Work begins on Cayuga Park project in Ithaca

ITHACA, N.Y. — Officials in Ithaca on Tuesday broke ground on the Cayuga Park project that will include Cayuga Health services, affordable housing, and retail space.

It’s located in Carpenter Park in the city of Ithaca, just off Route 13. Cayuga Health, Park Grove Realty, and community leaders participated in the Tuesday groundbreaking ceremony.

Cayuga Park is a multi-year project that is starting with the construction of the Cayuga Health Medical Office Building, John Turner, VP for public relations for Cayuga Health System, tells CNYBJ in an email. The office building, which costs about $40 million, should be ready to open in the second quarter of 2023, he adds.

The new complex will house a large Cayuga Health medical location, offering walk-in Immediate Care; “Medicaid friendly” primary care; specialty services; women’s health; on site imaging; and a lab patient service center. It will also include affordable housing, retail space, and the Ithaca Community Gardens green space. 

Dr. Martin Stallone, president and CEO of Cayuga Health System, opened the ceremony by sharing the process and partnerships required to make this collaboration successful. “Cayuga Health purchased this land to focus on our community and the importance of access to health care in the city of Ithaca,” Stallone said. “This ceremony today is the culmination of a four-year process and great partnerships with the City of Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick, the planning department and the Common Council, [New York State] Senator Tom O’Mara, development partners Park Grove Realty and the DiMarco Group, Community Gardens and many others.”

Ithaca–based HOLT Architects, Whitham Planning Design Landscape Architecture PLLC of Ithaca, and Passero Associates of Rochester are designing the project, and the Rochester–based DiMarco Group is the contractor for the entire Cayuga Park project, according to Turner.

“The DiMarco Group has a longtime history of working with the city of Ithaca and Cornell to build communities,” John DiMarco II, president and COO of DiMarco Group and DiMarco Constructors, said. “We use a partnership approach to project management, which results in work that consistently meets and exceeds the expectations of those we serve to help make their vision a reality.”