IURA authorizes RFEI for 6-acre Cherry Street site; committee approves geotech and appraisal spending

The Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency’s Economic Development Committee on April 8 authorized staff to issue a request for expressions of interest (RFEI) to solicit proposals to purchase and develop part or all of the IURA’s six-acre site at the southerly end of Cherry Street.

The committee’s resolution sets the RFEI guidelines to prefer fair-market-value sale terms, allows eligible uses permitted in the Cherry Street district or via the planned unit development (PUD) process, and requires proposals to deliver at least one significant long-term community benefit. The RFEI scoring will weight economic benefit at 30 percent, community benefit at 30 percent, and respondent qualifications and capacity at 40 percent. The committee also authorized staff to designate one or more respondents as eligible sponsors and enter negotiated sales without further public solicitation if appropriate.

Why it matters: the site is one of the city’s largest remaining redevelopment parcels and the committee framed the RFEI as a means to expand the local tax base or attract living-wage jobs and other community benefits. The committee voted concurrently to authorize up to $10,000 for geotechnical analysis and up to $6,000 for an appraisal of fair market value, to be paid from the IURA industrial park account, so the agency can better evaluate offers.

Discussion and votes Committee members debated whether to restrict the RFEI to proposals that prioritize housing or those that prioritize employment and tax-base expansion. Several members noted the site’s zoning limitations: housing is not regularly permitted south of Cecil Malone in the Cherry Street district but could be proposed under a planned unit development application that requires Common Council approval and an extra community benefit.

A procedural motion to remove the RFEI’s second “preferred use” option (the version that more narrowly emphasized economic development) passed 4–1; Donna Fleming cast the opposing vote. The main resolution authorizing the RFEI, as amended, passed unanimously. The procurement resolution authorizing geotechnical and appraisal funds also passed unanimously.

Staff and public input Tom Knight, service deputy director of economic development for the City of Ithaca, addressed the committee during public comment and urged a marketing approach for the site. He said the city fields “very, very few opportunities for light manufacturing” and recommended casting a wide net to attract businesses that provide living-wage jobs. Committee members said the RFEI scoring and the committee’s later review of responses will filter proposals for economic impact.

Next steps Staff will advertise the RFEI and collect responses. The resolution instructs the economic development committee to review RFEI responses and recommend next steps, which may include designating qualified eligible sponsors for negotiated sale and beginning terms-of-sale negotiations.