The Breeze’ rental development continues

Earlier this year, the Ithaca Common Council approved an updated redevelopment agreement with Ithaca-based Visum Development Group to overhaul the Ithaca Gun Factory site into a new housing project that will overlook Ithaca Falls. 

The agreement to redevelop the site was originally made in 2007 but has gone through various  revisions and proposals. With Visum Development Group taking charge of the site, plans for construction are underway.

The development, called “the Breeze,” will house a combination of studios, one- and two-bedroom units and built-in parking options. The apartments will be made available at market rate. 

Visum said the decision to charge market rate for this project “is what makes it a reality.”

“This project is very unique as it is a redevelopment of a Brownfield site that is registered as a DEC inactive hazardous waste disposal site. Only for the clean-up piece of the development, VISUM is spending $3MM,” Visum said. “The complexities and uniqueness of the site, which made two former owners abandon the idea of redeveloping it, combined with increased hard costs and growing soft costs of development entitlement would make this project infeasible if we were to consider targeting a different demographic. However, we invested in the Community Housing Development Fund, through the TCIDA.”

According to the Tompkins County website, “the Community Housing Development Fund (CHDF) is a joint effort of Tompkins County, the City of Ithaca and Cornell University. The Fund helps communities and organizations throughout Tompkins County respond to the diverse affordable housing needs of county residents. Projects must include units of affordable housing for low and moderate income households. The program was established in 2009 and is currently operating under a Memorandum of Understanding through 2027.”

If developers decide not to include an adequate amount of affordable units, they must make an investment in the CHDF to support the county’s and city’s affordable housing projects. Visum will contribute $385,000 to the CHDF. The CHDF’s annual budget is around $400,000.

“I think we’ve done a lot of U.S. market-rate and below-market-rate housing,” said Second Ward Alderperson Ducson Nguyen. “We’re not there yet. Obviously, our rents are still very high, which is why I also embrace tenant protections like good cause eviction. We need a holistic approach to [housing].”

Phoebe Brown, also a Second Ward alderperson, said that the excitement for another market-rate housing project is confusing. 

“It confuses me because I know we have a large unhoused population, and market-value apartments will not help address that issue,” Brown said. “My biggest concern is making sure people who were born and raised here in Ithaca or the area can afford to stay here and not be pushed to the outskirts.” 

Visum said part of their price decision was made to help cover the costs of cleaning up the brownfield site before building on the property. This is because a 1997 environmental site assessment commissioned by the city found extensive lead contamination on the industrial site, which had housed Ithaca Agricultural Works, Ithaca Paper Company and Ithaca Gun Company. 

Cleanup and development had not occurred since then because of the expense to potential developers, until Visum bought the property in late 2021. The company has worked with brownfield cleanup consultants and had their plans approved by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). 

“The longer that that property sits there without remediation, the more that bled and other contaminants just sit there, and at worst, run off the property,” Nguyen said. “I think that is what is happening and continues to contaminate the falls below it. The remediation was needed, but the remediation doesn’t happen without the housing.”

This is a momentous undertaking for a housing unit, so what will the building look like? The Breeze will house 77 apartments over four floors with 77 parking spaces. Thirty of those spaces will be underneath the building in a parking garage structure, while 47 will be surface-level spaces. 

There are also two different types of two-bedroom apartments: a master suite option will have individual suites with a private bathroom per bedroom, and a roommate apartment will offer a shared bathroom for both bedrooms.

Visum Development also said that anyone is welcome to live at the Breeze, including Section 8 applicants. 

“If the price point is not what the potential tenant is looking for, Visum has several properties in town, with the same quality of service and construction,” Visum said. “We understand that Ithaca is a unique market and there’s high demand for housing in all price points and to serve different demographics. We designed the Breeze to be a place where everyone can call home.”

Amenities at the Breeze will include a resident lounge, rooftop patio, pet spa, community kitchen, fitness center, bike storage and flexible community space. Visum is also building an overlook facing Ithaca Falls and the gorges on the city’s land. Visum said this equals approximately 4,000 square feet of amenity space. Parking will include EV charging stations. 

Ithaca has a lot of big apartment buildings, which will soon include the Breeze. Nguyen said that while this will be good for the brownfield site, Ithaca needs other kinds of housing.

“I hear all the time from people, especially retirees that are downsizing, that they would love condos. They still want equity, but they don’t need a full single-family home that would be better off for a young family. They don’t really have options in that area,” Nguyen said. “It’s either hold on to the home, which has probably paid off, or move into a $3,000-a-month apartment. Our zoning doesn’t allow for townhouses for the most part in most of the city, which is another way of building owner-occupied homes that are more affordable.” 

Nguyen added that Ithaca has not legalized the use of accessory dwelling units such as backyard apartments, as California has. Building smaller, more affordable homes is another way for residents to eventually own property. He concluded that the city is working on policy pieces.

Regardless of what the city is currently working on, housing prices are consistently a concern: 58.8% of renters in Tompkins County are cost burdened, with 38% severely burdened. 

“There are some people who will be able to afford it,” Brown said. “But is it going to add value to the people who have not always been looked at as valued in the community? I don’t mean that they aren’t valued, but are we keeping them at the forefront of our minds to show them they are valued? This has always been my concern.” 

“The Breeze will be open to residents in Fall 2024,” Visum said. “We expect to start leasing soon, and all rates and availability will be available at our property management company’s website: www.livemoreithaca.com.”