The purchase consists of 8.5 acres, with an option for an additional 2.12 acres for a “nominal” price, Cayuga Medical Center said in a news release issued Wednesday.
The property is located along Route 13 between Cascadilla and 3rd Streets in Ithaca.
Cayuga Medical Center has been working with the City of Ithaca and a developer to create an expansion plan that will align with Ithaca’s “comprehensive” plan and “enhance” health-care services, the organization said.
The on-going discussions will produce a mixed-use development plan for the Carpenter Park location that will “invest in the viability and sustainability of the community,” the organization contends.
Cayuga Medical Center describes itself as the region’s largest health-care provider and the fourth largest employer in Tompkins County.”
“Over the past several years, our board of directors has been focused on expanding the presence of Cayuga Medical Center in the City of Ithaca. We were very pleased when the Carpenter Park property along the Route 13 corridor became available for purchase,” Larry Baum, chairman of the Cayuga Health System board of directors, said in the release.
The City of Ithaca’s plan calls for compact, mixed-use development throughout the city that expands housing and retail options for the public, and officials “look forward” to working with Cayuga Medical Center to “achieve these goals” at Carpenter Business Park, Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick said.
“Urban agriculture is another identified goal in the comprehensive plan, and we intend to work with [Ithaca–based nonprofit] Project Growing Hope and Cayuga Medical Center to identify a collective solution that will allow the Ithaca Community Gardens to expand and thrive,” said Myrick.
Development planning for the Carpenter Park site will continue, with plans to release a “detailed” plan “at a later date.”
Part of the planning includes working with Project Growing Hope, to come up with a permanent plan that will sustain the community gardens.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com