According to a Downtown Ithaca Housing Demand Study, conducted by the Danter Company in 2016, there is an overall housing demand in Ithaca. A demand also exists for 1,000 student-purpose housing units to be built in the downtown area. Entering into this contract with the owner, our target was to ensure the building was ready to house Cornell University students for the 2017 summer session.
Our integrated team of construction professionals previously delivered Buildings 5 and 6, a large student housing complex featuring four stories of approximately 241 apartments and 50,000 SF of underground parking. Based on this previous on-site experience and the solid foundation we’ve built with the owner, Welliver was brought on to manage the construction of Building 7, a new 330,000 SF building consisting of pre-cast parking garage and CFMF apartment building including 349 bedrooms.
Faced with a challenging construction site and a fast-paced schedule, the project suffered a 7.5 week delay due to undocumented asbestos piping discovered in the ground as well as the geotechnical rock profile being inaccurate. This resulted in more than doubling the depth of caissons. Using new LEAN Construction scheduling techniques, Welliver’s performance on the foundations and aggressive schedule overlap ensured an on-time project delivery. In addition, our team adhered to a strict noise ordinance which limited our ability to work as aggressively as possible. The owner was especially sensitive to this given the close proximity to students in session. We planned the work strategically, allowing for loud construction activity during specific, approved timeframes.
