Founders Way
Founders Way is a newly constructed affordable and supportive housing development in the City of Ithaca in Tompkins County.
Project details
INHS purchased the former Immaculate Conception School property, located at 320 West Buffalo Street, from the Immaculate Conception Church in early 2019. The long-running school was closed at the end of the 2016-17 school year due to decreasing enrollment and increasing operating costs.
INHS redeveloped the property into a vibrant mixed-use community, designed to address high-priority local needs. The project includes affordable rental housing serving a range of household sizes and income levels, and space for The Learning Web and the Village at Ithaca.
The redevelopment of the site created 75 units of rental housing that are affordable to a range of household incomes and family sizes, adaptively re-using one wing of the existing school, preserving a circa 1850 Greek Revival house on the corner of Buffalo and Plain Streets, and restoring the residential rhythm of the streetscape by constructing two new groups of rental townhomes along Buffalo and Plain. In addition, INHS subdivided off the former school gymnasium, which was sold to the City of Ithaca for use by Greater Ithaca Activities Center, as well as a parcel on the corner of Court and Plain Streets on which four affordable for-sale townhomes were constructed.
The campus is located in the heart of Ithaca, four blocks from the restaurants, shopping, and employment opportunities on the Ithaca Commons, and immediately adjacent to Beverly J. Martin Elementary School. There are two public bus stops within 3 blocks of the site that provide access to grocery stores, pharmacies, home goods and Cornell University.
Immaculate Conception School Site
Home Inspection Class: In-Person, April 22, 2024
