Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (IURA)

The IURA works to improve the economic, social, and physical characteristics of low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods in the City and is responsible for: (1) administration of City's HUD Entitlement Grant; (2) issuing loans for affordable housing and job-creating businesses; (3) sale of land for public/private-partnership urban renewal projects; (4) management of Cherry Street Industrial Park; and (5) development of grant applications.

MISSION STATEMENT

The IURA secures and manages resources to improve the social, physical, and economic characteristics of the City of Ithaca by expanding access to quality affordable housing, strengthening neighborhoods and the local economy, and supporting other community development activities. Complete Mission Statement: IURA Mission Statement (PDF).

2022 HUD Entitlement Action Plan   

2022 Action Plan Schedule

 

The City of Ithaca’s draft 2022 Action Plan was made available for public comment from Friday, April 29, 2022 until 5:00 p.m., May 30, 2022 at IURA offices (108 E. Green St., Third Floor, Ithaca, NY 14850) and on the IURA website, via the link below:

 

http://www.cityofithaca.org/DocumentCenter/View/13890/Draft-2022-Action-Plan-PDF 

 

For a list of additional places to view a hardcopy, or to request a hardcopy, please contact the IURA at: (607) 274-6565.  Questions may be submitted to IURA via e-mail at: amendizabal@cityofithaca.org.

 

The Planning and Economic Development Committee (PEDC) of Ithaca Common Council held a Public Hearing for the draft Plan on Wednesday, May 18, 2022.  This hearing was the second of two Public Hearings to gain public input on development of the City of Ithaca’s 2022 Action Plan.  The public was encouraged to participate.  The Public Hearing can be viewed on the City of Ithaca’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7RtJN1P_RFaFW2IVCnTrDg.

 

Following is a summary list of proposed 2022 activities: 

 

2022 DRAFT ACTION PLAN

 

Activity                                                                        Sponsor                                          Amount

215 Cleveland Ave.                                                     INHS                                             $ 50,000

Homeowner Rehab Program                                    INHS                                            $148,640.81

Minor Repair Program                                               INHS                                             $ 40,000

Aurora St. & Morris Ave. Redevelopment              Habitat for Humanity of TCC   $ 70,000

Sears St. Development                                               INHS                                            $ 92,140.40

Security Deposit Assistance Program                      Catholic Charities of TT           $ 74,000

Security Deposit Assistance Delivery                       Catholic Charities of TT           $   2,500

Green Job Opportunities Through Reuse                Finger Lakes ReUse                  $ 61,934.65

Work Preserve Job Training: Job Placements         Historic Ithaca                           $ 67,500

Hospitality Employment Training Program             GIAC                                            $ 50,000

Catholic Charities Building                                         INHS                                            $ 66,170.44

West End Pedestrian Improvements                       City of Ithaca                              $ 55,000

2-1-1 Info & Referral                                                   HSC                                              $ 20,000

Work Preserve Job Training: Job Readiness            Historic Ithaca                           $ 20,000

Immigrant Services Program                                     Catholic Charities of TT           $ 30,000

GIAC Computer Lab                                                    GIAC                                            $ 10,689.96

Pre-Apprentice Program Work Services                  Black Hands Universal             $ 12,000

Latino Multicultural Center                                       No Más Lágrimas                      $   5,350

Economic Development Loan Fund                         IURA                                           $  50,000

CDBG Administration                                                 IURA                                           $126,666.60

HOME Administration                                               IURA                                            $  31,682.50

_______________________________________________________________________________

                                                                                    TOTAL                                          $1,084,275.36

PUBLIC HEARING

Proposed Disposition of Property

East Hill Fire Station Urban Renewal Project  

309 College Avenue, Ithaca, NY

 

A Public Hearing will be held at 6:00 P.M., Wednesday, August 17, 2022, at the Planning and Economic Development Committee (PEDC) of the City of Ithaca Common Council on a proposed Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) to sell the current East Hill Fire Station located at 309 College Ave. to undertake an Urban Renewal Project in accordance with Section 507 of New York General Municipal Law. The meeting is currently scheduled to be held in-person in Council Chambers (Third Fl.), City Hall, 108 E. Green St., Ithaca, NY, although an opportunity for remote public comment will also be available.  Please consult meeting agenda when issued on August 12th at: http://www.cityofithaca.org/AgendaCenter. 

 

Type of Disposition:         Purchase agreement for fee simple ownership 

Seller:                                   Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency 

Purchaser:                          311 CA Associates, LLC (“Sponsor”)

Property:                             Current Fire Station #2 property, an approximately 8,500-sq.-ft. parcel located at 309 College Ave., Ithaca, NY (Tax Parcel #: 64.-10-17).

Sales Price:                          $5,100,000

Project Summary:             309 College Ave. is proposed to be sold for $5.1 million plus acquisition of adjoining parcels at 403 Elmwood Ave. and 408 Dryden Rd. for City construction of new fire station. 

Seller Contingencies:       A.   Compliance with all terms of City/Sponsor Option Agreement executed on February 22, 2022, regarding the real property transaction.

B.   Completion of second phase of segmented Environmental Review — prior to transfer of the deed to the 309 College Ave. property to Sponsor, either the Environmental Review of the new East Hill Fire Station construction project shall have been completed or City shall have formally postponed construction of new fire station on properties to be acquired at 403 Elmwood Ave. and 408 Dryden Rd.

C.   Property Tax Revenue – execution of a 20-year Sponsor/IURA Payment-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes (“PILOT”) agreement requiring annual payment equal to property taxes that would have been due in the event the 309 College Ave. property becomes tax-exempt by any means other than an approved Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency PILOT agreement. 

 

City of Ithaca Common Council approval is required to approve above-referenced real property conveyance.  

 

Directions for submitting written or oral comments will be described in the PEDC meeting notice at the Agenda Center: http://www.cityofithaca.org/AgendaCenter. For more information, contact Nels Bohn at:  nbohn@cityofithaca.org. 

2022 IURA Adopted Annual Budget (10/28/21)

INLET ISLAND REDEVELOPMENT

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (RFEI)

Deadline Expired

 

The IURA sought conceptual proposals to redevelop underutilized public lands on Inlet Island.  An approximately 2.65-acre waterfront project site is available for potential acquisition and development.  The IURA sought urban renewal projects that improve the physical, social and economic characteristics of the project site and surrounding area, and advance goals and objectives of PlanIthaca, the City’s comprehensive plan and its Waterfront Plan chapter. These plans encourage the following land use objectives: Mixed-use development; housing opportunities at all income levels; public access to the waterfront; better multi-modal connections; and vibrant waterfront.  The goal of the RFEI process was to identify if any respondent’s schematic plan and development program would gain conceptual approval from both the IURA and Common Council as the basis for a proposed urban renewal project to redevelop the site.  The complete RFEI can be viewed via the following link: Inlet Island: Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) (3/3/21). The  Proposals Received, Scoring Sheet, & Meeting Schedule can also be viewed below:


Finger Lakes Development
Visum Development Group
Waterfront Alchemy

Proposals Scoring Sheet

Proposed Meeting Schedule 


On June 24, 2021, the IURA Board unanimously concluded that the top-ranked conceptual development plan for site was submitted by Finger Lakes Development, LLC.

Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH)

The AFH is an updated approach to looking at the fair housing landscape in order to set locally determined fair housing priorities and goals (e.g., are Ithaca residents able to achieve their housing goals; have Ithaca residents ever been treated unfairly in regard to housing; what could improve Ithaca residents' housing situations). The Assessment of Fair Housing is available for review via the following link: http://www.cityofithaca.org/DocumentCenter/View/6952. You can also view the Assessment of Fair Housing Goal Summary Table via the following link: http://www.cityofithaca.org/DocumentCenter/View/7134. Please contact the following person with any questions:

Anisa Mendizabal
Community Development Planner
AMendizabal@cityofithaca.org

Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Data & Mapping Tool


The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule requires cities and towns receiving HUD funding to examine their housing patterns for evidence of housing discrimination. To facilitate this process, HUD created the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Data and Mapping Tool (AFFHT), a publicly accessible interactive web site for conducting the fair housing analyses required by AFFH. AFFHT is a public-facing application, so there are no user registration or access requirements. All users have the same basic permission to use the site. You can access the AFFHT by clicking on the following link:

https://egis.hud.gov/affht

Once you land on the AFFHT web site, you’ll see an introductory pop-up window, where you'll be asked to select the state and jurisdiction you’re looking for, and whether you want to view just that specific jurisdiction’s map, or a map of the entire region. You will then be taken to a subsequent screen where you'll be asked to select a type of map (e.g., "Race/Ethnicity," "Housing Choice Vouchers & Race/Ethnicity," "Demographics & Job Proximity, "Demographics & Environmental Health"). Once you find the type of map you're looking for, click on the "Go to Map" button located at the bottom-right of the application wizard. Depending on the type of map you select, you may then be asked to choose a specific data set for the map (e.g., "Race/Ethnicity Trends, 1990" or "Race/Ethnicity Trends, 2000"). For more detailed information about each map, including illustrated instructions on how to use the mapping tool, please refer to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) User Guide at the following link: https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/AFFH-Data-and-Mapping-Tool-User-Guide.pdf.

You can also click on the following link to go to a page containing tools, guidance, training, data/mapping, and other resources related to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/affh/resources/#tools-for-fair-housing-planning-under-the-affh-rule.

Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) Data Tables

  1. AFH Data Table: Table 1 - Demographics (5/31/17)
  2. AFH Data Table: Table 2 - Demographic Trends (5/31/17)
  3. AFH Data Table: Table 3 - Racial/Ethnic Dissimilarity Trends (5/31/17)
  4. AFH Data Table: Table 4 - Racially/Ethnically Concentrated Areas of Poverty (RECAPs) (5/31/17)
  5. AFH Data Table: Table 5 - Publicly Supported Hsng. Units by Program Category (5/31/17)
  6. AFH Data Table: Table 6 - Publicly Supported Households by Race/Ethnicity (5/31/17)
  7. AFH Data Table: Table 7 - RECAP/Non-RECAP Demographics by Publicly Supported Hsng. Prg. (5/31/17)
  8. AFH Data Table: Table 8 - Demographics of Publicly Supported Hsng. Develpts. by Prgm. (5/31/17)
  9. AFH Data Table: Table 9 - Demographics of Households w. Disproportionate Housing Needs (5/31/17)
  10. AFH Data Table: Table 10 - Demographics of Households with Severe Housing Cost Burden (5/31/17)
  11. AFH Data Table: Table 11 - Publ. Supp. Hsng. by Prgrm. Cat. - Units by No. Bdrms.-Child. (5/31/17)
  12. AFH Data Table: Table 12 - Opportunity Indicators by Race/Ethnicity (5/31/17)
  13. AFH Data Table: Table 13 - Disability by Type (5/31/17)
  14. AFH Data Table: Table 14 - Disability by Age Group (5/31/17)
  15. AFH Data Table: Table 15 - Disability by Publicly Supported Housing Program Category (5/31/17)
  16. AFH Data Table: Table 16 - Homeownership/Rental Rates by Race/Ethnicity (5/31/17)