Horseheads developer buys former NYSDOT property in Ithaca at auction for nearly $4M

Dugo purchased the 8.16-acre state-owned former DOT maintenance facility located on the Cayuga Lake Inlet at 683 Third Street in Ithaca at a live onsite auction held by the New York State Office of General Services.

The property has “extensive” frontage on the Cayuga Inlet, a tributary of Cayuga Lake. The home to a now-vacated DOT maintenance facility, it includes a 15,220-square-foot office building; a 4,000-square-foot storage structure; a salt storage dome, and a paved parking area that can accommodate approximately 45 vehicles.

The property, which is accessible from Third Street Extension, also contains an easement for the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, which borders the property.

Cuomo in May 2018 initially announced the relocation of the DOT maintenance facility from the waterfront to a new, 15-acre location adjacent to the Ithaca Tompkins International Airport to improve agency operations while making this waterfront property available for development. 

The sale of the former DOT property also “complements” the recently completed $34.8 million expansion and modernization of Ithaca Tompkins International Airport. It has a larger terminal with new passenger terminal gates and boarding bridges, and “enhanced” security measures, “all designed to ease travel and promote economic growth for the Southern Tier.” 

With the sale complete, in early October, NYSDOT will occupy a new “environmentally friendly” maintenance facility off Warren Road in the town of Lansing. The facility is located next to the “newly refurbished” airport and will serve as a “more appropriate hub for a modern transportation system,” facilitating all of DOT’s highway maintenance and snow removal operations in Tompkins County.