total of 180 units, and two larger apartment buildings with an additional 160 units. The taller apartment buildings would have street-front shops on the ground floor and three or four stories of apartments above, while the other buildings would all be three stories or less.

The plan encompasses the full range of housing types. The proposal calls for purchase and rental housing, low-income housing and market-rate housing, and the two larger apartment buildings will be restricted to low- to moderate-income seniors based on their age and income.

Conifer's proposal also includes a bus stop and community path, as well as access to the community garden and 22 acres of city park space north of the property.

Conifer senior vice president Kevin Day, architect Bear Smith of HOLT Architects, engineer David Herrick of TG Miller and designer Mary Martin of Whitham Planning and Design presented to the committee on Tuesday.

Martin wanted to show that the project fits into the city's 2014 comprehensive plan, which calls for TND-style development in a few select areas – East Hill and South Hill south of IC for high-density metropolitan areas and traditional medium-density neighborhood development for West Hill, including the property Conifer has owned for 25 years.

The density and housing layout proposed for the Conifer site is intended to fully comply with the city's “New Neighborhood Code.”

Day noted that Ithaca is behind its housing goals and that housing costs continue to rise rapidly due to limited supply but increasing demand. Although Day said they could have opted for a more conventional development, this was a chance to do something different and complementary to what already exists in the city.

“[The site] “If the neighborhood were zoned for medium density, we could build about 160 or 180 standard units,” Day said. “But the way the city is thinking about it, this is really an opportunity to design a self-contained neighborhood, and we're really excited about it.”

Committee Chairman Rich DePaolo pointed out that single-family homes are not Conifer's typical development approach, as the company has focused on affordable rental housing in the past.

“No, not necessarily,” Day admitted. “We want to do more for senior housing and use tax breaks for low-income households.” […] We want to do even more as part of this development.”

The majority of the design concept still needs to be worked out. The charrette, where the community is invited to provide feedback on design details, will take place on Wednesday, August 28, from 5-7 p.m. in the Conifer Village Community Room at 200 Conifer Dr.

However, there are some general design variations. The densest development would be centrally located on the site, while development would be less dense on the edges. The developers would also like to preserve some of the old growth forest on the east side of the site.

In preparation for the charrette, Martin showed some “design prompts,” asking people to weigh the pros and cons of each idea to help shape what kind of buildings could be built at different points on the site. Top left is the “Main Street” approach, the middle image is the “Parkway” approach, and on the right is the highest residential density in the northwest of the site, farthest from current residential areas.

“We left it open intentionally so we can talk,” Scott Whitham added. “It's not set in stone, we can move things around.”

DePaolo noted that there appears to be a connection on the east side of the property toward Oakwood Lane. In response, Day said that while the main connection would be to Mecklenburg Road/Route 79, a connection to the east is being discussed with Ithaca city officials.

If this plan does not go ahead, a second connection will be built through Conifer's Linderman Creek complex to Mecklenburg Road. The second connection, although providing limited access, will be necessary for fire safety reasons.

The project team aims to complete the concept and compliance with the new neighborhood ordinance in the fall and complete the project review process in the first half of 2025. City staff warned that the timeline appears overly optimistic – architect Scott Whitham acknowledged that the timeline is “ambitious.”

Committee members in attendance were generally supportive, if cautious, warning that while the design charrette was a laudable approach, there would still be community members who would push for fewer housing units or try to stop the project altogether.

City planning staff will attend the charrette, though the board stressed they would only be there to answer questions about zoning or the master plan. City engineers said water main access is appropriate, but sewer capacity is still being reviewed.

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