The 176-space parking lot planned at the intersection of University Avenue, Willard Way and Lake Street, on the site known as Redbud Woods, is part of Cornell University's West Campus Residential Initiative (WCRI). The development of the WCRI began about five years ago, and from the beginning, addressing parking needs in the West Campus area was part of the initiative. The proposed parking lot was first approved as part of the WCRI plans by the Buildings and Properties Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees in December 2002.

This two-acre parcel of land, part of the historic Treman estate, has been owned by Cornell University for more than 50 years. In total, Cornell owns about nine acres of land in the University Hill Historic District.

In 2001 the university first applied to the city of Ithaca's Planning and Development Board for approval to construct the WCRI, intended to integrate the living and learning experience for undergraduates. The WCRI displaced a parking lot with 195 parking spaces. The Redbud Woods site was planned with fewer spaces as well as extensive landscaping to separate it from adjacent campus areas and roadways.

In response to community discussion and meetings, the original parking lot design plans have been redrafted several times to incorporate sustainable features such as the retention of numerous trees, a carefully designed storm water retention system and the preservation of historic elements. In addition, the parking lot site was shifted to preserve the original carriage path on the property, its elevation was raised to provide a more substantial buffer for residences on University Avenue, and the paved parking area was reduced to lessen tree clearing during construction and reduce run-off.

In February 2003, the city planning board granted approval for the WCRI but denied approval for the replacement parking lot. Cornell challenged the decision in court. In October of that year, the Tompkins County Supreme Court upheld Cornell's position and ordered the city planning board to grant approval for the parking lot.

But even before this decision was handed down, the city of Ithaca, in July 2003, designated the site of the new parking lot as part of a new historic district, requiring Cornell to obtain further approval from the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission (ILPC). In December 2003, the ILPC denied approval of the parking lot.

Cornell challenged the ILPC's decision in the Tompkins County Supreme Court, which ruled in June 2004 in favor of Cornell and overturned the ILPC's denial of approval.

In March 2005, the State Supreme Court Appellate Division gave Cornell the go-ahead to begin construction of the parking lot. The court concluded: "It is plain that [the ILPC] failed to engage in a deliberative process balancing the public interest in [the educational use] against the public interest in [historic preservation]." In reaching its conclusion, the five-judge panel said, "The record evidence shows that the proposed parking lot will have little, if any, impact on the surviving, original landscape features."

In April 2005 students opposed to the plans for the parking lot and seeking to preserve the site staged a sit-in in former President Jeffrey Lehman's Day Hall office, remaining there for five hours before being removed by Cornell Police. The same week, protesters had briefly locked themselves to a tree in front of Day Hall.

Construction plans were halted in June after protesters began occupying the Redbud Woods site.

Interim Cornell President Hunter Rawlings held a press conference July 13, announcing that Cornell would go ahead with the plan for the parking lot, turning down a request by protesters to put a six-month moratorium on construction in place.