- By Dan Veaner
- News
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Developer Eric Goetzmann brought an informal proposal for a small shopping center to the Village of Lansing Planning Board Monday. The idea is to locate two buildings that together would bring 30,000 square feet of retail space to be leased to small stores along North Triphammer Road. Goetzmann said that with declining traffic to the mall it is important to bring new forms of retail to attract customers and new stores to the properties.
"In 2000 we did the target and the Best Buy and the Borders, the Dick's," Goetzmann said. "We had to show that it's vibrant. Later came the Regal. And Michael's came in recently, and BJ's and the other ones. We've got to keep showing tenants that there are new things happening up here in order to keep the ball moving forward. This would be a nice combination to keep things going forward."
The two parcels are located north of the mall on North Triphammer Road, and surrounded by Hickory Hollow Lane, Butler Road, and Graham Roads, south of Ciao! Restaurant and east of the Ithaca YMCA. The two parcels include the old 'Imperial Buffet' restaurant, and a vacant parcel that was used as a staging area for the Village when Triphammer Road was redone.x
The Chinese buffet restaurant has been vacant for several years. It would be torn down in part because the the existing building is not in good shape, and because the grades on the property won't work for the planned project. That plan is to have the buildings and parking lots below street level, similar to the layout at Ciao! Goetzmann said that his engineers tried to work sidewalks along Triphammer Road, but because of the grade they can't be installed safely, noting that people will cut across parking lots whether you want them to or not.
Two parcels including the old 'Imperial Buffet' restaurant lot may be transformed into a small shopping center "I think it's time now to address these two parcels, because I think there's an opportunity," Goetzmann said. "When I came before the Planning Board 16 to 20 months ago we talked about rezoning this property to 'Commercial Medium Traffic'. Over the last year we've been doing a number of things at the mall so we really didn't focus on it. What's in front of you is a smaller center. The idea is to redevelop the two parcels to make them something more than the eyesore that they are."
Goetzmann said that if the Planning Board agrees to the project, plans drawn up, and permits issued, the earliest construction would begin is next spring.
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