Community News
Construction Update: West Water Street
We’ve been getting a few inquiries about West Water Street – namely, when will it be done? Will the on-street parking remain? What about the sidewalks, and maybe a bike lane? We asked the City, where the Department of Public Works directed us to a page with the graphics below. One update is that the project is now schedule for completion in late spring 2021!
Spoilers: On-street parking will remain, and the sidewalks are going to be better than ever. While we know that the construction is pesky now, we are excited for a new and improved section of this important downtown link.
Click here for a larger version of the above graphic.
Here is a link to some additional information about the project.
Elmiraland is a website, blog, and social media presence dedicated to everything Elmira. Taking time to enjoy what’s around us; always looking forward to what’s next!
The Scoop: 5 Strategies of Cities RISE
Attorney General Letitia James was in Elmira last month to announce that the City had won a one million dollar grant to address our housing challenges.
Since the press conference, several folks have asked us for additional information on Cities RISE, so here it is!
What is Cities RISE?
The program acronym stands for “Cities for Responsible Investment and Strategic Enforcement.” The goal of the program is to challenge municipalities to develop appropriate and innovative code enforcement strategies and work toward higher quality housing, responsible property owners and cohesive neighborhoods. In May, four members of the Elmira Cities RISE team—Mayor Dan Mandell, Community Development Director Emma Miran, Code Enforcement Director John McCracken, and Chemung County Planning Commissioner Nicolette Wagoner—attended a retreat at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation to brainstorm ideas for this grant, also known as Phase 3. During that retreat, they created a 5-part strategy that the city is now working to implement.
What’s the problem this grant will help us solve?
As most readers are likely aware, Elmira has faced decades of disinvestment due to manufacturing decline and signification population loss and suburban flight, resulting in a high rate of concentrated poverty. The declining tax base has affected the city’s financial stability and operational capacity, ultimately creating a cycle of disinvestment within the community. Supporting and ensuring the effective operation and capacity of Code Enforcement is one way to support the revitalization of neighborhoods and housing stock.
Macro-economic factors and overall lack of private investment in Elmira—and its housing stock in particular—has resulted in poor quality housing throughout the City. These issues have manifested themselves in a weak housing market symbolized by rundown and underutilized properties, even in historically flourishing neighborhoods.
So … what exactly is the City implementing now?
Over the course of the past several years working on Cities RISE, the Elmira team has integrated data on police and fire issues, utilities, code violations and general property conditions into software that now effectively provides insights for planning and neighborhood development projects. The system shows neighborhoods with concentrated areas of code violations and low property values (generally reflecting neighborhood development needs) in the City. Using this data, the Elmira team identified five specific action items with which to best utilize the $1 million grant. These are:
- Inspect of one- and two-family rentals. While this might not seem like a big deal, it is. This grant will provide the city with capacity to hire additional code enforcement officers to inspect one- and two-family homes, which are often unknown locations for code violations or units that owners have illegally converted.
- Restrict buyers at the County Foreclosure auction to those who have not lost a property for non-payment of taxes within a set period.
- Encourage strong neighborhood ties through clean-up days with partner groups and the establishment of grassroots community groups.
- Establish a code violation bureau to administer code cases, helping to reduce the time spent waiting to adjudicate cases against property owners whose units are in disrepair.
- Create incentives for homeowners to improve housing (through mechanisms currently in development).
While this may not sound like a million dollars’ worth of work, it will take money, time, energy and collaboration to see this effort to completion. In the long term, the City is optimistic that these efforts could help stem the rates of population decline and flight from Elmira to outlying areas, and ultimately create population growth among key demographic groups including families and young professionals.
Elmiraland is a website, blog, and social media presence dedicated to everything Elmira. Taking time to enjoy what’s around us; always looking forward to what’s next!
Elmiraland Construction Update: DRI Edition
In 2017, Elmira was a Round 1 winner of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI), a New York State-sponsored competition for a $10 million grant. The City received this funding to launch, leverage funding toward and complete major downtown development projects. Because a couple of years have passed since the award and people are curious about what’s happening now and next, we are providing an update on where the projects—as originally proposed by local officials and finalized by New York State—currently stand.
Click this link for the official list of projects and then read on to learn more about their status.
100 West Water Street
The City of Elmira received $4 million for this anchor project, a mixed-use development that is also the first new construction downtown in quite a while. 100 West Water is a four-story building with 51 gorgeous market-rate apartments. The developer had fully leased the apartments within two weeks of their opening in April. The building also includes approximately 17,000 sf of ground-floor retail and commercial space as well as a landscaped area facing Clemens Square to the north. The businesses here include LaBella Associates, a Rochester-based engineering and design firm, and Wells Fargo bank. We will share any public information on the tenant for the last available space as soon as we hear it.
Lake Street Pedestrian Bridge
The Lake Street Pedestrian Bridge is a former vehicular bridge that closed due to structural concerns several years ago. LaBella and TWLA, the Ithaca-based landscape design firm, are polishing up designs for conversion of the bridge for bicycle and pedestrian use, with construction set to occur in 2020. The estimated date for the bridge to open is August 2020. The bridge rehab will provide another linkage in the bike and pedestrian network that we are continuing to build in Elmira, and will encourage more residents to walk downtown and enjoy Chemung River views. For more information, see our previous post about bridges.
Centertown Parking Garage / Clemens Square / Riverfront Park Boardwalk
We are discussing these three projects together as they are all part of one contract led by Hunt Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors (HUNT) with design assistance from Whitham Planning and Design. The consultant team is in the design phase on all three projects, which will likely go out to bid in November and begin construction in spring 2020. As noted above, these include a $1,000,000 rehabilitation of the 40 year-old Centertown Parking Garage. The 735-car garage will undergo corrective maintenance items such as lighting and safety, and some aesthetic enhancements (TBD), providing a more pleasant parking experience for visitors to nearby businesses and activities. Clemens Square, located between the parking garage and 100 West Water, will also receive a $1.25 million facelift as part of this project. Plans to make this public space more inviting will enhance walkability, as it connects many of our downtown assets. It will also provide a new adaptable space for programs, events and outdoor eating and drinking. Finally, the project includes improvements to nearby Riverfront Park, including seating, planters, and other amenities. The goal for this area is to draw in visitors to this currently underutilized public space and provide an opportunity for better views of the Chemung River. Designs for all three elements of this project are forthcoming and we will share them here when available.
Activate Buildings Fund
The DRI included $1,750,000 to activate vacant and underutilized mixed-use buildings downtown. Building owners submitted applications for grants up to 25% of their project cost, and the City selected projects based upon many factors including overall impact on downtown. This initiative is ongoing through 2021. Several projects, including façade improvements at Langdon Plaza and the historic Werdenberg Building at 200 West Water Street, are complete. Others such as interior and exterior improvements to Roundin’ Third and Gerould’s Pharmacy on South Main are moving forward, and we hope to see enough momentum in the program by the end of this year to inspire another post – stay tuned.
(Note: The City folded the small business revolving loan fund into the Activate Buildings fund, in part due to need and the administrative costs of managing these funds.)
West Water Street Parking Reconfiguration
The parking on West Water Street is part of the Riverfront Park discussion (see above). While not part of the DRI, the City has in the past year retrofitted downtown parking meters to reflect the current century. Our meters now accept credit cards and coins. Huzzah!
Modernize Downtown Zoning
The zoning update is in full swing. E3/Elan Planning and Design and STREAM Collaborative are leading the effort to update the city’s zoning ordinance within the DRI boundary to reflect the comprehensive plan. For more information about the zoning project, visit the City’s website. This zoning update will utilize a Form Based Code to foster new opportunities for infill development that will prioritize the form and appearance of what future developments should be. The goals of the updated zoning approach aim to decrease rates of vacancy, increase the renovation of existing buildings, create economic incentives for businesses, improve walkability and create a sense of place.
Please note that the zoning committee is aiming for another public workshop in September and we really hope you come. Although the zoning update may not be the most exciting subject, it probably affects you.
The timeline for this project is to have the update largely drafted by the end of 2019 with adoption slated for early 2020.
A Final Note…
If you live in or around Elmira, you are probably aware of the many road and bridge construction projects currently underway. That is a wonderful thing. It is also one reason why the City shifted some of the DRI projects from the 2019 construction season to 2020. Busy seasons are great for the engineering firms, construction companies and local officials overseeing the work, but we have a limited supply of all of these things.
Please feel free to leave questions or comments below and we will respond to them as soon as possible!
Elmiraland is a website, blog, and social media presence dedicated to everything Elmira. Taking time to enjoy what’s around us; always looking forward to what’s next!
Spring in Elmira!
(Courtesy 4kphotoflight)
Well, it’s official. Spring has sprung! Which means frosty mornings, thawing yards, pink sunrises, and muddy shoes. Oh, and the occasional snow storm. But let’s not talk about that.
As I look outside on this sunny day with an impossibly blue sky, I’m thinking about Spring in all those feel-good, I-read-this-on-a-magnet ways. Spring is new beginnings. A promise of all that is green and wonderful. It’s satisfying breezes reminding us that not only are warmer days yet to come, but that everything exists in a cycle. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. Birth. Life. Death. Repeat. Right now, I can’t help but think about how Elmira fits into the cycle. I blame the blue sky.
Surely we have seen our Winter. Shops closed and businesses gone. Declining population. Vacant properties. Poverty. Crime. But now, I like to think that we are at our Spring. Budding businesses popping up downtown like little green shoots in flower beds. Think Downtown Grind and Turtle Leaf Café. New construction for the first time in decades. Look at the development at 100 West Water Street Apartments getting ready to open its doors. People moving here for opportunities like LECOM. Developers taking back long-dormant, vacant properties and turning them in to housing for all different income levels. Institutions and individuals collaboratively addressing poverty and crime. All of us working together as a community toward a better future.
As silly as it was impressive, the giant human shamrock coordinated by Elmira Downtown Development on St. Patrick’s Day was more than a new world record and fantastic PR event. It was proof–green and wonderful–of the unique spirit of this community. Our ability to come together. Bitingly cold, muddy, and with snow flurries dotting the sky, 1200 Elmirans donned thin green ponchos and formed that shamrock; hundreds more came to show their support. That’s crazy! And cool. And not something just any community would or could do. And THAT is Elmira.
I’m ready for Spring, are you?
Elmiraland is a website, blog, and social media presence dedicated to everything Elmira. Taking time to enjoy what’s around us; always looking forward to what’s next!
Who Wants to Help Set a World Record?
Let’s rephrase that … I mean, who DOESN’T want to help set a world record!
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that in our house, we spend a fair amount of time watching YouTube videos in which five bros utilize an exorbitant amount of money and energy breaking Guinness World Records on athletic feats. First of all, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, consider yourself lucky. Second of all, what I’m about to describe is going to be way more fun than watching videos at home. Speaking of lucky, taking part in the revelry below may also bring you good luck.*
*This is not guaranteed.
Elmira Downtown Development (EDD) is organizing–in the most amazing way–an attempt to form the World’s Largest Human Shamrock this Sunday in Eldridge Park. EDD is hoping to attract 1,000 willing participants, wearing kelly green, for a photograph in the shape of a shamrock. What better way to kick off your St. Patrick’s Day? Seriously.
Facebook event link … see you there!
Elmiraland is a website, blog, and social media presence dedicated to everything Elmira. Taking time to enjoy what’s around us; always looking forward to what’s next!
Elmira’s 5 Bridges … An Update
I just spent entirely too long trying to come up with an interesting title for this blog post. It didn’t happen. But hopefully the information below will be helpful for you, reader friends!
We have been fortunate to receive rehabilitation funding for all five of our river crossings. One of them – the Clemens Center Parkway Bridge – is complete, and the other four projects are coming up. Below is an overview, moving from west to east. (Please note that while the dates may change, this information is current as of February 2019.)
The City will rehabilitate the Walnut Street Bridge thanks to a BRIDGE NY grant, with an estimated start date of July 2019. In early July, closures will begin, but the project will maintain two-way vehicular and pedestrian traffic until 2020 (Date TBD), when the bridge closes entirely for construction.
The City will begin rehabilitation of the Main Street Bridge in 2021. The project will repair the bridge decay and enhance public safety while preserving the structure for another 20 to 30 years.
The Lake Street Bridge, closed to all traffic in 2011 due to structural deficiencies, will be open for pedestrian and bicycle use from March—June 2019, while the Madison Avenue Bridge (below) undergoes rehabilitation. After Madison re-opens, Lake Street will undergo its own rehabilitation as part of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI). The bridge will be a linear park connecting the City’s downtown and south side, while providing a new community gathering space and link to amenities such as Brand Park and the Lackawanna Rail Trail. State and federal programs, with cooperation from local utilities, are fully funding the project. Anticipated dates of construction are August 2019 through 2020, although some work will begin this spring. Note: the graphic above is a preliminary design concept from the public meeting and is subject to modifications during final design.
Finally, the Madison Avenue Bridge will undergo its rehab (also with BRIDGE NY funding) starting this week. On February 26, the city will close one lane of the bridge in order to add communication lines in advance of the rehabilitation. The project will maintain two-way traffic until mid-March when the bridge will close until late June. As stated above, the Lake Street Bridge will be the alternate route for pedestrians and bicyclists while Madison is fully closed to traffic.
Thank you to our pals at Chemung County Department of Public Works for this information!
Elmiraland is a website, blog, and social media presence dedicated to everything Elmira. Taking time to enjoy what’s around us; always looking forward to what’s next!