Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (IURA)

The IURA works to improve the economic, social, and physical characteristics of the low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods in the City and is responsible for the following activities: (1) administration of City's HUD Entitlement Grant; (2) issuance of loans for affordable housing and job-creating businesses; (3) sale of land for public/private-partnership urban renewal projects; (4) management of Cherry Street Industrial Park; and (5) development of grant applications.

Mission Statement


The Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency secures and manages resources to improve the social, physical, and economic characteristics of the City of Ithaca by expanding access to quality affordable housing, strengthening neighborhoods and the local economy, and supporting other community development activities.

IURA Mission Statement & Performance Goals (PDF)

2020 HUD Entitlement Program
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program
HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) 

City of Ithaca 2020 Action Plan

The Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (IURA) will be seeking proposals for projects to be included in the City of Ithaca’s draft 2020 Annual Action Plan.  CDBG and HOME funds are expected to be available from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for affordable housing, public facilities/infrastructure, economic development, and public services projects.  Projects must principally benefit low- and moderate-income (LMI) people, or remove slum/blighting conditions in the City.  Community groups, businesses, non-profit organizations, and individuals will be invited to submit proposals for projects to be funded through these programs.  Eligible types of projects include: AFFORDABLE HOUSING; ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; PUBLIC SERVICES; & PUBLIC FACILITIES.  More detailed information about the Call for Proposals and the application process will be published on this page by/on: January 7, 2020.

APPLICATION DEADLINE:  NOON, Thursday, February 28, 2020

A very preliminary/tentative Action Plan Schedule can be viewed via the following link:

Draft 2020 City of Ithaca-IURA HUD Action Plan Schedule

Free technical assistance from the Community Development Planner is available to anyone considering applying.

More Information: Please contact Anisa Mendizabal, Community Development Planner, amendizabal@cityofithaca.org, (607) 274-6553, IURA │ 108 E. Green St., 3rd Floor │ Ithaca, NY  14850  │  Office Hours: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., M-F

Green Street Garage Redevelopment Proposal

Disposition & Development Agreement (DDA) w. Attachments (9/5/19)

The Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (IURA) solicited proposals to redevelop the Green Street Parking Garage site for a project that increases housing choices and retains sufficient parking to meet current parking utilization, as well as additional parking demand created by the project. Other preferred uses include ground-level active uses on Green Street and a conference center. The IURA is authorized to negotiate the property sales price and the development program, subject to final City of Ithaca Common Council approval. The IURA seeks fair market value for the property, but expects deductions in consideration of community benefits provided by the project (e.g., below-market housing; reconstruction of public parking at developer’s expense). At its April 26, 2018 meeting, the IURA Board voted to re-open the original RFP process with a June 1, 2018 deadline for the submission of applicant qualifications. The following three such applications were received: Visum Development Group; Harold's Holdings; Vecino Group. The following four complete applications were subsequently received by the July 31, 2018 deadline. The RFP and all associated documents can be viewed at the following link: http://www.cityofithaca.org/bids.aspx?bidID=71.

RFP APPLICATIONS RECEIVED:

McKinley Development Proposal (3/1/18)

Visum Development Group Proposal (7/31/18)

Vecino Group Proposal (7/31/18)

Harold's Holdings Proposal (7/31/18)

IURA QUESTIONS & APPLICANT/STAFF RESPONSES:

Green St. Garage: Harold's Holdings - Response to IURA Questions (9/10/18)   
Green St. Garage: Ithaca-Peak Development - Clarifications to Response to IURA Questions (9/11/18)
Green St. Garage: Ithaca-Peak Development - Response to IURA Questions (9/11/18) 
Green St. Garage: Vecino Group - Response to IURA Questions (9/7/18)
Green St. Garage: Visum-Newman - Response to IURA Questions (9/7/18)

Green St. Garage: IURA Questions to Developers (10/5/18)
Green St. Garage: IURA Staff Responses to 10/5/18 IURA Questions
Green St. Garage: Responses to IURA Questions - Harold's Holdings (10/19/18)
Green St. Garage: Responses to IURA Questions - Newman-Visum (10/19/18)
Green St. Garage: Responses to IURA Questions - Vecino Group (Oct. 2018)
Green St. Garage: Report - Economic Benefit of Conference Center

Green St. Garage: IURA Questions to Top Two Applicants (11/5/18)

CURRENT PROGRESS STATUS:

The IURA Economic Development Committee (EDC) initially reviewed and discussed the applications at its August 21, 2018 meeting. On September 14, 2018, the Committee reviewed and numerically ranked the four applications, which formed the basis of its recommendation to the IURA Board.  The IURA Board reviewed and discussed the rankings at its September 27th, 2018 meeting (including a Public Hearing), and subsequently ranked the four applications on October 25, 2018 (see image of table further below), recommending the top two projects to Common Council for discussion: Vecino Group New York, LLC and Newman Development Group, LLC. A joint Common Council-IURA Board meeting was held on Tuesday, November 13, 2018 to discuss the project and the two top-ranked proposals. A variety of additional questions and concerns were brought up at the meeting, which both applicants addressed in the following two documents:

Green Street Garage: Vecino Group - Final Proposal/Responses with Addendum (11/30/18) 
Green Street Garage: Visum Development Group - Final Proposal/Responses (11/30/18) 

On December 13, 2018, the IURA Board met, reviewed additional documents from the applicants, listened to additional public comments, and unanimously adopted a resolution designating Vecino Group New York, LLC as the preferred developer and “qualified and eligible sponsor,” authorizing entry into an Exclusive Negotiation Agreement (ENA) period with the sponsor for the purpose of structuring a proposed Disposition and Development Agreement. The Disposition and Development Agreement shall be subject to approval by both the IURA Board and the Common Council:

Disposition & Development Agreement (DDA) w. Attachments (9/5/19)

Green St. Garage Redevelopment: Exclusive Negotiation Agreement (ENA) (4/11/19)

ENA Submission for AsteriIthaca (Vecino Group) (6/21/19)

Green St. Garage Redevelopment - Approval Sequence - 10-08-19
IURA Green St. Garage Rankings - 10-25-18

Assessment of Fair Housing

The Assessment of Fair Housing is available for review via the link below: 

http://www.cityofithaca.org/DocumentCenter/View/6952

You can also view the Assessment of Fair Housing Goal Summary Table via the following link:

http://www.cityofithaca.org/DocumentCenter/View/7134

Please contact the following person with any questions:

Anisa Mendizabal
Community Development Planner
AMendizabal@cityofithaca.org

WHAT IS THE ASSESSMENT OF FAIR HOUSING (AFH)?

The AFH is an updated approach to looking at the fair housing landscape in order to set locally determined fair housing priorities and goals (e.g., are Ithaca residents able to achieve their housing goals; have Ithaca residents ever been treated unfairly in regard to housing; what could improve Ithaca residents' housing situations).

Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Data & Mapping Tool


The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule requires cities and towns receiving HUD funding to examine their housing patterns for evidence of housing discrimination. To facilitate this process, HUD created the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Data and Mapping Tool (AFFHT), a publicly accessible interactive web site for conducting the fair housing analyses required by AFFH. AFFHT is a public-facing application, so there are no user registration or access requirements. All users have the same basic permission to use the site. You can access the AFFHT by clicking on the following link:

https://egis.hud.gov/affht

Once you land on the AFFHT web site, you’ll see an introductory pop-up window, where you'll be asked to select the state and jurisdiction you’re looking for, and whether you want to view just that specific jurisdiction’s map, or a map of the entire region. You will then be taken to a subsequent screen where you'll be asked to select a type of map (e.g., "Race/Ethnicity," "Housing Choice Vouchers & Race/Ethnicity," "Demographics & Job Proximity, "Demographics & Environmental Health"). Once you find the type of map you're looking for, click on the "Go to Map" button located at the bottom-right of the application wizard. Depending on the type of map you select, you may then be asked to choose a specific data set for the map (e.g., "Race/Ethnicity Trends, 1990" or "Race/Ethnicity Trends, 2000"). For more detailed information about each map, including illustrated instructions on how to use the mapping tool, please refer to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) User Guide at the following link: https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/AFFH-Data-and-Mapping-Tool-User-Guide.pdf.

You can also click on the following link to go to a page containing tools, guidance, training, data/mapping, and other resources related to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/affh/resources/#tools-for-fair-housing-planning-under-the-affh-rule.

Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) Data Tables

  1. AFH Data Table: Table 1 - Demographics (5/31/17)
  2. AFH Data Table: Table 2 - Demographic Trends (5/31/17)
  3. AFH Data Table: Table 3 - Racial/Ethnic Dissimilarity Trends (5/31/17)
  4. AFH Data Table: Table 4 - Racially/Ethnically Concentrated Areas of Poverty (RECAPs) (5/31/17)
  5. AFH Data Table: Table 5 - Publicly Supported Hsng. Units by Program Category (5/31/17)
  6. AFH Data Table: Table 6 - Publicly Supported Households by Race/Ethnicity (5/31/17)
  7. AFH Data Table: Table 7 - RECAP/Non-RECAP Demographics by Publicly Supported Hsng. Prg. (5/31/17)
  8. AFH Data Table: Table 8 - Demographics of Publicly Supported Hsng. Develpts. by Prgm. (5/31/17)
  9. AFH Data Table: Table 9 - Demographics of Households w. Disproportionate Housing Needs (5/31/17)
  10. AFH Data Table: Table 10 - Demographics of Households with Severe Housing Cost Burden (5/31/17)
  11. AFH Data Table: Table 11 - Publ. Supp. Hsng. by Prgrm. Cat. - Units by No. Bdrms.-Child. (5/31/17)
  12. AFH Data Table: Table 12 - Opportunity Indicators by Race/Ethnicity (5/31/17)
  13. AFH Data Table: Table 13 - Disability by Type (5/31/17)
  14. AFH Data Table: Table 14 - Disability by Age Group (5/31/17)
  15. AFH Data Table: Table 15 - Disability by Publicly Supported Housing Program Category (5/31/17)
  16. AFH Data Table: Table 16 - Homeownership/Rental Rates by Race/Ethnicity (5/31/17)