DOWNTOWN ITHACA BUILDING A NEXT GENERATION CITY ROUND 4 DRI APPLICATION FOR THE SOUTHERN TIER REDC BASIC INFORMATION & T.O.C. 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 A. VISION 4 B. JUSTIFICATION 6 C. PROJECTS SUMMARY 12 PART 1 14 BOUNDARIES PART 2 18 A. PAST INVESTMENT B. FUTURE POTENTIAL INVESTMENT PART 3 39 TABLE RECENT OR IMPENDING JOB GROWTH PART 4 45 OF ATTRACTIVENESS OF OUR PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT PART 5 54 CONTENTS QUALITY OF LIFE POLICIES PART 6 57 ROUND 4 PUBLIC SUPPORT DOWNTOWN ITHACA DRI APPLICATION CITY OF ITHACA PART 7 62 DOWNTOWN ITHACA ALLIANCE TRANSFORMATIVE OPPORTUNITIES TOMPKINS COUNTY PART 8 80 CONTACT INFORMATION Gary Ferguson ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY Executive Director, Downtown Ithaca Alliance [email protected] PART 9 82 Tom Knipe LETTERS OF SUPPORT Director Economic Development, City of Ithaca [email protected] APPENDICES 113 Svante Myrick A. 2030 DOWNTOWN STRATEGIC PLAN Mayor, City of Ithaca B. DANTER HOUSING REPORT C. HUNDEN FEASIBILITY REPORT D. CLARITAS DATA DOWNTOWN ITHACA: A NEXT GENERATION CITY /// 2019 SOUTHERN TIER DRI APPLICATION /// page 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BUILDING A NEXT GENERATION CITY DOWNTOWN ITHACA: A NEXT GENERATION CITY /// 2019 SOUTHERN TIER DRI APPLICATION /// page 3 OUR VISION FOR DOWNTOWN ITHACA A VISION WITH LEGACY In 1997, a vision statement was created for Downtown Ithaca that has served the community for more than two decades. Created by the Ithaca Downtown Partnership, now known as the Downtown Ithaca Alliance, along with help from the City of Ithaca, this vision statement has been guiding redevelopment and revitalization and is reprinted below: “Downtown Ithaca is the economic, social, and cultural heart of Tompkins County. The Downtown Ithaca Alliance will strive to preserve and develop the central downtown core as the region’s center for banking and finance, business and professional offices, government and community services, downtown residences, and as a retail destination highlighted by unique specialty shops, restaurants, and arts and entertainment. Downtown serves people who live and work Downtown, City and County residents, college communities, and visitors and tourists.” As our DRI planning committee worked on this grant application we wanted to acknowledge and affirm this longstanding vision and then suggest that the Ithaca community is prepared to go beyond … to go to another level of downtown revitalization. This is a level that requires DRI support and assistance. The following represents our evolving Downtown vision, being clarified both for the 2019 DRI application and for our 2030 strategic planning work. We want our revised vision to be aspirational… something that will not come easily and will succeed only with a partner- ship with the REDC and State of New York: We aspire for Ithaca, Tompkins County, and our Southern Tier region to be regarded as one of the most desirable places for people to live in America. To achieve this aspiration, we need to create and nurture our Downtown center, the place people look to judge and evaluate our attractiveness as a place to live, work, and visit. WHILE AFFIRMING THE ORIGINAL, CORE VISION FROM 1997, WE SEEK A FUNDAMENTAL TRANSFORMATION OF DOWNTOWN THAT WILL MAKE ITHACA: z A visibly diverse and inclusive place that welcomes all; z An attractive and entertaining place that will serve as a magnet for prospective new residents and visitors alike; z A regional neighborhood that provides housing options for all incomes; z A place that businesses, especially technology and creative businesses, seek out to locate and grow; DOWNTOWN ITHACA: A NEXT GENERATION CITY /// 2019 DRI - VISION /// page 4 z A place that draws people who love the Southern Tier and New York State back to the area, for oppor- tunities, and to retire. z A center that is fully and efficiently connected with other key destinations in Ithaca, such as Cornell University, Ithaca College, and the waterfront, and is likewise connected to the balance of Tompkins County as well as the surrounding counties that provide the broad workforce we need to sustain businesses; z A place that graduating students and young professionals as well as alumni look to as a real and viable option for living and raising families; and z A place that leads and inspires the continued economic resurgence of the Southern Tier and Upstate NY. AS WE SEEK TO MOVE TO A NEW AND HIGHER LEVEL OF REVITALIZATION, THE FOLLOWING APPLIES: We want Downtown Ithaca to be a regionally significant, next generation city, a place that honors its history and culture while boldly anticipating and planning for the future. DOWNTOWN ITHACA: A NEXT GENERATION CITY /// 2019 DRI - VISION /// page 5 OUR JUSTIFICATION BUILDING A NEXT GENERATION CITY Like the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) itself, Downtown Ithaca is all about transformation. In recent years we have worked to build a Downtown that is welcoming, attractive and prosperous – a place that offers a high quality of life and serves as a magnet for Southern Tier tourism and innovative new businesses that spin out from our esteemed institutions of higher education. With the help of strong, collaborative public-private partnerships, we have worked to build a downtown environment and community that is frequently cited Statewide and nationally as a model for smart and successful urban redevelopment. We are now at a crossroads, a moment in our history when we will either take a major leap forward – a truly generational transformation – or we will stand still. We believe a major DRI investment in Downtown Ithaca is the key to unlocking our full potential and realizing the aspirational vision that we can see just ahead of us. Our DRI application for Round Four is a compelling template for transformational change in Downtown Ithaca. It outlines the critical infrastructure improvements, placemaking enhancements, and major economic development projects that represent the missing links along our path from being a good downtown to a great one. Individually, the projects proposed herein, would add new increments of strength, vitality and diversity to our downtown. Taken together, they represent a quantum leap, a catalyzing combination that will propel Downtown Ithaca to a new level of excellence while helping the Southern Tier soar as never before. For the Southern Tier to reach its full potential, all regional partners must work in harmony to leverage every available asset, in the process creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its individual parts. We are indeed stronger together, especially when we work shoulder-to-shoulder to advance our shared interest in a growing, thriving Southern Tier. With bold and visionary leadership from the Southern Tier REDC, we are moving in the right direction, thanks in part to DRI strategic investments in Elmira, Watkins Glen and Owego in the first three rounds. Yet achieving our lofty aspirations as a region depends on creating and sustaining a world-class symphony of cooperation and collaboration that includes every aspect of our region’s unique character, from our charming small towns that serve as gateways to our extraordinary natural attractions, to our growing centers of education and knowledge economy, to our powerful engines of innovation in next-generation advanced manufacturing. That’s why the time is ripe to supercharge Downtown Ithaca, to put us on a transformational trajectory that unlocks our highest potential. The continued growth and success of Downtown Ithaca is inextricably linked with the Southern Tier’s continued ascension as a State and national tourism destination, as a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurial investment, and as a welcoming, inclusive place to call home for young professionals, families and seniors alike. DOWNTOWN ITHACA: A NEXT GENERATION CITY /// 2019 DRI - JUSTIFICATION /// page 6 OUR ABILITY TO REFINE, REFOCUS AND RECHARGE DOWNTOWN ITHACA’S MOMENTUM DEPENDS ON OUR SUCCESS IN OVERCOMING THREE KEY CHALLENGES: 1) Solving our long-simmering infrastructure limitations, especially parking availability, to support current and future business growth and to improve ease of access that enhances the Downtown Ithaca visitor experience; 2) Ramping up key placemaking initiatives and Downtown infill developments, many of which are stalled and at risk of failure due to significant financing gaps that require public investment to move forward; and 3) Expanding our available housing stock to include a more diverse mix of living options, especially in the affordable, workforce and middle market segments, to mitigate the effects of a growing trend toward gentrification that makes living and working in Downtown Ithaca an increasingly expensive proposition. Overcoming these challenges through a partnership with DRI will indeed propel us from good to great, ushering in a new era of dynamic, transformational growth fueled by both public and leveraged private investment that will make Downtown Ithaca a Next Generation City and a key driver of regional prosperity for the Southern Tier. ABOUT DOWNTOWN ITHACA Downtown Ithaca is one of the significant attractions of the Southern Tier. Nestled between Cornell University and Ithaca College, our downtown is home to an impressive variety of specialty shops, Ithaca Commons a diverse mix of fine dining and casual restaurants, extraordinary theaters, world-class lodging, and historic architecture. Anchored by The Ithaca Commons, our car-free pedestrian mall, Downtown Ithaca hosts a multitude of year-round arts, cultural and entertainment events, including four annual festivals, monthly art gallery nights, culinary tours, free live music at our Summer Concert Series, and much more. We define Downtown Ithaca as the walkable core of our community. If the Ithaca Commons is the central hub, the balance of downtown stretches a mere 3-6 blocks in any direction. Then our downtown is Tompkins Center for History & Culture eminently walkable and compact. For the purpose of this applica- tion, our downtown area is identical to the city of Ithaca Downtown Comprehensive Plan study area (see Part 1: Boundaries). We selected this area because it serves as the geographic footprint of the Next Generation City we aspire to build with the help of a transformational investment from the DRI.