The vacant building on the corner of College Avenue and Dryden Road in Collegetown long used by businesses and students as a place to hang posters and advertisements will be auctioned to the highest bidder on March 12. The auction will take place at 10 a.m. at the Ithaca Courthouse, according to Bruce Wilson, the local lawyer representing the property.
Location
The building, which housed two commercial properties at 402 and 404 College Avenue and residential apartments above, is located next to M & T Bank and across the street from Collegetown Pizzeria.
“There has been a lot of interest in the property,” said Wilson. “We have had over 30 parties contact us and inquire about purchasing the land.”
Bidding at the March 12 auction of the property will begin at $500,000. “We’re hoping it will fetch significantly more than this though,” Wilson said.
402 College Avenue has been vacant for a long period of time, according to Wilson.
Abandoned
Razzle Dazzle Hair Salon, which had been renting space at 404 College Avenue, recently closed so that the entire building could be sold. The apartments located above the commercial properties have long been “condemned and vacated,” Wilson added.
The property has been zoned by the City of Ithaca as a commercial property. However, it is likely that “there will be commercial properties downstairs and residential apartments upstairs,” Wilson said.
“The property is prime real estate located in a busy section of Collegetown,” he added.
Retail space would “cater to the college crowd,” Wilson said. While he would not speculate as to whether or not the entire building would be torn down or the existing building renovated, Wilson did comment that “the building is in pretty bad shape for renovations.”
“The decision will be up to the developer though,” he added.
“I’d like to see a good deli open there, one with delicious bacon, egg cheese sandwiches,” said Keith Greene ’04.
Thomas Pipala ’03 felt that “Collegetown could always use another bar.”
Archived article by Marc Zawel