A new model for development, workforce access, and regional opportunity.

By Melissa Suchodolski, Development Partner, SouthWorks; Chairperson, Ascend Workforce Solutions

This month the SouthWorks project team, in collaboration with Beacon Communities, Fagan Engineers, and SWBR presented our first housing proposals to the City of Ithaca and Town of Ithaca Planning and Development Boards.

Robert Lewis, Development Project Manager — SouthWorks

Two members of Cornell’s on-campus business incubators will soon expand their businesses in Ithaca, creating local jobs and building capacity for future startups to grow in the region. 

SouthWorks Wins NYS ACHIEVE Competition. With $38 Million Award, SouthWorks Looks to Next Phase of Development.

The two-day festival, organized by SouthWorks and Ithaca Murals, invited 10 local, regional and national artists to adorn the abandoned factory walls with original designs.

SouthWorks hosts Ithaca’s inaugural Mural Invitational in collaboration with Ithaca Murals. During the Invitational, muralists will complete 10 large-scale original works and lead a variety of hands-on and arts-focused activities, including community paint sessions, mural technique workshops, and artist talks.

This pop-up academy is just one of several career-building initiatives to find a new home in SouthWorks. The public will soon have the opportunity to meet the leaders hoping to jump start the area’s workforce and to see the unique spaces they will inhabit, alongside other eventual tenants, including restaurants, stores and small-scale manufacturers.

Found’s new location is the former Morse Chain building, a historic manufacturing complex set to be repurposed into a commercial and residential neighborhood called SouthWorks.

On Tuesday, August 12th from 3:00pm-7:00pm, SouthWorks will be hosting its second annual open house, with opportunities for community members to learn about the project, tour the site, and meet incoming businesses.

This award, announced as part of the first round of funding under the County Infrastructure Program, positions Tompkins County to jump-start the development of mixed-income housing units on a long-vacant industrial site that is now ready for new life.

Originally built in phases from 1906 to 1971, the old factory would be rehabilitated, and plans include the construction of new residential buildings to create a 1.7 million square-foot mixed-use neighborhood comprising 28 adjacent buildings on 95 acres

SouthWorks is pleased to announce the first-ever Open House on July 30th and July 31st. Community members, prospective tenants, brokers, business incubators, and other interested parties are all invited to experience the current space.

SouthWorks’ urban planning partner and one of our design partners, KPF received an Award of Citation in the Urban Planning and Design category for their work on SouthWorks’ master plan.

What was once known as Morse Chain, Emerson Power Transmission Plant and, most recently, the Chain Works District, is being reimagined as “Southworks.” The project team, led by SHIFT Capital, L Enterprises, US Ceiling Corp, and XYLEM, intends to utilize the 32 acres to the benefit of current and future residents and visitors. The site plans to add to the sense of community that flourishes locally.

The state of New York has awarded $2 million to the City of Ithaca as part of the RESTORE NY program to jumpstart activity at the SouthWorks on South Hill.

The SouthWorks team plans on creating a mixed-use neighborhood which includes housing, technology, commercial, retail, industrial and manufacturing space to provide a boost to Ithaca’s local economy.

SouthWorks aims to transform the formerly industrial area into something that would benefit the whole community, and partners involved finally completed the real estate closing for the project just this month.

The PEDC and Common Council supported SouthWorks’ RESTORE NY grant application to receive funding to cover site specific remediation, demolition, and pre-construction costs.