VMDO Architects

In the winter of 2023, VMDO was retained by Keuka College in the Finger Lakes region of New York to assess and provide feedback about how it might diversify revenue streams to ensure the future stability of the institution. Like many schools of its type and size, Keuka is operating in an increasingly challenging environment of competition with peers and escalating operating costs. VMDO was asked to help evaluate several beautiful but underutilized lakeside properties for potential revenue generation, along with determining whether its campus could be more strategically utilized to draw new students, and a broader pool of faculty and create an environment supportive of more diverse academic offerings.

The study was comprised of four phases: research, investigation, analysis, and synthesis/reporting. Reviews of existing documentation of sites and facilities were backed by extensive on-site observations and in-person evaluations of the physical characteristics of landholdings. Weekly meetings with stakeholders at the college and from the surrounding communities helped complete the assessment picture and guided the process of determining what local markets could support. In addition to early site visits, VMDO’s work included parcel size studies and zoning classification, zoning analysis, development of topography-specific “opportunities and constraints” guidelines for each site, utility-access mapping, cultural site impacts reporting, and accessibility studies – all designed to narrow the selection of sites to be considered for development.

Ultimately, the research indicated strong potential for development in three key areas: housing (both market-rate and workers housing), hospitality, and health and wellness programming. Using those as lenses for future improvements, VMDO created a range of studies for each of the four prioritized development sites, integrating the various project typologies into the existing natural settings while creating concept plans that functioned within the existing infrastructure capacities of the various parcels. Sites closer to the core campus were selected for more intensive development and public-facing programs like hospitality and wellness facilities to attract the region’s growing number of visitors looking for place-based recreational experiences.

Sites further from the energy of Keuka College’s campus were designed for a variety of housing developments, including high-density condos and apartments, to single-family, short-term rentals with direct access to Keuka Lake.