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Southworks project reconfigured as Gateway in city; county awaiting ESD contract details for $1M infrastructure award
Summary
County staff reported that the Southworks project (now called Gateway) moved into the City of Ithaca side after tax‑credit-driven design changes; Beacon Communities is leading housing, the first two buildings will total about 100 LIHTC-funded affordable units, and the county is awaiting final Empire State Development contract terms (including MWBE and prevailing‑wage triggers) before bringing an award acceptance resolution to the legislature.
Deputy Commissioner Meghan McDonald told the committee that the Southworks infrastructure award from the New York State County Infrastructure Grant program has evolved: tax-credit financing and HCR guidance prompted the housing developer to increase affordable unit counts and split the buildings, which moved the housing footprint onto the City of Ithaca side of the property and led the team to rebrand the project as the Gateway.
"This will result in a 100 units of formally affordable housing," Meghan said, describing two 50‑unit buildings that are tax‑credit funded. She explained Beacon Communities is leading the housing effort and that Empire State Development staff will issue an updated award letter to reflect the ownership, location and contractual changes.
Meghan also noted the award is structured as reimbursement: the developer must incur matched costs (reported as a 50% match) and submit documentation to the county, which will then seek reimbursement from ESD and pass funds to the developer. She said county staff were still awaiting final written contract terms, including MWBE and prevailing‑wage triggers, before presenting a formal resolution to accept and pass the award to the appropriate contracting entity.
Committee members asked about environmental mitigation and contamination on parts of the property; Meghan said staff will follow up with specifics once they have more documentation from state and developer partners.
