West Shore Apartments was born in 1967, more than 50 years ago. But our story begins even earlier, when we were newly arrived in Ithaca from the Binghamton region in New York State’s Southern Tier.
We were our own first tenants … on the West Shore of Cayuga Lake!
In approximately 1965, WSA co-founder and co-owner Bob Terry was offered a position at Cornell University. Soon after, Bob, his wife, Linda, and their two children wanted to relocate their trailer in Aetna, NY to Ithaca, NY.
While driving around Cayuga Lake, they didn’t find land, but found a building with 3 apartments. Unable to afford the mortgage payments for an entire house on their own, they borrowed money to purchase a building and lived in 1 of the house’s 3 one-bedroom apartments. They were optimistic they could rent the other 2 one-bedroom apartments.
That home was—and still is—on Taughannock Boulevard along the West Shore of Cayuga Lake… where West Shore Apartments was born. (Today, all three units are available for rent—with some upgrades made over the years, of course!)
West Shore Apartments moves into town and expands.
In the mid-1970s, we moved the West Shore Apartments office from Cayuga’s West Shore to our current home at 107 Worth Street, just three blocks from Cornell University and Collegetown. Since our office is located within our home—located right in the heart of Ithaca—we are always available for our tenants. That’s one reason we have never posted office open/closed hours.
Meanwhile, we continued buying and renovating properties throughout Ithaca, so that West Shore Apartments could expand its offerings and meet the needs of different renters.
By 1980, Bob and Linda Terry had six children, who’d all go on to graduate from Ithaca High School. Four of our six children also attended Cornell, allowing us to experience for ourselves what it’s like to be a college student tenant, what it’s like to be the parent of a college student in Ithaca, and what it’s like to “make Ithaca home” from many perspectives.
A second generation of family helps “Make Ithaca Home” for WSA tenants.
With a track record that dates back to the mid-1960s, we are one of Ithaca’s oldest, longest-running apartment rental companies. Since the beginning, we’ve been family-owned and -operated. Today, that tradition continues with our daughter Karla.
Karla Terry is an Ithaca High School graduate and Class of 1997 alumna of Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration. After building her earlier career in the hotel and real estate industries, she returned to Ithaca in 2011 to join West Shore Apartments and continue the family legacy of helping our tenants feel at home here in the Finger Lakes, just as we experienced ourselves when we first moved to Ithaca in 1965.
For us, “making Ithaca home” is deeply personal. We’ve been doing it for more than 50 years… for ourselves, for our children, and for our tenants and their families, who we’ve been privileged to serve. This is our legacy, our purpose. Every year we write a new chapter in WSA’s history, as we welcome the next generation of new and returning tenants to our properties throughout Ithaca. We look forward to serving you, your family, and your friends for years to come.
We’d love to help you feel at home and fall in love with Ithaca, just as we did. Contact us anytime so we can help you Make Ithaca Home, too!