Village Grove Apartments:
A Crescent Way Subdivision
Village Grove Apartments, part of the Crescent Way subdivision, is the development of a residential mixed-use, mixed-income project on a nineteen-acre parcel of land located at 46 South Street in the Village of Trumansburg, New York.
Project details
Village Grove will consist of nine market rate lots, ten affordable for-sale townhomes to be sold into the INHS Community Housing Trust, and forty-six rental units: 40 apartments in a two-story elevator building and two townhome buildings with three units in each. The project also includes a new facility for the Trumansburg Community Nursery School.
46 South Street
The apartment building will include a community lounge, laundry facilities for use by residents, and management and maintenance offices. The goal of the Project is to create an intergenerational, mixed-income community where seniors can age in place and young families can purchase homes in the very competitive local housing market.
“In addition to INHS’ affordable rental units, the Crescent Way subdivision will also include ten affordable for-sale homes that will be part of INHS’ Community Housing Trust, as well as nine lots for market-rate construction that are available for purchase from Sundial Development LLC. For more information on purchasing a lot to build your own home, contact Claudia Brenner at cbrenner@claudiabrennerdesign.com.
Rental applications will be available in late July 2024. Construction is scheduled to be complete by the end of December 2024.
About the developers
Village Grove is a partnership between Claudia Brenner, a local architect and landowner, HOLT Architects, a local architectural firm, and INHS, a 45-year-old not-for-profit based in Ithaca.
Established in 1976 as a partnership between residents, funders, and local government, INHS is a non-profit community development corporation affiliated with NeighborWorks® America.
Claudia Brenner has been designing homes and spaces for not-for-profits for over 30 years. Her architectural services focus on providing people with affordable solutions for their homes and helping non-for-profits make the most of their limited resources. She will be designing the affordable for sale homes and the nursery school.
With over 55 years of experience, HOLT Architects has a large and loyal client base, a passion for sustainable design, and decades of institutional experience upon which to build exciting and innovative futures for clients. They stay at the leading edge of how facilities positively impact today’s occupants and bring a specialized depth of knowledge to every project. HOLT will be designing the rental portion of the project,
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Village Grove?
Village Grove is a mixed-income, inclusive community that includes visitable/accessible rental and for sale homes as well as a nursery school open to anyone. It is envisioned as a mixture of affordable and market rate housing with home sizes ranging from 1 to 3 bedrooms.
Who is involved with the project?
Village Grove is a partnership between Claudia Brenner and INHS.Claudia Brenner is a local architect with a small practice in Ithaca. She has been designing homes and spaces for not-for-profits for over 30 years. She was employed in human services prior to her architectural education, working at Tompkins Co. EOC and Family & Children’s Services. Her architectural services focus on providing people with affordable solutions for their homes and helping non-for-profits make the most of their limited resources.
INHS is a 45-year-old affordable housing not-for-profit based in Ithaca that is dedicated to helping people of modest incomes find – and stay in – high-quality housing throughout central New York. We accomplish this in many ways: by providing low-interest loans to first-time home buyers, by building and managing well-maintained apartments, by helping people renovate the homes they own, and by providing home-repair assistance to seniors. INHS is a national leader in the affordable housing field and has been honored multiple times for creating “best practices” in the affordable housing field. INHS builds high quality homes and apartments that are certified for sustainability by the LEED and Energy Star programs.
What is affordable housing?
Affordable housing is usually defined in two ways:
- Affordable rental housing is housing where the family doesn’t pay more than 30% of its income on rent and utilities.
- Affordable for sale housing is housing where the family doesn’t pay more than 30% of its income on mortgage principal, interest, insurance, and taxes.
People moving into affordable housing have to meet some income thresholds. Once they live there they generally can stay even if their income goes up.
What kind and how many houses are included in the project?
At the moment we envision:
- Market rate lots – 9 lots that could have about 17 units.
- Affordable for sale homes – 10 homes as duplexes or townhouses.
- Affordable rentals – 46 apartments as townhouses and a two story elevator building.
How long will the project take?
The project will likely happen in several phases:
- Site work – all of the site work for the entire project will go in at the beginning. This will take about 6-8 months. The first phase of site work, affordable rentals, some affordable for sale, and the Trumansburg Community Nursery School would take approximately 14 months total.
- Affordable rental buildings – these buildings will be built at about the same time as the site work. It will take approximately 12 months to complete.
- Affordable for sale buildings – these buildings will likely happen in 2-3 phases. The first phase would happen along with the site work and the subsequent phases over the following 2-8 years.
- Market rate buildings – these buildings will be built as the lots sell. It is hard to say how long this will take; 10 years would not be an unusual time period.
The project will likely be built by one contractor for the initial two parts and then others later on.
Why are there so many rentals?
Tompkins County is one of the few upstate counties that is increasing in population. People are moving here but housing is not being built fast enough to accommodate them so housing is becoming less and less affordable throughout the county.
The need for housing in the County is well documented in several recent studies. A good resource is the County Website at the following address:
http://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/planning/housing-choices#
The rental housing is also a source of financing for the road and infrastructure cost.
Why townhouses instead of single-family homes?
Townhouses and attached homes are being built to make the homes more affordable and maximize the amount of green space. Attaching the homes lowers both the construction cost and the maintenance costs over the long term. Townhouses can actually look very similar to large single family homes by using good architectural details and high quality materials.
Who will own and manage the property?
INHS will own and manage them. There will be a site manager and a maintenance person dedicated to the project on site during the week. There is 24 hour emergency maintenance. The apartments and buildings are inspected yearly by funders to ensure they remain high quality and well maintained. INHS management and maintenance staff ensure that the tenants take care of their homes with regular home visits.
Are the apartments subsidized?
The construction cost of the apartments is subsidized when they are built but the rent is not subsidized. By using local, state, and federal housing programs INHS reduces the amount of debt from conventional lenders. With less debt to pay we can keep the rents affordable.
If they qualify, people who rent from INHS can use the federal Housing Choice Voucher program to pay part of their rent. INHS does not discriminate based on people’s type of income. INHS does not control or administer these vouchers.
Have you built similar projects elsewhere?
Every project we build is unique, designed for the need and area. We have built projects ranging from 35 to 98 units. Some are all rental or all homeownership, some are family oriented or dedicated to seniors. Examples include single family homes, townhouses and mid-rise apartment buildings. Several of our housing complexes include community, recreation and education space to provide additional benefits residents and their neighbors.
Village Grove is a combination of all we’ve learned to date about all of these things, a mixed rental/homeownership project made up of 1-2 story buildings.
Is there enough capacity in the school district?
The Trumansburg School Superintendent has provided a letter that there is enough capacity. This letter was included in our submission to the Planning Board.
Market Rate Lots
Who will live there?
Who will own the lots?
Whoever buys the lots will own them. Claudia Brenner will have no stake in them after the lots are sold. Until they are sold they are owned by Sundial Properties, a company set up by Claudia Brenner.
Who will maintain them?
Whoever buys the lots will maintain the lots and the homes built there. Until the lots are sold they are maintained by Sundial Properties, a company set up by Claudia Brenner.
What kind and how many houses are included in the project?
At the moment we envision:
- Market rate lots – 9 lots that could have about 17 units.
- Affordable for sale homes – 10 homes as duplexes or townhouses.
- Affordable rentals – 46 apartments as townhouses and a two story elevator building.
How many people will live there?
That depends on how large a home they build. The site concept shows the maximum number of units that a parcel could legally contain but it is expected that most lots will not have the maximum number.
What are the prices for the lots?
The prices are not set yet. Prices will be set once the plans are adopted by the Village and construction pricing for the site is finalized.
Home Buyer Class: Virtual, Tuesdays in May (on Zoom)
