CAYUGA HEIGHTS — Kendal at Ithaca, a nonprofit continuing-care retirement community in the village of Cayuga Heights, recently announced plans for a $39 million expansion project launching late this summer.

The project will create about 20 new jobs at the facility, according to Kendal at Ithaca. The construction operations will employ between 250 and 300 workers for varying durations during the two-year construction period, the nonprofit said in a news release.

The village of Cayuga Heights planning board has reviewed and approved the site plans, Kendal said.

Kendal at Ithaca is also finalizing the construction plans and has filed applications with the state for the necessary approvals.

The organization wants to build a new one-story nursing home near its existing nursing home.

The new skilled-nursing home will increase the number of rooms from 35 to 48 and reconfigure them into three separate wings, each with 16 private rooms, says Betsy Schermerhorn, director of marketing and admissions at Kendal at Ithaca.

“We’ve known for a long time that we probably needed more accommodation in our skilled-nursing area,” says Schermerhorn.

The Business Journal News Network spoke with Schermerhorn on April 14.

The facility has wanted to move to more “person-centered” approach to care, so Kendal is referring to the wings as “neighborhoods.”

In Kendal’s case, a neighborhood has 16 private rooms, each with a private bath and a shower, “which is a big change,” Schermerhorn says.

“Not everybody wants their shower at 6 o’clock in the morning. So, if you have a shower in your room, it’s a lot easier for the staff to accommodate your particular desire, and that’s what person-centered care is all about,” she notes.

Each of the three wings will include a central kitchen, dining and living room, and adjoining outdoor space.

Besides the new nursing home, Kendal also wants to build a two-story building with 24 apartments near an existing swimming pool.

The new apartment building will bring the total number of residences living independently on site to 236, Kendal said.

“When you do a project like this, as a continuing-care retirement community, one of the ways you help pay for it is to build new revenue-generating units,” Schermerhorn says.

Kendal at Ithaca has to pre-sell the apartments.

“Those new entry fees … provide a significant amount of the funding,” Schermerhorn notes.

Besides the fees, Kendal at Ithaca is financing the project through a “combination” of sources, she says, including bonds and organizational assets.

The project will also create a centralized entrance and reception area closer to North Triphammer Road.

The new entrance and reception area will include a new café for dining and new rooms for a fitness center and aerobics, according to Schermerhorn.

“We’re adding some new space up near the new café, which is right near the pool, for that kind of programming,” she says.

Once a contractor builds Kendal’s new nursing home and the residents move into it, the contractor will then renovate the vacated space to house its residents’ care clinic and health services.

Once those services have moved, the contractor will renovate that space into “greatly improved” offices for human resources and facility services, Schermerhorn says.

“So, it’s like a dominoes game,” she adds.

When asked about if the facility had chosen a contractor, she could only reply, “We’re really close.” 

Two architectural firms, New York City–Perkins Eastman and Chiang O’Brien Architects of Ithaca, are working together to design the project, Schermerhorn says.

The project plans evolved over more than two years as the project-planning committee of the Kendal board of trustees studied the need and feasibility through discussions with residents, prospective residents, and staff, Daniel Governanti, executive director of Kendal at Ithaca, said in the news release.

“We concluded that both expansion and enhancement were needed. Our goal is to ensure Kendal at Ithaca’s viability well into the future by making the community an even better place to live, work and visit,” Governanti said.

The campus currently includes 212 independent-living residences, which includes 166 cottages, one farmhouse, and 45 apartments. Additionally, the campus also has 36 assisted-living residences and the 35 skilled nursing rooms.

Kendal at Ithaca is one of Ithaca’s larger employers with almost 250 workers, the nonprofit said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

CAMILLUS — Construction continues on Township 5, a massive development west of Syracuse that will create 500,000 square feet of retail, residential and office space, and play host to the region’s first Costco store.

“Things are going good,” says Joseph Goethe, a principal at the Cameron Group, LLC of DeWitt. The Cameron Group is developing the $58 million Township 5 project on 67 acres along Hinsdale Road, Route 5, and Bennett Road in Camillus under the Hinsdale Road Group, LLC moniker.

Work on the parcel of land for the Costco store is under way, with construction on the building to begin within the next 60 days, Goethe says. It takes about 110 days from when construction starts until the store opens, which puts Costco right on track for its planned September opening, he adds.

Along with being a popular “club” shopping destination, Costco is exciting for the area, Goethe says, because it will bring good-paying jobs to the market. According to a June 6, 2013 article on www.businessweek.com, the average hourly wage at Costco is $20.89, not including overtime, and 88 percent of employees have company-sponsored health insurance.

According to www.costco.com, the company operates 649 warehouse stores, including 462 in the United States, and will open 14 new stores by the end of August.

Other stores
The restaurant chain Olive Garden is no longer slated to open in Township 5, Goethe says. The deal fell through when Olive Garden’s corporate office put a halt on all new development. “We’re looking to replace them,” Goethe says, adding that Cameron Group is already in talks with other restaurants.

Work on five more buildings at Township 5 will start in May, he says. Tenants will include Longhorn Steakhouse and Frank Theaters’ CineBowl & Grill. Other tenants lined up for the project include Buffalo Wild Wings, Mesa Grande Taqueria, Papaya Asian Kitchen & Bar, Red Robin, Subway, Metro Mattress, Mystique Nail Spa, Sally Beauty, Chat Wireless, GNC, Hair Studio One, and Gertrude Hawk Chocolates. Cameron Group will also bring Hoopla! Frozen Yogurt to Township 5, adding to other Hoopla locations the company operates in the area, including Binghamton, Cortland, Auburn, New Hartford, and Utica.

Along with work on the retail buildings at Township 5, work has also included about $6.2 million in infrastructure work including relocating 800 feet of a National Grid gas main; improvements, including signal improvements, along the surrounding roads; improved drainage; and improvements to the area’s pump station to extend the town’s sewer district.

“It’s a lot of construction jobs,” Goethe notes. “It’s also a major public improvement to the area.”

Hinsdale Road Group received a 25-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement last spring from Onondaga County for the project and will make payments equivalent to the taxes, according to county records.

Morgan Management, LLC of Rochester is building 96 apartments, filling a need for more apartment space in the area, Goethe contends. The area’s apartment occupancy rate is about 96 percent, which shows there is a need for more space, he says. He believes the apartments, located near the back of the property in a residential area, will appeal to both empty nesters and young professionals due to the low maintenance required as well as the close proximity to Township 5 amenities as well as easy highway access to other Syracuse offerings.

Next year, Goethe says Cameron Group will move forward with the next phase of the project. “We are working a number of office deals,” he says. “We’re working on including an office park portion.”

Cameron Group is approved to build up to 40,000 square feet of office space that Goethe envisions housing a mix of businesses such as medical and professional businesses. “There’s a demand for professional space on that side of the market,” he says.

Headquartered at 6007 Fair Lakes Road, Cameron Group’s (www.cameronllc.com) current portfolio includes 2.3 million square feet of retail and mixed-use properties in New York, Florida, New Jersey, and Kansas. Cameron also leases and manages an additional 1.2 million square feet of real estate in New York.

Other Cameron properties in the region include The Orchard Plaza in New Hartford; Aspen plazas in Auburn, New Hartford, and Utica; and Moe’s Plaza in Utica.

Cameron is also working on University Hill in Syracuse, planned to open in 2015. The project will include a Syracuse University bookstore, a fitness center, and 8,000 square feet of retail space.

Contact The Business Journal at news@cnybj.com