On October 16, 2007, top officials from New York State, the City of Rochester and PAETEC Holding Corp. announced plans and funding in a public/private partnership to bring PAETEC's world headquarters to heart of downtown Rochester, N.Y.

On March 21, 2008, Governor David A. Paterson made his first upstate visit to affirm his administration's support for this project and our city.

On April 9, 2008, our Senate and Assembly delegations passed the state budget containing $55 million to enable the asbestos remediation and demolition of Midtown Plaza.

PAETEC, one of the largest and fastest growing telecommunications companies in the United States, has outgrown its Perinton, N.Y., location and plans to construct a state-of-the-art building in the heart of Rochester's central business district. The new facility will be built on a portion of property currently occupied by a 1.4 million sq. ft. retail-commercial mall complex known as Midtown Plaza.

The City of Rochester acquired the Midtown Plaza properties and with funding assistance from N.Y. State's Empire State Development and is moving forward with plans for the demolition of the buildings to accommodate the PAETEC project.

Midtown Plaza was once the retail center for the Rochester region. The complex opened in 1962 as the nation's first fully enclosed downtown mall. This pioneering development included a 1,820 space underground parking garage, hotel, office buildings, retail shops and restaurants and covered 8.6 acres of prime downtown real estate. Midtown remained a popular and vibrant destination point through the late seventies. By the eighties however, Midtown could no longer compete with the newer, spacious, suburban malls. Finally, by 1995, Midtown's three anchor stores (McCurdy's, B. Foreman, and Wegmans Food Market) closed. Today, Midtown Plaza has over 1 million sq. ft. (86%) of vacant space.

Over the past 20 years, the City of Rochester and the various Midtown Plaza owners have tried to revitalize the complex. While much of downtown has been experiencing resurgence in investment for market-rate housing for empty nesters and young professionals, restaurants and entertainment uses, Midtown has been left out of the renaissance.

The City included the properties in the New York State Empire Zone in 2002 in hopes of attracting investment to no avail. The inefficient building configurations and floor sizes have made it a challenge to attract the types of anchor tenants needed to revitalize the aging complex.

Further complicating these efforts was the cost to renovate the buildings. Extensive asbestos contamination is present throughout the 1.4 million sq. ft. building area. A study commissioned by the City of Rochester in 2006 estimated that the cost to remove the asbestos alone was over $40 million. In addition, it was estimated that renovations and building system replacements would cost another $100 million, just to get the property in a state for tenant build-outs.

The study also estimated the cost for total demolition (and asbestos removal) of the six buildings encompassing the site to be approximately $54 million.

In 2006, the City was approached by the Province of Parma, Italy, to create an Italian shopping experience in a portion of the Midtown Mall area. The plan was for the Parma government to bring over authentic Italian businesses to sell Parma products and merchandise.

 
It seemed that finally, an answer to the Midtown problem had been found. In anticipation of the City's purchase of the Midtown properties to facilitate the Parma project, an Urban Renewal District was created around the footprint to allow portions of the property to be conveyed to a developer at below market value. Ultimately, the deal with the Parma government and the associated developer never materialized.

The City was again left without any viable options to revitalize this large expanse of buildings in the core area of its business district. Contributing to the problem was the effect Midtown was having on nearby property values. Assessments of Class A office buildings around Midtown Plaza were decreasing. This was directly attributable to the blighting effects of Midtown Plaza. The City saw that the only viable alternative to the eventual revitalization of the 8.6 acre Midtown complex would involve its demolition.

In July of 2007, Chesonis approached the City with an investment offer if a "shovel-ready" site was made available at Midtown.PAETEC would move into the new building sometime in 2012 and, by that time, would bring in more than 1,000 jobs to their new corporate headquarters location with room to grow, forever changing the face of Rochester's skyline.

The Mayor immediately contacted the Governor to elicit the State's help in raising funds for the demolition and site preparation. The Governor responded with a pledge to provide up to $65 million for asbestos removal and demolition. As part of the Upstate Agenda, New York State is assisting Rochester reach its unique potential by helping to spur private investment and create jobs.

This development presents an unprecedented opportunity for the City to build upon. The remaining acreage not occupied by PAETEC will be offered for sale or lease, by the City, through a competitive process for development opportunities to the private sector. Already, the City has been approached by a number developers interested in purchasing parcels that will come onto the market in the next several years.

In order to meet PAETEC's goal of moving into their new building in mid 2012, the City and State have set forth an aggressive schedule for the project.
 

The City solicited proposals from consultants and selected LaBella Associates, P.C., to assist with the preparation of a redevelopment plan for the properties and an Environmental Impact Statement for the required State Environmental Quality Review. There are additional requests for proposals to hire consultants to assist with asbestos surveying and removal, demolition planning and oversight. It is anticipated that building demolition will commence in June, 2009.

The Rochester community has fond memories of Midtown Plaza, especially during the holiday season when, in its heyday, thousands would visit the mall to see "Santa's Mountain" or to ride the monorail. We are pleased that the famous "Clock of Nations" is being refurbished and will ultimately find a permanent home at the Strong National Museum of Play. The giant totem pole will be relocated to the Seneca Park Zoo. Although we are sad to see Midtown in its present state go, it is the general consensus that its time has come. The old mall will make way for a new high-rise building and create new opportunities to invest in Rochester.

Click here for a nostalgic five-minute film produced in 1963 by the Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. about Midtown Plaza.