HomeMy WebLinkAboutUniversity Avenue - Construction of Milstein Hall (8 2007) Bill Gray- Re: University Ave& BPW agenda for 8/1 Page 11,
From: Bill Gray
To: Egan, Shirley K.
Subject: Re: University Ave & BPW agenda for 8/1 Ike
>>>"ShirleyK. Egan"<ske1(aDcornell.edu> 7/30/2007 2:00 PM >>>
>Hi Bill -Thank you very much for sharing. I've been out for a couple C/
>of days, so I apologize for only now f 's
>responding to the information you provided. I have just two L"W -rrk :.
>thoughts that I hope you will consider incorporating into your
>analysis to the BPW and the Mayor:
>First, I think there is one other criteria that you should mention.
>That is the necessity of being in a spot where there is no required
>street set back in the zoning ordinance.
As you know, most districts in the city do have a required front yard
that would completely prevent a building over a road even where all
your other criteria are met.
>The U-1, B2, B4, CBD, WED2, and WF zones are the only ones that do
>not have a required front yard setback. This would narrow your
>search considerably since you would not need to search residential
>subdivisions for deeded streets, or in fact, any residential
>districts, or any Industrial, Courthouse Special Use, Marine
>Commercial, and other and sundry districts, or any of the other 3
>Business districts for instances where an over-street building could
>ever occur.
>In the case of the U-1 zone(basically the Cornell campus), the
>absence of a set back is limited in a way that the other districts
>are not. In the U-1 district,where a building is within 100 feet
>of a residential zone, and there is a public street separating the
>U-1 zone on one side of the street and the residential zone is on
>the other side of the street,then the building has to be set back
>the distance at least equal to the set back required of that
>residential zone. The same is not true where a residential district
>adjoins another district that has no front yard setbck requirement
>(although perhaps the city should consider this for them as well).
Second, your point#5 about location was an excellent one, because
that is precisely the most important factor here. You seem to be
questioning whether it is significant enough in this case, so I want
to be sure to provide you with more information.
The irreplaceable and unique nature of this location, and its
proximity to other things, truly tells the story. It is critically
important that the College of Architecture,Art and Planning stay in
the academic core of the campus, close especially to the art museum
and to the College of Arts and Sciences which offers many of the
classes in history of art and history of architecture that are course
requirements of students in Architecture, Art and Planning. When
was a student in Cornell architecture my classmates and I took many
required classes in Goldwyn Smith Hall in art or architecture
history, spending hours in the art museum (the Johnson wasn't built
---------- -- — --------- ---- —
(PY8/2007) Bill Gray- Re University Ave& BPW agenda for 8/1 Page
yet then), as well as classes in other Arts and Sciences departments,
such theatre stage design, psychology, government, literature, or
sociology,to fulfill our required and elective distribution outside
of the college and the department of architecture.The classes we
took in engineering or landscape architecture were further, but still
easily walkable.
Being already invested in four buildings compounds the importance of
the present location. I can assure you that it is no simple matter
to pick up and move an entire college. Nor is it easy to find a
site or an existing buildings in the right location that is
conveniently vacant and waiting for a program as large as what is
currently housed in the Foundry, and Tjaden, Sibley, Rand Halls,
the four buildings that comprise the College.
The moving of the Johnson Business School was doubtless the last
remaining opportunity for something of that nature, albeit on a small
scale. The other major moves you refer to happened many, many
decades ago when building space requirements were smaller and vacant
spaces were larger. The luxury of such flexibility has not existed
for more than 70 years,when the Engineering College moved. The
moving of the Johnson School was only possible because it occupied
but one building, and the new building it moved into, Sage Hall, had
been originally built as a dormitory and had remained as a dormitory
on the central campus longer than any others. Thus it had never been
built for, or expanded into, by any one particular college. It held
a collection of miscellaneous uses that had incrementally moved into
it as the need for central campus housing became progressively more
obsolete. Thus, it was relatively easy to disperse the assorted uses
at Sage Hall into a wide variety of appropriate alternative
locations. In the present case, everyone has thought and looked long
and hard before concluding that there are no suitable alternatives to
expanding the College of Architecture,Art and Planning on the
existing site.
Which brings us to the need for a building that would unite Sibley
and Rand on the second floors and closely, although not literally,
connect the Foundry. Architecture is the department that will
largely occupy Milstein Hall. Not all of Milstein's space will be
devoted to this department of course, and many spaces, notably the
auditorium,will fill a college-wide need. The architecture
department presently uses space on the second floors of east Sibley
and Rand Halls and will continue to need those spaces even with the
additional space that Milstein Hall will provide, so it was
essential that the 3 buildings be connected on the second floor and
provide an open layout conducive to studio-style collaborations and
learning. A railroad car of a building does not provide a good
layout for this purpose. Happily, Milstein's proportions also make a
closer connection to the Foundry possible, thus bringing the Foundry
from being the most isolated building to one that is closely linked
to what will become the most lively, happening place in the entire
college. It also provides an opportunity for an outstanding
transportation amenity that promotes alternative modes of
transportation -very important to a green building and a green
campus in the 21 st century.
` ($/8/2007) Bill Gray- Re: University Ave& BPW agenda for 8/1 Page3]
You may be aware that Cornell can be faced with similar situations
even where space is seemingly abundant. A recent example is the
Laboratory of Ornithology's new building which was actually built
squarely on the public right of way. There also, Cornell owned both
sides of the road and the underlying fee to the road, subject to a
public right of way, held on one half of the road by the Village of
Lansing and the other by the Town of Dryden.
Both municipalities readily appreciated the importance of maintaining
the existing site and the grounds with the ponds and wetlands that
attracted the bird species, its proximity to the Cornell campus (as
close as a bird sanctuary would likely ever get to a bustling
campus!), the Lab's investment in the surrounding outbuildings and
infrastructure. Both municipalities were very supportive when, after
we'd studied the situation and the alternatives, we said that the
best direction for us to go without disrupting them was the build on
and over the road. They were cooperative in agreeing to moving the
right of way. The lawyers got busy and all the appropriate rights of
way and quit claims were exchanged. In that case, it was no slight
realignment like it is here; rather it involved a major shift to take
the road all the way around the site. As proposed here, it was
accomplished at Cornell's expense.
I trust this has been useful to you. Please do hesitate to call if
you have any questions or wish to discuss further. Cornell's decision
was not lightly made and I can put you in touch with the people who
are far more expert and involved than I !
As always, thank you for your kind consideration.
Cheers, Shirley
> Shirley,
> Hi, FYI, Here is the body of a note I sent to Dan and Carolyn,
>and plan to send to the board for their meeting. I hope this
>provides a reasonable response to the question that was
>asked...without actually answering the question that was asked.
>You'll see my feet shuffle.
> Now I would normally edit it a little more to send to you, but
>you would probably see or hear past the things 1 would edit or
>soften...so I didn't bother.
> I hope Ray accepts this...because the work to answer the question
>directly would be ...a lot.
(8/8/2007) Bill Gray- Re: University Ave & BPW agenda for 8/1 Page 4
> Bill
>Dan and Carolyn,
> This is a near perfect example of a question that is easy to ask
>and very difficult to answer, directly. Perhaps we can get at it
>indirectly, or at least limit the scope of the question
>substantially. It appears to me that you would have to have at least
>five characteristics in place for this to happen again.
> 1. The property owners and not the city would have to own the street.
> 2. A property owner would have to own property on both sides
>of the city street, that were directly opposite each other.
> 3. The width of the street would have to be undefined or
>defined as little more than an alley
>
> 4. The property owner would have to have unusual access to
>resources and a very long planning horizon.
> 5. Property values would have to be extremely high on the open
>market or the property would have to be irreplaceable to the
>individual owner.
> Notes on:
> 1. We know that in the case of the Village of
>Ithaca, Simeon DeWitt deeded the streets over the municipality as
>part of the original layout. The last expert on City property was
>the late Charlie Barber.Tom's comment to me was that we would have
>to go review a large number of subdivisions to know about the other
>half of the streets that make up the city.
> 2. It would take some time to sort through the
>property ownership to locate property owners that met this criteria.
>A few computer sorts of tax data could be used to locate property
>owners who held more than one property with a common street address
>and proximate numbers on that street. You have to be a little
>generous. 101 E. Green Street(library)and 108 E. Green Street
>(City Hall)are opposite each other. Because corner property can
>have addresses on one street and be opposite property with a
>different street address a specific computer search will not give
>all the candidates. There may be some new approach I am not aware of.
> 3.Most of our city streets are recorded in our
>streets records and have a width stated.(There is no entry for
>University Avenue beyond, east, of Chi Psi Drive. The western
>segments are 66 feet wide.)The streets are generally four rods
>(66'). three rods (49.5'), or 50 feet in width. A few notable
>exceptions are streets such as Cascadilla Avenue along the creek,
(8��8/20Q7) Bill Gray- Re University Ave& BPW agenda for 8/1 Page 51
>given as"13'and variable",or Cascadilla Park adjacent to the
>creek, given as"16'&25"', Dunmore at 35', and Hopper Place at
>40'.The thought here is that buildings are generally in modules of
>25'to 30'and it can be very expensive to build outside those
>dimensions because floors get too deep and building materials become
>relatively rare and expensive.
> 4. Building over a street would be expensive
>for anyone, and most would not attempt it because of the
>complications in getting permits, the difficulty in building over an
>operating street, and the expense of a non standard building frame.
>If you have to argue if you have the right to build the building
>first you have to have a lot of resources to devote to the idea in
>the first place and the time to make the plan work. Most businesses
>that need a building to conduct business in could not run the risk
>of time and money for an unknown outcome.
> 5.The expenses are enough to make most go
>some where other than a street to build a building.Land would have
>to be very expensive to make it worthwhile to create land out of
>thin air. Then the avoided cost of purchasing land would be high
>enough to compensate for the expense associated with the complicated
>building. Alternatively, an other factor would be that you simply
>had to be there and there was no substitute. The land (or location)
>was irreplaceable. If you have to have your offices at the New York
>Stock Exchange then you build over the operating subway system
>rather than go some where else. You want to expand the Louvre, so
>you build under the court yard and the adjacent streets rather than
>move to the suburbs.
> Conclusions:
> I don't see another place in the city, other than Cornell's
>campus, where all five of these factors will come together to result
>in a request to build over a street in the next thirty to fifty
>years. Changes in building materials, construction techniques, or
>property values (eg. due to zoning or utility availability)could
>modify that.
> It is not clear to me that the value of Rand Hall or the
>adjacency of Sibley Hall drives the case of Milstein Hall to the
>unusual conclusion that it must be built right there over the
>street. We know Cornell has moved many schools to provide new
>facilities over the last 100 years.Why should this one have to stay
>at this location, violating the space of the street and that of the
>Foundry?The finishes in the building are going to make this a very
>expensive building. Perhaps they can no longer see the premium cost
>of building over the street, let alone the impact on the street and
>the Foundry? Perhaps they have not seen the full premium because
>they plan on closing a city street to build a private building?
> Unless you disagree I don't feel I need to find all the other
>location in the city that meet the first two requirements for this
>to happen. The likely prospects are the private streets on campus
>which we don't control, most of which are too wide, or some place
>like Thurston Avenue which is similarly too wide. It is more likely
(8/8/2007) Bill Gray- Re: University Ave & BPW agenda for 8/1 Page 6
>that someone will want to tunnel under a street to connect
>buildings, or perhaps to cantilever out over a street for extra
>space and drama.
This information, transmitted from Cornell University's Office of
University Counsel, is intended only for the person or entity named
above, and may contain legally confidential and/or privileged
material. Any forwarding, copying, disclosure, distribution, or
other use of this information by any person is prohibited. If you
are not the intended recipient, any review or taking of any action in
reliance upon this information is strictly prohibited. If you
received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the
material from all computers. Thank You.
Shirley K. Egan
Associate University Counsel
Cornell University
300 CCC Building
Garden Avenue
Ithaca, NY 14853
Tel: 607-255-5124
Fax: 607-254-3556
_ — Page
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