Cliff Street Retreat, Ithaca, NY

  • Not long after a custom metal fabricator vacated its small industrial space in Ithaca, NY, the property owner proposed to adapt the existing structure into a mixed-use development incorporating office, restaurant, residential, light industrial, and hotel uses. The industrial use was already non-conforming. The developer and city used the PUD zoning provisions to bypass the purely residential zone’s rules and take on this more ambitious project. The complexity of the site, existing building, and proposed uses required the PUD zoning provision, though the site (at 2 acres) is relatively small among PUDs. The PUD was approved and the terms of the PUD were incorporated into the zoning code itself. Incidentally, the thorough municipal review made the project eligible for State tax relief.
  • Ithaca’s PUD enabling bylaw
  • Cliff Street Retreat PUD District
  • Ithaca.com “Cliff Street Retreat sails through PUD public information session” (May 12, 2021)
An artist's rendering of the finished Cliff Street Retreat PUD Project.