Midtown stores ponder next move
Democrat and Chronicle

Customer support crucial as vendors decide future

Shoppers at Midtown Plaza know that PAETEC is coming soon, but they've been doing their part to make sure their favorite stores stay somewhere in downtown Rochester beyond the city's recently imposed 90-day deadline to vacate the premises.

"We must have 300 names just in the last couple months of people wanting to know where we're going," said Bob Colombo, owner of the Jewelry Clinic. "That's why I'm staying downtown."

Colombo said that 95 percent of his customers asked him to stay downtown, and that he would send out letters to everyone on his list once he knows where his business will relocate.

Frank Moretti, owner of Diva Shoes, plans to do the same.

"We've developed quite an extensive mailing list from people asking us where we're going," said Moretti.

"We have a very loyal customer base."

Earlier this week, vendors at Midtown received notices from the city informing them that they had 90 days to vacate, but that the city would provide financial assistance if they relocate within a 50-mile radius of Midtown.

R. Carlos Carballada, commissioner of economic development for the city, said that relocation costs will likely range from $3 million to $6 million. The city has enlisted the services of Flaum Management Company Inc. and R.K. Hite and Co. Inc. to evaluate the costs of the move and provide relocation advisory services to the vendors.

"Our job is to identify properties within the marketplace that may be suitable for relocation for the tenant," said Michael Palumbo, chief operating officer at Flaum Management. "There are spaces in Sibley's that some are considering, there are spaces along East Avenue that some are considering, there are spaces in downtown Rochester."

Though the city will reimburse the moving costs for the Midtown businesses, many vendors remain uncertain about their futures.

"The rent on some of these locations is not really feasible for most people," said Pert Pointer, owner of Pert's Boutique.

"We're small-business people, and in here it's affordable, but we have to build our business back up once we leave here and that's going to affect our income."

The Hallmark Gold Crown store will close down entirely.

"We're not relocating," said Anita Chamblee, the manager at Hallmark.

Colombo said it would probably take some time for him to build his business back up at his new location, but he has no complaints with the city.

"Whenever I call, they call me back and answer my questions," said Colombo.

"I can't ask for more than that."



Strong passes on Midtown clock, monorail
Rochester Business Journal

The clock and monorail at Midtown Plaza are not moving to the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester.
After it was announced Midtown would be demolished, Rollie Adams, Strong Museum president and CEO, said they began considering whether they could provide a new home for the monorail and clock.
“In fact, we were highly interested in the clock because of its relationship to automata and wind-up toys,” Adams said. Automata usually are made from wood and metal, and have simple mechanism such as gears, cams, ratchets or other mechanical parts.
The monorail was much too large for the museum, he said.
“And unfortunately, after we had an opportunity to study and measure the clock in detail and explore how and where we might use it here, we discovered that, despite our recent expansion, we do not have a public space in which we can display it in a safe and aesthetically acceptable manner either,” he said.
Paetec Holding Corp. plans to replace Midtown Plaza and relocate 600 employees downtown, with a price tag of roughly $100 million. Paetec expects to move downtown in 2011 when its new building is complete.


You guys have any ideas where they should go?



Webster wrangles Daisy Dukes bar
Democrat and Chronicle

Faux-country club will open in former Millennium pool hall
Daisy Dukes — the bar featuring country music, waitresses in the tiny shorts made famous by Catherine Bach and the requisite mechanical bull — is moving into the old Millennium pool hall at 2235 Empire Blvd. in Webster.

The faux-country club, which opens March 6, will be the area's second Daisy Dukes, although the connection between the two is purely paper, said Ronnie Davis.

Davis does own a Daisy Dukes in Syracuse, but his company, RDG Inc., merely manages the Daisy Dukes at 336 East Ave. in Rochester. According to Davis, the only clubs he actually owns in that area of the city are Vinyl and the Pig & Whistle. He also has "a small percentage" of Soho East.

In that neighborhood, RDG also manages A-Pub Live, the Ale House and The Bar, the space formerly occupied by the Chocolate Bar and Syxx. The lease on another nearby property, Coyote Joe's, ran out, and the building is currently empty.

According to Davis, a Buffalo company owns the Webster Daisy Dukes. "There's no trademark on the concept," he said, adding that he doesn't know what role his company will play in the new club.

In November, Davis' company abruptly pulled out of a deal to run an entertainment district in Raleigh, N.C. That situation remains unresolved. "Everybody's suing everybody else," Davis said.


Well its no worse than Millenium was? Can you say trashy?


Daydreams drive enthusiasts to auto show
Democrat and Chronicle

Latest models take a spin at convention center
The parts of your car not glazed with ice right now are powdered with road salt dust.

Meanwhile, the Ford F150 FX4 spun slowly on a giant carousel, lights reflecting off every inch of the large pickup truck's gleaming, spotless surface.

Nearby, the Suzuki Blizzard concept vehicle — a tricked-out Grand Vitara with roof racks, glove and boot warmers and custom studded snow tires — almost screamed "Winter X Games."

And downstairs sat the Lexus 9120C, with a dashboard like something out of Star Trek and a scent that mixed new car with money, something appropriate for an $83,400 sedan.

The 2008 Greater Rochester International Auto Show — Bali H'ai for gear heads — opened Wednesday for a five-day run at the Riverside Convention Center.

The event, put on by the Rochester Automobile Dealers Association, is a showcase for cars, trucks and SUVs of all kinds and costs, coming just before the spring thaw that usually signals the acceleration of the auto selling season.

Close to 100,000 people are expected to traipse through the show by Sunday evening, sitting in Saturns and taking in Toyotas.

Alongside the vehicles on display are the powertrain guts of a Chevy Volt, which General Motors Corp. plans to start producing in 2010 with both a rechargeable battery and a fuel tank powering it. GM's fuel cell research center in Honeoye Falls also is working on ways to create a fuel cell version of the Volt.

Randy Burney was a bit breathless sitting behind the wheel of the Mercedes-Benz S550, a $96,300 sedan.

"I'm in a dream," said the Rochester 42-year-old, who comes to the auto show each year to gaze.

But the S550 was just a brief fling. His heart belonged to the Infiniti QX56 SUV, with pricing starting at $52,000.

"I'm getting one," Burney said. "I didn't say I was getting one this year."

Ralph Alloco, 15, of Brighton is a little too young to drive yet — that comes next week. But he wasn't too young to luxuriate for a couple of minutes behind the wheel of a Corvette Z06, a low-slung piece of machinery with a 505-horsepower engine.

"It's so cool, so cool," he said after clambering out.


I went last night, good time for any car enthusiast.



This is a cool new feature the D and C will be doing along with their rollout of the new website. Check it out: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/BUSINESS/80227036/-1/nletter09&source=nletter-business
http://beta.democratandchronicle.com



Zale to Cut 200 Jobs, Close Stores
Chain Store Age

Zale Corp. said Wednesday it will close more stores and cut 20% of its headquarters staff to save more than $65 million a year.

The company said it would close another 23 stores, bringing the number it expects to shutter by the end of July to 105. That would leave about 2,145 stores and kiosks under several brands including Zales Jewelers and Piercing Pagoda.

Zale added it would lay off 140 people and eliminate 140 unfilled positions at its headquarters in suburban Dallas. Most of the $4 million in severance-related and other costs will be recorded in the company's fiscal third quarter, which ends April 30.

Zale also will cut capital spending from an expected $85 million in 2008 to $45 million in fiscal 2009, and reduce inventory by $100 million.

Last week, the company reported that profit fell 31% in its most recent quarter and that same-store sales declined a sharp 7.3%.


Another chain bites the dust.

http://cmsimg.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A2&Date=20080229&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=802290328&Ref=AR&Profile=1001&MaxW=550&MaxH=430
The Parry Building at High Falls was recognized because its design "respects the old and is sensitive with the new." The brick building, built in the late 1800s, features an interior with timber beams and wooden columns.

Parry Building draws eyes of top architects
Democrat and Chronicle

SEI Design Group honored for work on building
Renovation of the historic Parry Building in the High Falls district will be recognized with the prestigious design award from the Rochester chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the chapter announced Thursday.

SEI Design Group served as its own architect for the conversion of a portion of the former manufacturing plant at 224 Mill St. SEI's 25 employees now occupy the space.

SEI and the contractor on the project, DGA Builders Inc., will receive the design award at the chapter's awards gala Saturday night. Ten other projects also will be honored with citations and merit awards. Thirty projects were entered in the competition.

When Mayor Robert Duffy helped christen the SEI offices in October, he was visibly impressed with the renovation, which a contest jury said "respects the old and is sensitive with the new."

"Minimal impact of new construction allows vestiges of the building's old industrial use to stand out as pieces of art work," said the jury, which included architects from Boston, Cleveland and Buffalo.

All of the winning firms did work that exemplifies the effectiveness of good design, said Rich Pospula, president of AIA Rochester and senior architect with Hunt Architect and Engineers.

"The winners certainly reflect a diverse pallet of projects," Pospula said. "They reflect a certain level of dedication to the profession."

Brian E. Cieslinski, a partner at SEI Design Group, said the firm was ecstatic about winning the award. He said the Parry Building renovation came during SEI's first year as a business; the firm was started in June 2006. Almost a year later, in May 2007, the firm leased the space and completed the renovation by July, when the staff moved in.

Cieslinski designed the project with partners Stephen J. Klempa and Victor J. Tomaselli.

"We walked into the room and sketched the original concept on a little piece of trace paper," Cieslinski said. "Everything came together. It just took off."

The four-story brick structure was built in the late 1800s. The interior consisted of heavy timber beams and old wooden columns. Into that setting, the SEI design integrated an office layout of new glass walls and wood veneers.

The renovated space, Cieslinski said, "expresses what we do as a firm and provides space for our employees that is comfortable to work in."

Some of the other award winners included projects at several area colleges as well as in locales ranging from Ithaca to Madagascar, which were eligible because Rochester-area firms were involved.

Winning projects
In addition to the design award won by SEI Design Group and DGA Builders, here are other winners in the Rochester competition. Each entry consists of the project name, the architect or architects and the contractor:
Merit awards

Cary Graphics Arts Press Alexander S. Lawson Publishing Center at Rochester Institute of Technology: LaBella Associates and LeChase Construction Services.

Middle Reservation Road house addition, Castile, Wyoming County: In. Site: Architecture and R&R Builders.

OMEGA EP addition to the Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester: SWBR Architects and LeChase Construction Services.

Seneca Street Bus Shelter, Ithaca: PLAN Architectural Studio and Bergmann Associates; Streeter Associates.

B. Thomas Golisano Library at Roberts Wesleyan College: SWBR Architects and Leo A. Daly; The Pike Co.
Citations

James E. Gleason Building 9 addition, RIT College of Engineering: Chantreuil Jensen Stark Architects; Welliver McGuire Inc. and Rochester Davis-Fetch Inc.

Centre Valbio Research and Outreach Center, Ranomafana, Madagascar, Stony Brook University: In. Site: Architecture and Entreprise Malagasy De Genie Civil et De Travaux Public.

Wegmans School of Pharmacy at St. John Fisher College: Bergmann Associates and LeChase Construction Services.

Al Sigl Center Building 10: HBT Architects and Thompson & Dilcher.

Robert B. Goergen Hall for Biomedical Engineering and Optics at the University of Rochester: Perkins + Will and SWBR Architects; LeChase Construction Services.



Midtown businesses given 90 days to move
WHEC 10

Business owners in Midtown Plaza are wondering what's next now that they have less than 90 days to relocate.

With PAETEC planning to move in, tenants recently received a letter from the city letting them know they had 90 days to move out. While the news is disappointing many of the business owners we spoke with said they knew it was coming and will just try to make the best out of the situation.

Frank Moretti the owner of Diva Shoes said, "By my own choice I probably would've stayed here for much longer, but it's been taken out of our hands, so we have to move on and make a go of it somewhere else."

The City of Rochester is planning to help business owners with some relocation costs. The plan is to demolish Midtown by the end of the year.


Good news, movement!

Sharp looking offices

as an aside I don't find the Wegmans School of Nursing visually appealing at all...

City ranked 27th on environmentally friendly list
Democrat and Chronicle

Rochester is ranked 27th on a list of the 50 most environmentally friendly cities, according to PopSci.com, the Web site of Popular Science magazine.

The rankings are based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Geographic Society and government statistics for American cities with populations over 100,000.

The top three cities were Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Boston.

Each city was scored in four categories. The sum of the scores determined the rankings. The four categories were electricity, transportation, green living and recycling and green perspective.

Cities got points for using renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar power, for effective public transportation, buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, green space, such as public parks and nature preserves, and comprehensive recycling programs.

Rochester’s total score of 16.1 includes: 4.5 out of 10 in the electricity category, 4.4 out of 10 for transportation; 3.1 out of 5 for green living; and 4.1 out of 5 for recycling.

List of all cities: http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2008-02/americas-50-greenest-cities?page=1



RIT picked as host of Pollution Prevention Institute
Rochester Business Journal

Rochester Institute of Technology has been selected as the host of a new state Pollution Prevention Institute for research and design in environmentally friendly manufacturing methods, Gov. Eliot Spitzer said Friday.
The $6 million initiative—funded with $2 million set aside last year and $4 million in the governor’s proposed 2008-09 budget—is intended to promote cost-effective pollution prevention techniques so businesses can reduce energy costs, hazardous substances and wastes.
The institute holds great potential for job creation in new innovations from the institute and its partners, which include other New York universities and regional technology centers, Spitzer said.
“There is a shift developing in how we produce, distribute, sell and use goods and services,” Spitzer said in a statement. “This transformation is being driven by governments, private organizations, businesses and consumers for a variety of economic, environmental and social reasons.”
The state Department of Environmental Conservation reviewed proposals from universities across New York. A key part of RIT’s winning proposal included the creation of 16 technological laboratories through partnerships with Clarkson University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the SUNY at Buffalo, Spitzer said. Capabilities of the labs include environmental engineering of nanotechnology materials and printing applications at RIT; green processing and biofuels testing at Clarkson; polymer processing and testing at RPI; and sustainable chemical processes at SUNY Buffalo.
RIT also plans a partnership with 10 regional technology development corporations to help disseminate data, tools and strategy.
RIT will use $20 million in leveraged funding from public and private sources to augment the institute with technical programs, officials said. RIT also plans to tap into its existing programs, such as its National Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery.
RIT also plans a community pollution prevention program to help non-profit groups.
“The award of the Pollution Prevention Institute is an important milestone for the new Golisano Institute for Sustainability at RIT,” President William Destler said. “It will not only leverage the extensive expertise that RIT has accumulated in this important field, but it will enable us to collaborate with an extraordinary group of academic partners and technology organizations throughout New York.”
The 2005 federal Toxics Release Inventory showed New York companies generated 312 pounds of toxic chemical waste, with 42 million pounds released into the environment. Two years earlier, the state Assembly released a report saying the lack of a focused R&D center and on-site technical assistance for businesses was a major shortcoming in the state’s pollution prevention efforts.


Manning & Napier invest in growth by adding jobs
Rochester Business Journal

Manning & Napier Advisors Inc., whose assets under management grew by more than $3 billion in 2007, plans to add at least 25 workers by the end of the year, increasing its employment to more than 300.

With the new RIT Center, does this mean they are constructing a new facility on campus, or merely taking over existing space..?

I thought this was a very well written article that says what most people on this forum have known all along...Rochester isn't dying and has handled its rough patch from loss of manufacturing much better than many other cities have in the past. People really need to stop being so doom and gloom about things. I'm proud of my ancestoral home town and look forward to seeing it revive and hopefully live there agian one day. I may be coming up the weekend of the 15th btw. Anyways here's the article about "resilient Rochester"

http://democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080302/BUSINESS/803020356

Our manufacturing roots sprout jobs


Matthew Daneman
Staff writer


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(March 2, 2008) — Once upon a time, Rochester was a city that built things.

As recently as the early 1980s, factories churned out millions of cameras, photocopiers, auto parts, eyewear and gears. And the companies that did the work — Eastman Kodak, Xerox, General Motors, Bausch & Lomb, Gleason Works and so on down the line — employed 165,000 people.

But an economy that once depended on those jobs has had to find a different way in recent years as massive corporate downsizings reduced manufacturing employment to less than 75,000.

Yet, arguably, the region has weathered the losses better than many others in the same economic boat in the Northeast and Midwest, buoyed by a unique set of strengths.

"If you compare Rochester's experience with Buffalo and Bethlehem Steel, to Binghamton when IBM and the defense electronics business shrank ... we've done pretty well," said Kent Gardner, chief economist for the Rochester- and Albany-based Center for Governmental Research.

The local economy "could be worse off," said Jim Bertolone, president of the Rochester Labor Council, AFL-CIO. "A lot of people expected it to be. Our economy was more diverse than people realized."

The talent pools that helped build companies such as Kodak are a key strength that has enabled other businesses to spring up and keep the economy going.

NaturalNano Inc. in Pittsford is a prime example. The company makes Pleximer, a clay-based additive that strengthens plastic products while at the same time making them lighter.

Chief Executive Cathy Fleischer used to work at Kodak and most of NaturalNano's scientific team also came from the imaging giant.

"We're fortunate in Rochester there's so much material science expertise coming out of Kodak," Fleischer said.

By several benchmarks, the regional economy is stronger than popularly perceived. The amount of personal income in the six-county region — wages, salaries, pensions, investments, all adjusted for inflation — increased by 45 percent, to $37 billion, between 1975 and 2005.

The number of businesses in the region also increased steadily during the past 30 years, from 17,000 to 26,000.

Employment growth has been especially impressive. Three major fields within the vast service sector — health, education and professional services such as law, accounting, and science and technology — have added almost 55,000 jobs since 1990, enabling total employment to remain within 3 percent of its peak in 2000.

Largest upstate economy

According to a recent U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis study, Rochester has the state's second-largest regional economy, with the goods and services produced here totaling $38.4 billion in 2005, surpassing the more populous Buffalo region and trailing only New York City. And a new U.S. Commerce Department study pegged the value of Rochester's annual exports at $4.6 billion, making it the second-largest exporter in the state and 40th-largest in the nation.

But the huge decline in manufacturing has hit hard in many Rochester-area homes as well-paying blue- and white-collar jobs were lost. Kodak was the main example of that, plunging from 60,400 local jobs in 1982 to 9,200 today. Other big manufacturers, including Xerox and Bausch & Lomb, cut their local employment by at least half.

A watershed moment for the region came in 1992, when employment in services overtook manufacturing, capping a 10-year growth spurt in the service sector and cuts in manufacturing.

The manufacturing decline is part of a national, decades-long deindustrialization of urban centers. The impact, the AFL-CIO's Bertolone said, has been a decline in quality of life as many people make less money and the area's twenty- and thirtysomethings look for careers elsewhere.

Gardner, however, said that people shouldn't underestimate the quality of jobs being created.

"It's still fashionable to think of service jobs being lesser jobs than manufacturing. But that's really not the truth. ... The companies growing in Rochester are offering a high-value product and they can afford to pay a high wage. Paychex is a good example," Gardner said, referring to the payroll and human services company founded by Tom Golisano that employs 3,000 people locally and has a value on Wall Street more than twice that of Kodak.

Also, Gardner said, "think about Wegmans and the kinds of sophisticated functions that go on in Wegmans' central office."

Knowledge-based jobs

While inflation-adjusted average wages in the region have fallen slightly, Rochester Business Alliance Chief Executive Sandy Parker said the growth in health care and at area universities is offsetting some of that as more knowledge-based jobs are created.

Meanwhile, the small businesses that supplied the giants that dominated the economy have diversified their customer bases, Parker said. "They're no longer dependent on the Kodaks, the Xeroxes, the Bausch & Lombs," she said.

And some of those job losses were partly filled by companies that either spun off or grew out of Kodak, examples including Carestream Health Inc. and ITT Corp.'s Rochester-based space systems division.

"It's no accident that our employment numbers are flat even though we've lost 50,000 jobs at Kodak," said Dennis Mullen, president and chief executive of Greater Rochester Enterprise. "People who have left Kodak have been able to find other opportunities. We've been able to fill the leaky bucket."

The expertise and knowledge from places such as Kodak and Xerox have proven invaluable to numerous local companies. Started by a laid-off Kodak executive, Perinton-based technology company Scene Genesis Inc. has "yellow roots, if you will," said Chief Executive Ian Cunningham. "Most things do around here."

"A lot of the small businesses here geared around imaging have benefited from the employees coming out" of Kodak and Xerox, said Rexford Fisher Sr., CEO of Rochester-based imaging company Lightwave Enterprises Inc.

"It's not surprising that the area's very resilient," said Carestream CEO Kevin J. Hobert. "There are so many assets here in terms of the educated work force and creativity. Once you get through the shock of a couple of these big industries going into decline, you get a more distributed base of employment.

"I think it's going to be a strong community."

I love reading about how Rochester is making wonderful gains...hope they can keep it up.

From the law enforcement side I can say that the city is combating crime like crazy, it's pushing to the suburbs but thats natural really.

Paetec and ESL are HUGE news...lets just hope they happen. :)

I would say as someone in the business, crime is way down overall. I hate to jinx it but this zero tollerance seems to be doing the trick for now.

Was it you buf who was looking to be a part of RPD?

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Redevelopment plans along river move ahead

(Rochester, N.Y.) – The city will help pay for tenants to move out of River Park Commons.

The mayor asked City Council to allocate $800,000 for relocation expenses for the 43 remaining tenants.

Conifer Realty LLC plans to tear down the low-rise structures along Mt. Hope Avenue and replace the housing project with majority market-rate housing. The high-rise will be refurbished. The project is awaiting various approvals, including from Housing and Urban Development.

Built in 1975, River Park Commons has become an eyesore along the river. Many are not sorry to see it go.

“I think a change needs to be done. The apartments are worn down and I think to rebuild is a good idea,” said Joann Thomas, a resident here for 30 years.

Thomas has been in a holding pattern since the plans to demolish the apartments were announced several years ago.

“They said they're about to get things together, and inform the residents of what's going on,” she said.

An environmental impact statement is being prepared, and the city is already reviewing an application to rezone the entire site.

“Once it goes to the city then the city will have to review and accept it, then it becomes public comment and then the citizens can understand what's going on,” said Robert Boyd, Executive Director of the South Wedge Planning Committee.

Boyd’s group is concerned about how the new housing will fit into the neighborhood.

“The drawings I saw,” he said. “They all look the same.”

There’s no word on when the structures will be demolished.

Tenants will start moving this spring, and will have to be gone by fall, according to the legislation submitted to City Council.

City Wants Development Hiatus on Mt. Hope
WHAM 13

Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy wants a six-month moratorium on development on Mt. Hope Avenue between Elmwood Avenue and Raleigh Street, just south of Crittenden Boulevard.

The city wants to study land use, transportation, and planning for the corridor.

Resident Dan Hurley favors the development hiatus.

“We'd like to encourage folks to get out of their cars, get out and meet their neighbors, meet the businesses, walk up and down the streets,” he said.

The area could see growth in the coming years, as the nearby University of Rochester is now the area’s largest employer. The school also plans a “collegetown” on the west side of Mt. Hope Ave.

City Council has to approve the moratorium.

Duffy has also asked City Council to approve a study of traffic at Kendrick Road and Route 390. The study will look at whether an interchange on 390 is needed at Kendrick.

“That would help tremendously. That would eliminate a lot of the flow that you have here,” said Hurley.

Not everyone is happy about the proposed moratorium.

Randy Peacock is the architect for the couple who owns much of the strip that would be affected. He said traffic is inevitable along the busy commercial strip. Peacock thinks concern over traffic issues are behind the proposal.

Peacock’s clients want to build a free-standing Starbucks with a drive-up window, and lease another building to Tim Horton’s.

“There are two proposals here for drive-up window facilities, and because of opposition from the neighbors, the city is moving ahead to block this development,” Peacock said. “We strongly believe the city is doing this to rewrite the rules for developing in this area, to prevent the inclusion of drive-up windows.”

In the legislation that went to City Council, the mayor wrote, “The position of the Planning Commission is that a coordinated planning effort would better serve the area.”

City Council will hold a public hearing before the vote, likely to take place before the next meeting on March 18.



History shows our local legacy is solid, expert says
Big companies come and go, but ideas and inspiration are here to stay
Democrat and Chronicle

Rochester's economy has suffered the loss of many jobs at one of its best-known employers. While many predicted doom and gloom, Rochester has survived, even thrived, in the wake of these dramatic losses. In fact, many of you reading this don't know that General Dynamics ever had a presence in Rochester at all.

And I'll bet you thought I was talking about Kodak!

The General Dynamics name came to Rochester in 1955 through a merger with Rochester-based Stromberg-Carlson. By the 1970s, the company employed 5,000 and was a powerhouse of the local economy. Then came the announcement: General Dynamics was relocating to California and was closing down the local Stromberg-Carlson facility.

We know a bit about the General Dynamics story because of the work of an enterprising reporter, Malcolm Gladwell. You may have heard the name — a couple of best-selling books, The Tipping Point and Blink, have given Gladwell a new career outside journalism. From 1987 to 1996, however, he was the New York City bureau chief for The Washington Post.

For some reason (I asked, but he doesn't remember), Gladwell showed up in Rochester in 1996 and began asking around about the damage General Dynamics had left in its wake. By the time he filed his story, he had identified 17 companies that were somehow descended from General Dynamics. Interestingly, in 1996 those 17 companies employed 5,000 (perhaps that's why he figured that it was time to write the story).

Eastman Kodak Co. employed more than 60,000 people in 1982. Now the community's third-largest employer (after the University of Rochester and Wegmans), about 9,200 are currently receiving payroll checks from the imaging company.

Just like General Dynamics, however, Kodak has left a legacy in the form of many individual companies originally started in Kodak and spun out or started by individuals who left the company to seek their fortunes.

The most recent example — and the divestiture responsible for much of the reduction in Kodak's job count from 2006 to 2007 — is the sale of Kodak's health unit to Toronto-based Onex Corp. The new company is called Carestream Health.

In 2004, Kodak sold its Remote Sensing Systems Division to ITT Corp., creating the ITT Space Systems Division with more than 1,600 employees. Coincidentally, ITT Space just announced the sale of a very sophisticated remote sensing assembly to General Dynamics for use in its GeoEye-1 satellite.

What will be next?

Historically, Rochester's economy has done a remarkable job responding to the loss of jobs at Kodak. OK, we've had a slow decade so far, but this period of slight decline has corresponded with the steepest decline in Kodak's core business. Losses in Kodak employment in previous decades included significant local outsourcing, thus partially reflecting a shift in employment instead of a complete loss.

The General Dynamics story tells us that we can be hopeful that ITT Space, Carestream and many other companies formed from one-time Kodak divisions and by former Kodak employees will continue to contribute to Rochester's economy in the future.

Let's check back in 25 years and see what Kodak's legacy has become.



Big Pictures Appear Downtown
WHAM 13

Buildings and windows in downtown Rochester have been dressed up with giant photographs of everyday life in the community.

It’s part of the “Big Picture” project, and there is more to come.

Attorney Gerry DiMarco is working with artist Ken Sato on the project.

“When we see people smiling, we look at them as being happy and joyful. In the community we need more of that,” DiMarco said.

They’ve put up 30 pictures so far, most on Main Street. By the end of the year, they hope to have about 300.

“I live in downtown, my campus was downtown, so I just start thinking, OK, I can do something for downtown,” said Sato.

Sato solicits photos from local artists and then puts the pictures in a form that can be hung on buildings.

“I want to encourage people walking the street in downtown and that will stimulate more business,” he said.

The project may get a big boost from City Hall. Mayor Bob Duffy submitted legislation to City Council, asking for $65,000 to fund the project.

DiMarco and Sato are also looking for help elsewhere.

“We're looking for assistance from not only owners and tenants downtown, but basically businesses from all over the community,” DiMarco said.

Mystery firm may bring nearly 300 jobs to Wayne County

http://www.mpnnow.com/news/x1637678044

Shrouded in secrecy, Wayne County supervisors approved boundary amendments to the Empire Zone for a mystery company that is considering building a manufacturing plant code-named “Blackhawk” that could create nearly 300 jobs.

The project would be an expansion for an existing county employer, supervisors said they were told by the Wayne County Industrial Development Agency.

“I can’t express enough that for some companies the confidentiality can make or break whether they do something,” IDA Director Peg Churchill said of the need for concealing the identity of the company.

Following two public hearings without public comment last Feb. 21, lawmakers paved the way for Empire Zone tax incentives for a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at 1635 Commons Parkway in Macedon or a parcel on state Route 31 in Galen. The amendment is now on its way to the state for final approval. The Macedon plot is in the same vicinity as Rando Machine Corp., a company that specializes in custom machinery and fabrication.

Although kept in the dark about the company’s identity, Macedon Supervisor Bill Hammond said he welcomes the potential business and would like to lobby for the plant to be built in his town.

“I’d love to meet this mystery company,” he said. “I’d inform them of where we are going — where we see our future — and then they could use it to dictate where they see their future, too.”

The locations under consideration were chosen by the company through the IDA, Churchill said. Tax incentives from Empire Zone designation and payment and lieu of taxes (PILOT) programs are financial carrots the IDA hopes will entice the company to expand its operations in Wayne County.

Hammond said that although he would rather meet with the company’s decision makers himself, he knows that IDA is doing the best they can to keep the company in Wayne County.

The IDA made similar moves just three years ago when Garlock Sealing Technologies, Wayne County’s largest employer, considered moving south, closing its operations in Palmyra. Tax incentives and grant money from all levels of government helped fund the $30-million rebuilding of the 100-year-old plant and kept the over 450 jobs in Wayne County.

While Hammond hopes this mystery company chooses Macedon, the “most important thing is that they stay in Wayne County.”

Interesting tidbit of info there...project blackhawk huh? Interesting codename, would love to know what company it is...hopefully a new company from out of town, not just retaining 300 jobs

I would say as someone in the business, crime is way down overall. I hate to jinx it but this zero tollerance seems to be doing the trick for now.

Was it you buf who was looking to be a part of RPD?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Redevelopment plans along river move ahead

(Rochester, N.Y.) – The city will help pay for tenants to move out of River Park Commons.

The mayor asked City Council to allocate $800,000 for relocation expenses for the 43 remaining tenants.

Conifer Realty LLC plans to tear down the low-rise structures along Mt. Hope Avenue and replace the housing project with majority market-rate housing. The high-rise will be refurbished. The project is awaiting various approvals, including from Housing and Urban Development.

Built in 1975, River Park Commons has become an eyesore along the river. Many are not sorry to see it go.

“I think a change needs to be done. The apartments are worn down and I think to rebuild is a good idea,” said Joann Thomas, a resident here for 30 years.

Thomas has been in a holding pattern since the plans to demolish the apartments were announced several years ago.

“They said they're about to get things together, and inform the residents of what's going on,” she said.

An environmental impact statement is being prepared, and the city is already reviewing an application to rezone the entire site.

“Once it goes to the city then the city will have to review and accept it, then it becomes public comment and then the citizens can understand what's going on,” said Robert Boyd, Executive Director of the South Wedge Planning Committee.

Boyd’s group is concerned about how the new housing will fit into the neighborhood.

“The drawings I saw,” he said. “They all look the same.”

There’s no word on when the structures will be demolished.

Tenants will start moving this spring, and will have to be gone by fall, according to the legislation submitted to City Council.

well perhaps, I took the test for them in November, Monroe County as well...I'm interning in Brighton with their PD and I'm on the lists in Genesee County also. RPD seems like it would be a very active and fast-pace as far as promotion so it has it's appeal. Right now I have some work to do for DIA overseas and in Virginia but we'll see what works out when I get back.

Event aims to advance young professionals
Democrat and Chronicle

Many young professionals have complained about a lack of jobs in Rochester.

But some leaders of groups for those twenty- and thirtysomethings say it's all a matter of knowing how to network.

That's one reason the ROC City Coalition and Eastman Young Professionals have organized a mega-networking event later this month to introduce young professionals to established leaders in the community.

"We're bringing them together because there's a huge disconnect between the two groups," said ROC City Coalition Chairwoman Jessica Wood, a chemical engineer at Xerox Corp.

Organizers expect the March 19 event, called ROC City Rising, to attract 300 people.

The goal is for the leaders to share their knowledge and inspire the up-and-coming professionals, said Wood, 26, who is in Albany today for the Unshackle Upstate lobbying day.

For the past few years, young professionals have rallied for changes in Rochester to stop the exodus of young talent.

A year ago, the ROC City Coalition, an umbrella group of several young professional organizations, surveyed 1,666 people between the ages of 18 and 40 about living and working here.

The 2007 Greater Rochester Young Talent Survey Report revealed that 64 percent of the respondents wanted to stay in Rochester but that the two biggest obstacles were high taxes and a lack of good jobs.

"A big part is not knowing how to find those jobs," said Rochester Young Professionals director Maria Thomas, 32, who works for the city of Rochester. Social networking, she added, is key to any job search.

Since the survey results were released last year, Thomas said, about 500 people have joined Rochester Young Professionals and been active in organizing networking events or advocating for young professionals. The group now has 1,500 members.

Christopher Burns, the group's founder, is heartened by what is going on but believes job openings won't be immediate.

"There are some pretty positive initiatives, but ... it will take quite a number of years before an effect is felt, especially for young professionals," said Burns, 33.

Laid off from a marketing job in September, Burns said open jobs usually are filled with people who have more experience than the average young professional.

"Marketing is very saturated in Rochester from the supply side, but there isn't as much demand," Burns said. "There is a lot of need here for those IT and engineer jobs."


If you go
ROC City Rising will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on March 19 at the George Eastman House, 900 East Ave. Register at www.roccity.org.


Blang, this would be good for you, it worked for me. Speak to successful CEO's and perhaps find a new job?

I actually found a job, and have been getting calls about others ironically enough, hell, when it rains it pours.

Sounds like a great idea though, hopefully it is well attended, and can become a regular event.

I actually found a job, and have been getting calls about others ironically enough, hell, when it rains it pours.

Sounds like a great idea though, hopefully it is well attended, and can become a regular event.


Congrats!

So what is your new profession?

It was the same for me, when I got one interview, all of a sudden I got 7 others. Altogether I had 6 jobs to weigh, Im glad I chose my current company, Ive never been happier!

I actually work for one of the local news outlets...

I actually work for one of the local news outlets...

Nice, now you should know development news before us.

Brooks gives Rotary a Ren Square update
Democrat and Chronicle

Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks on Tuesday offered an update on the county's largest public works project in history to a community group at Oak Hill Country Club.

"My goal here today is to remind people what Renaissance Square is all about," Brooks told the Rochester Rotary Club, a friendly audience for the county executive.

Brooks tailored her words for the group, gathered in the club's ballroom, saying that the large public project relies on federal funds that would go to other capital projects around the country if they are not spent by the county.

"If I could use that money to reduce your taxes, I would do that," she said.

She also told the Rotarians that though they may never have a need for a downtown campus for Monroe Community College or a new public transportation center, two of the three pieces of the project, users of these facilities will create the need for more amenities downtown, which everyone will enjoy.

Renaissance Square was announced in 2004 as a $230 million project that would include a new campus for MCC, a performing arts center and a new transit center. The project has been hailed and also criticized. Some say project leaders have been too secretive for a project that is slated to expend millions in public funds. The group that oversees the project's progress recently appointed a records access officer and has pledged to be more accountable.

Funding for MCC and the transit center have been secured, but if the full $230 million cannot be raised, the facility will be built to the amount of money available, Brooks said Tuesday. Part of the project's budget, $20 million, relies on private donors.

A public presentation will be held in May.

By April 2009, the Main and Clinton Local Development Corp., a board that oversees the project, will decide whether Renaissance Square will be built.

Brooks did not break any news at the Rotary event but wanted to inform the community about the project and is looking at opportunities to make more presentations, said her spokesman, Noah Lebowitz.


Tyco to close Henrietta plant
Rochester Business Journal

Tyco Electronics Corp. will close its Henrietta facility this summer as it moves manufacturing jobs to its Chinese facilities in order to be closer to customers, the company said.
The electronics components manufacturer, based in Pennsylvania, told employees Feb. 21 about the closure, said spokesman Michael Ratcliff. He said the move would impact 41 local manufacturing jobs.
The 12 product engineering and related positions at Tyco will be moved to Tyco’s Elo TouchSystems facility in Henrietta, Ratcliff said. Elo makes touch-screen display systems, such as those used by football commentators to do the play-by-play on NFL broadcasts.




What do you guys think of the new D and C website? I like it, but stuff is hard to find, I guess Ill just have to get used to it.

http://www.station-55.com/Directionpage/Directions.jpg

Public Market hails Station 55
Democrat and Chronicle

Since leasing began three months ago, Costanza Enterprises Inc., developer of Station 55, has signed more than 20 businesses for the new retail-residential project near the Rochester Public Market.

The businesses include high-end furniture and accessories, fine jewelry, antiques, gift baskets, candles, African-American heritage items, clothing, gifts and a bakery.

Only six vendor booths remain available for leasing, according to Phil Damico, commercial and residential leasing manager for CEI.

"We're very excited with the progress," Damico said.

The public will get a chance to see the progress of Station 55's retail side and visit the new businesses at a ribbon-cutting and grand-opening celebration from 4 to 6 p.m. today at 55 Railroad St.

Mayor Robert J. Duffy and several city officials will be joined by members of the Costanza family for the grand opening.

Station 55 is a $3 million redevelopment of a former pharmacy warehouse that created 17 Soho-style lofts, an entire floor of market space for area artists and crafters and 10,000 square feet of self-storage in the basement.

Jim Costanza, president of CEI, said in a statement that the company was "proud to be one of the first developers to bring high-quality residential space into the Public Market area."

Jim Farr, the city's assistant director of parks and recreation who manages the market, called Station 55 the first major private investment outside the gates of the Public Market. The project, Farr said in a statement, "has had a major impact on the area."

Damico said the leasing of the lofts began in August and all were filled by October. Currently, there is a waiting list of 14 people. The loft apartments range from 700 to 1,100 square feet and have poured concrete floors, high ceilings and IKEA-furnished kitchens.

The vendor market opened in December with Damico signing the latest business on Tuesday.

Damico said CEI leased the vendor booths by sending out direct mailings to artists and a "lot of word-of-mouth." The Station 55 Web site — www.station-55.com — was also useful in bringing in businesses, he said.

Damico said negotiations are under way to bring a restaurant into 1,600 square feet of space set aside for a potential restaurant/food production area. There is an additional 4,000 square feet of commercial space still to be leased as well as about 60 self-storage lockers in the basement.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=group01
Have you guys seen the Young Professionals page on the D and C yet?


Corn Hill Landing to lose two businesses
Democrat and Chronicle

Corn Hill Landing, the residential and retail development on the Genesee River that gave downtown Rochester a boost when it was completed two years ago, will lose two businesses later this year.

Corn Hill Creamery, the ice cream shop that closed for the season in October, will relocate to Fairport, according to owner Mark Holbrook.

Holbrook said the biggest reason for his decision to close the ice cream shop at 290 Exchange Blvd. was the lack of business. During his two years of operation, "parking was a huge problem, and visibility from the street," he said.

Rich Port Pastries is closing also, but no definite date has been set by owner William Villanueva. The Hispanic bakery, open for 1½ years, also has a location at the Rochester Public Market.

Villanueva said the bakery at 298 Exchange Blvd. "did not have the right traffic flow to keep you with the location."

"The number of people could have been better," he added. "Parking being one issue."

As Villanueva and Holbrook cite the lack of adequate parking for customers as a factor in their decision to close, Paul C. Foti, executive vice president for Mark IV Enterprises, developer and manager of Corn Hill Landing, said there is enough.

Foti said the problem is that parking spaces close to the retail stores are taken by business owners and their employees.

Foti said Mark IV does not have a policy in its lease agreements with commercial tenants concerning parking. However, the company has sent memos, the most recent dated March 5, to tenants outlining the three types of parking for residents, shoppers and business owners and their employees.

Foti said there are 389 parking spaces: 115 in Corn Hill Landing and along Exchange Boulevard; 94 under the Douglass-Anthony Bridge; and 180 in the Corn Hill Center lot. Parking in Corn Hill Landing and on Exchange Boulevard is limited to two hours. There are an additional 104 underground parking spaces for the 127 residents of the Corn Hill Landing apartments.

Foti said business owners and employees don't want to park under the bridge and walk 300 feet. "They want to park 20 feet from the front door of the business which they should really leave for their customers," he said. "That's good customer service."

Foti said the 94-space parking area under the bridge is covered with gravel now. When the weather improves, the area will be paved and signage added to encourage Corn Hill visitors to park there.

Holbrook plans to reopen by early summer at 145 N. Main St. in Fairport. The new stand-alone store will have 60 parking spaces for his business.

"We went from nonexistent to a good parking situation," Holbrook said.

Villanueva is telling his customers of the closing by handing out fliers that explain they can still enjoy the bakery's goods at the location at 5 Public Market, near the Union Street entrance.

Holbrook and Villanueva both thanked their customers and the other Corn Hill area business owners for their business and support.

As Foti walked through the parking areas from 12:15 to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, parking spots were available in the Corn Hill Landing lot, Corn Hill Center and along Exchange Boulevard. The parking lot under the bridge was empty.

"There is more than enough parking," Foti said.

In the seven years that Stuart Levy has owned and operated Nathaniel's, 291 Exchange Blvd., "Parking has never been an issue."

"If parking is an issue and my business is too busy, that's a good problem to have," Levy said. "People will find a place to park."


Sad, now there is only Abbotts ice cream in the city on Park Ave and Mt Hope. O well, Corn Hill Creamery will only be 1.2 minutes from my house now.



Golf course for sale
Rochester Business Journal

The Belfrey International golf club property in Henrietta is up for sale, with a price tag of $2.1 million. The 128-acre property on Lehigh Station Road has languished since plans for an upscale course there were first unveiled in 2000.

Sad, now there is only Abbotts ice cream in the city on Park Ave and Mt Hope. O well, Corn Hill Creamery will only be 1.2 minutes from my house now.

I'm a little surprised with the Creamery. Whenever I visited, they seemed to be doing well. Sadly, I never visited Rich Port, as their hours didn't jive well when I was downtown (evenings).

While I didn't figure a complex of that size could support those businesses by itself, I had hoped enough folks from Corn Hill would make it work. But, I'm sure the right types of businesses for the neighborhood will fill the spaces and have success.

The Creamery said they will be moving and many of their difficulties stem from a cooling system malfunction in which they lost like 300 gallons of ice cream

PriceRite develops plans for 2nd store in city
Democrat and Chronicle

PriceRite is wasting little time settling into the Rochester market.

The Connecticut-based grocery chain will cut the ribbon on its first city store on Sunday, taking the former Wegmans’ location on Driving Park Avenue. PriceRite is scheduled to go before the city’s Planning Commission on Monday for a public hearing on its proposal to open a second store on University Avenue.

The plan is to open this fall, adding to east side options that already include Wegmans only remaining city location just down the road, and a nearby Tops Friendly Markets store over on Winton Road.

“There is still room for PriceRite,” the company’s spokeswoman Karen Meleta said today. “It really does target a different (population) segment, but everybody is looking for value these days.”

Good for PriceRite in wanting to expand it's presence in the city. A University and Culver location would be pretty close to me. A zoning change will be required for that site along with demolition, so I'm guessing it won't happen quickly.

The D&C noted grocery market share in their latest PriceRite article, and it is as follows: Wegmans- 55%, Wal-Mart- 17% and Tops-14%. Pretty interesting.

Good for PriceRite in wanting to expand it's presence in the city. A University and Culver location would be pretty close to me. A zoning change will be required for that site along with demolition, so I'm guessing it won't happen quickly.

The D&C noted grocery market share in their latest PriceRite article, and it is as follows: Wegmans- 55%, Wal-Mart- 17% and Tops-14%. Pretty interesting.

The pic they had in the Sat. paper showed the Price Right store, a Walgreens, and a bank all on the University Ave property. A nice improvement over what is currently there.


I also noticed that the former crackhouse at the intersection of Monroe and Goodman is being gutted to make way for demo. Hopefully Show World is next. Bring on a new Rite Aid, although I did drive by one of the new Rite Aid's in Columbus, OH this summer and I didnt like the design, but its still better than whats currently there. I wonder how nice the townhomes will be? I dont remember seeing any schematics for them?

Also, pick up the latest ROCHESTER MAGAZINE, they have a picture of Arunas' new house on Ambassador Drive, holy crap its gigantic.

looks like this might be an issue for the next few days...

Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring


By DANNY HAKIM and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
Published: March 10, 2008

ALBANY - Gov. Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning.

Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

Governor Eliot Spitzer at a news conference in July 2007.
Related 4 Charged With Running Online Prostitution Ring (March 7)

What Is the Fallout for Spitzer?

Mr. Spitzer, who was huddled with his top aides inside his Fifth Avenue apartment early this afternoon, had hours earlier abruptly canceled his scheduled public events for the day. He scheduled an announcement for 2:15 after inquiries from the Times.

Mr. Spitzer, a first-term Democrat who pledged to bring ethics reform and end the often seamy ways of Albany, is married with three children.

Just last week, federal prosecutors arrested four people in connection with an expensive prostitution operation. Administration officials would not say that this was the ring with which the governor had become involved.

But a person with knowledge of the governor’s role said that the person believes the governor is one of the men identified as clients in court papers.

The governor’s travel records show that he was in Washington in mid-February. One of the clients described in court papers arranged to meet with a prostitute who was part of the ring, the Emperors Club VIP on the night of Feb. 13.

Mr. Spitzer appeared on a CNBC television show at 7 a.m. the next morning. Later in the morning, he testified before a Congressional committee.

An affidavit filed in federal court in Manhattan in connection with that case lists six conversations between the man, identified as Client 9, and a booking agent for the Emperors Club.

He had a difficult first year in office, rocked by a mix of scandal and legislative setbacks. In recent weeks, however, Mr. Spitzer seemed to have rebounded, with his Democratic party poised to perhaps gain control of the state Senate for the first time in four decades.

Mr. Spitzer gained national attention when he served as attorney general with his relentless pursuit of Wall Street wrongdoing. As attorney general, he also had prosecuted at least two prostitution rings as head of the state’s organized crime task force.

In one such case in 2004, Mr. Spitzer spoke with revulsion and anger after announcing the arrest of 16 people for operating a high-end prostitution ring out of Staten Island.

“”This was a sophisticated and lucrative operation with a multitiered management structure,” Mr. Spitzer said at the time. ”It was, however, nothing more than a prostitution ring.”

Albany for months has been roiled by bitter fighting and accusations of dirty tricks. The Albany County district attorney is set to issue in the coming days the results of his investigation into Mr. Spitzer’s first scandal, his aides’ involvement in an effort to tarnish Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, the state’s top Republican.


:banana:

Record Archive tunes in to expansion
Democrat and Chronicle

Record stores increasingly are going the way of the cassette tape.

The past four years have seen the shuttering of such stellar stores as Pittsford Colony Plaza's Fantastic Records and Record Theatre in Midtown Plaza. Record Archive closed its Mt. Hope Avenue location in 2005.

But even as consumer tastes are moving from wanting music in CD jewel cases to digital zeroes and ones, Record Archive is rolling the dice on a sizable expansion.

The 33-year-old iconic local record and CD store has new digs — a lemon-yellow industrial building sitting alongside the old Can of Worms interchange of Interstates 490 and 590. An 18-foot LP rings its entranceway like a dark halo.

The new location opened last week in converted manufacturing space on Rockwood Street, about one minute's drive east from its previous East Avenue location. The move gives the packed store more retail space and comes as the retail strip in which it sat for 14 years will be demolished this spring, said Record Archive co-owner Alayna Hill Alderman.

"It's a big risk, a big gamble," she said. "But we feel what we have to offer, there's still a very dynamic and robust business to be had."

Nationwide, the number of record stores dropped 13 percent between 2002 and 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available from IBISWorld Inc., a Los Angeles-based industry research firm. In that year, there were 11,236 such stores, according to IBISWorld.

Still operating in the Rochester area are Lakeshore on Park Avenue, Buzzo Music Ltd. in Geneseo, CD Exchange in Henrietta and the nationally known House of Guitars in Irondequoit.

Digital music giant iTunes last year leapfrogged past Best Buy and Target to become the nation's second-largest music retailer, according to a recent study by Long Island-based retail analyst NPD Group.

And digital music's growth rate is such that iTunes likely will shoot past Wal-Mart sometime this year to become the nation's largest music retailer, NPD said.

Shrinking share

Such big box chains aren't the only music retailers feeling pinched. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, only 35 percent of music sales in 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available, were in record stores, down from 50 percent in 1996. RIAA spokeswoman Cara Duckworth said the decline in sales is due to music piracy — with many people digitally swapping the songs and albums they want instead of buying them — and evolving consumer preferences.

"The consumers 40 and up still want that physical product," Duckworth said. "They're what we call our 'tactile fans.' The younger fans tend to prefer to get their music digitally — they've grown up with the Internet and they have it as a staple in their lives and that's how they get their music."

NPD Group entertainment industry analyst Russ Crupnick said that while CD sales are declining, "the challenge for any independent retailer is how do you continue to stay relevant to your customer base."

"At some point in the future, whether it's five years or 10 years, maybe they won't be selling CDs," Crupnick said.

But diversification of product line and focusing on customer satisfaction can let such stores carve out a business niche, he said.

Diversifying products

Music still accounts for about 70 percent of Record Archive's revenues, Hill Alderman said. But the store has been diversifying its product line for several years with new and used DVDs, toys and novelties and vintage clothing. Online sales now account for about 25 percent of Record Archive's sales, she said.

"My used records are what pay my rent every month," she said.

The new store, with about 10,000 square feet of retail space versus the 5,500 the store had on East Avenue, gives room to display more LPs and a stage for more in-store performances, Hill Alderman said, adding that Record Archive invested more than $100,000 in the move, including sizable renovations to the Rockwood site.

The store, which employs a dozen people, plans to add three to four part-time workers in the next few months, she said.



The part I highlighted is good news. This is only a hypothesis, but Carlos Carballada said that Wegmans could not remodel because M and T bank had to move somewhere in the area of the old location. If this strip plaza is being razed, most likely M and T will move to this location and Wegmans can finally do their redo of the East Ave store.



Sausage maker coming to Canandaigua
Messenger Post Newspapers

One building of the former Meridian Automotive Systems plant will soon be buzzing with the making of andouille, knackwurst and cabanossi. Josef Brunner, master sausage maker for Hartmann’s Old World Sausage, plans to move the business from Rochester to the former auto-parts factory on Brickyard Road.

Being in the heart of wine country and near the New York Wine and Culinary Center, “that’s like Disneyland to me,” said Brunner, an Austrian native whose European-style sausage is featured at the Wine and Culinary Center and at restaurants and stores in western New York, including at Wegmans Food Markets.

Josef and his wife, Elizabeth, who handles bookkeeping for the business, are in the process of purchasing one of the two buildings used by Meridian to make auto trim and moldings — the one facing Brickyard Road. They will renovate it to create the sausage factory, kitchen and offices.

Elizabeth said they have outgrown their current location on Rochester’s Clinton Avenue, which will still serve as a retail outlet, she said.

Meanwhile, the Brickyard site “must be completely revamped,” said Elizabeth. If all goes as planned, they hope to move in by mid-summer, she said.

Last month, the Ontario County Board of Supervisors approved giving Hartmann’s a $250,000 loan through the county Office of Economic Development. The loan is to be paid off in 10 years and will help pay for the purchase of $400,000 worth of equipment needed for the renovation.

According to the loan application, the move is expected to create 30 jobs within three years, including 12 to 14 employees who will be relocated from the Rochester site to the new facility in Canandaigua.

Town Zoning Inspector Jean Chrisman said converting the building to a sausage-making facility fits the current zoning of the site as industrial, so it won’t need any special approvals. The business does need permits before proceeding with renovations or putting up signs, she added.

Chrys Baldwin, director of education for the Wine and Culinary Center, said the center is excited to have Hartmann’s in town. “We are here to promote food and wine, and the more businesses we have ... that’s great,” she said.

The center features a Hartmann’s sampler on its menu in the Taste of New York Lounge and samples are included in upcoming events that promote New York wines and foods, she said.



Firm breaks ground on new Henrietta building
Rochester Business Journal

North Forest Office Providers, in the Rochester area since 2003, broke ground Tuesday on its fourth office park project in suburban Rochester.
The East River Professional Park will be built on Lucius Gordon Drive in Henrietta, and include six single-story brick office buildings totaling close to 70,000 square feet. The property is within Rochester Institute of Technology’s Business & Technology Park.
North Forest, which has its headquarters in Buffalo, ranked 19th on the Rochester Business Journal’s most recent list of real estate developers with 128,000 square feet of non-residential property and close to 20 employees, five of them in Rochester.
North Forest’s projects include Basin Meadows Professional Park, Canal Landing Professional Park and Penn Fair Office Park.
North Forest officials explained they were attracted to the Henrietta site because of its accessibility from East River Road, and its proximity to Greater Rochester International Airport and the Thruway and Route 390 Interchange.
The first building at the site, Building B, is being built on speculation and will include 11,000 square feet of professional and medical office space. Leasing is underway with occupancy projected for this summer.
“We’ve received an enthusiastic response from the Rochester market, and we hope to add even more locations to our portfolio in the coming years,” said Marshall Cook, North Forest’s general manager for the Rochester area, in a statement.
Rochester was the firm’s first test market. Now, the firm also has a regional office in Westminster, Colo.



Paetec to sponsor RIT's first innovation festival
Rochester Business Journal

Paetec Holding Corp. has signed on as the lead sponsor of the first innovation festival at Rochester Institute of Technology.
“Imagine RIT: Innovation and Creativity Festival” is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 3 at the campus in Henrietta. Officials said today more than 400 interactive exhibits and displays will be featured in various locations across campus, including new ideas for products and services, the creative arts, research and design projects and performing-arts productions.
Officials said the festival is poised to become a new annual kickoff to Rochester’s festival season.
The planned exhibits include themes such as alternative energy, sports, creative play and woodworking. The festival will feature traditional festival fare, including food, rides, music and inflatable activities.
President William Destler has called for RIT to distinguish itself as an innovation university.
“Now we need to show off this extraordinary place to the world,” Destler said. He aims for 30,000 to attend the festival.




RBA says Spitzer’s situation won’t affect revitalization plans
Rochester Business Journal

Rochester Business Alliance Inc. president and CEO Sandra Parker said Tuesday the issues around Gov. Eliot Spitzer — who on Monday apologized to his family and the public following a New York Times report linking him to a prostitution ring —would not derail efforts to revitalize the Upstate New York economy.
Spitzer advocated investment in upstate initiatives, recently proposing a $1 billion fund to invest in infrastructure, brownfields cleanup and helping small farmers reach markets.
RBA endorsed Spitzer in his run for governor in 2006.
“We at the Rochester Business Alliance were, like many others, shocked by the news about Gov. Eliot Spitzer,” Parker said in letter to the organization’s 2,200 member companies. “But I am writing to you today to state emphatically that issues involving one person—be it the state governor or anyone else—cannot be allowed to derail the important and essential work of revitalizing the Upstate New York economy.
“We have made significant progress on key issues during these last two years, and we will continue to work with our supportive local delegation and reach out to leadership in the Senate, Assembly and governor’s office to ensure that momentum is not lost.”
RBA leads the Rochester Community Coalition, a group of government, education and business leaders pressing for funding on projects such as the University of Rochester’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute building and preparing the Midtown Plaza site for redevelopment.
RBA is also a leader in Unshackle Upstate, a statewide effort to change taxes and economic development policies.

http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/images/uploads/articles-pic-6094-2643.jpg
http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/entertainment/guides/ANNUAL+MANUAL++08%3A+Introduction/
Our local hippie mag put out their annual manual of the best things to do in the city.

CHOW HOUND: Boulder's big expansion
City Magazine

Since opening on Alexander Street in 2005, Boulder Coffee Co. has become a neighborhood fixture in the South Wedge. Now, with not one but two new locations set to open in the next year, Boulder's looking to expand its brand as a local caffeinated powerhouse.
For months rumors have been swirling about what was going on at Java Joe's in the Public Market. Last week the answers materialized: Boulder owner Lyjha Wilton has officially bought the business, and as soon as the sign can be completed, it will be renamed Boulder Coffee Co. at the Market.

Wilton says that Boulder has been running the shop since mid-February, but now that the transfer is official some changes are in store. Wilton is looking to make some improvements to the physical structure, and patrons can expect some rearranging of the floor to incorporate Boulder's typical "counter culture," where everything is made right in front of the customer. Additionally, Wilton plans on bringing Boulder's focus on local art and music to bear by incorporating local artwork, building a stage, and getting an entertainment license for live bands.

Boulder employee Jeana Bonacci is co-manager of the new location, and tells City that initially it will only be open Saturdays, but there are plans to expand to all Market days (Tuesdays and Thursdays), and then possibly daily.

But not everything will change. Along with the business, Wilton bought the coffee-bean roasting machinery, and he says that he'll be using the exact same process, beans, and roaster that Java Joe fans have come to love. In fact, the Java Joe name will still grace one of the bean lines he's producing, a lighter variation than the darker, stronger Boulder Roast that's also being fired up.

Wilton says the roasting operation allows Boulder to become its own bean supplier, and that its new roasts will replace the Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters beans he has been using at the original Boulder. "Just from a price standpoint, it's great," he says. "But it also allows us the opportunity to go out and market the product to other people and businesses."

In addition to the new Market location, Wilton has been working with the 19th Ward Community Association to open a coffeehouse that the Sector 4 CDC has been pushing to launch in that neighborhood. Wilton says that he's in the process of purchasing a building at the corner of Brooks and Genesee streets, and he's planning to open a new Boulder there in the fall.

That'll mean going from one to three locations in under a year. Wilton says that wasn't initially the plan. "I had already told myself that it was a busy year," he says, "and I wasn't going to take on any new opportunities. But [the Market store] presented itself and I just stepped up to the plate."

And that's enough growth - for now, at least. "Boulder was very well received almost immediately," he says. "We started out with the idea of just being a neighborhood coffee shop focusing on local music and local art, a kind of living room for the neighborhood. From where we started to where we are, it's extremely exciting. We're going to try to get this year under our belt, keep the quality that people expect us to provide. This year, that's enough to chew on. But it's onward and upward after that."

Creamery leaves Corn Hill

The Corn Hill Landing is about to taste a little less sweet: Corn Hill Creamery owner Mark Holbrook has announced that his ice cream shop will not reopen after its winter hiatus, and instead will relocate to Fairport.

Holbrook cites high rents and a shortage of parking as two main reasons for leaving the relatively new development. (Fellow Landing tenant Rich Port Bakery is also reportedly looking to leave the premises.) Holbrook says he'll miss the Corn Hill crowd terribly.

"That neighborhood defines community," he says. "They have been supportive, and the neighbors have been fabulous. You get to know people by name, and that part is really difficult [when leaving]."

But Holbrook is excited about his new Fairport location, which, despite the change in address, will still keep the Corn Hill Creamery name. The new store will be located at 145 North Main Street in the village, and he hopes to open in May. He says that the larger facility will allow for increased ice cream production, which will in turn allow him to expand his restaurant supply business. Corn Hill Creamery is currently served at Triphammer Grill, The Ravioli Shop in Perinton, and Oak Hill Country Club, and Holbrook says that he's been approached by other interested clients that, currently he can't currently accommodate. He's also looking to expand his line of ice cream cakes, and plans to start offering gelato (a trendy Italian ice cream variation with a lower milk-fat content).

In other Creamery news, the business just took home a blue ribbon at the National Ice Cream Retailers Association show in Antonio, Texas, for its coconut almond crunch.


Looks like Brooks landing is getting a Boulder Coffee.


I found Pyramid Companies 2007 market outlook review:
http://www.pyramidbrokerage.com/rochester_s.pdf


Vinyl owners file bankruptcy
Rochester Business Journal

The corporation behind the Alexander Street nightclub Vinyl has asked for court protection from creditors.
A Chapter 11 petition filed yesterday in the Rochester division of the Western District of New York Bankruptcy Court by Davis Cowden Inc., doing business as Vinyl comes within days of state tax authorities’ seizure of the Alexander Street nightclub.
The bankruptcy filing, which does not state totals of Vinyl’s assets, lists the corporation as owing $344,168.28 in unpaid sales taxes tracing to four separate bills. Davis Cowden disputes the amounts of each state tax bill, the petition states. Other non-tax secured and unsecured debts listed in the filing total some $43,000.
Records filed with the Monroe County Clerk show the New York State Department of Taxation to have filed liens in 2006 and 2007 citing back taxes and penalties totaling more than $746,000 against Davis Cowden and the corporation’s president and sole owner Ronald Davis.


Hopefully this means that all Ronnie Davis bars will close, but Im sure each bar is under a different company and only Vinyl will close. If all Ronnie Davis bars closed it would leave a big hole in the East End. But they would reopen eventually and hopefully as better places.


I thought this subprime map was interesting:
http://www.businessweek.com/common_ssi/map_of_misery.htm

Wrong about Ronnie Davis, Vinyl will re-open this week. Lots of bullshit being thrown around, his bankruptcy filing was just a facade. How many companies have Ronnie Davis's name on them, i'm sure more than just Davis Cowden.

I figured you'd be posting about Ronnie anyways RA, since, you know he's your favorite club owner of all time.

Paterson commits support to Midtown project, upstate funds
Democrat and Chronicle

Lt. Gov. David Paterson promised continuity in state government Thursday as he prepared to succeed disgraced Gov. Eliot Spitzer, saying he is committed to support for redeveloping Midtown Plaza and a $1 billion upstate development fund.

Paterson, like Spitzer, said he opposes an income-tax increase for people making more than $1 million a year, as proposed by Assembly Democrats.

Paterson stressed that while he won't take the oath of office until Monday, he's meeting with officials and receiving budget updates. "We are hard at work at this moment putting together a budget," he said.

Aides said he has talked regularly with Spitzer, who is still handling business such as signing bills and orders. But legislative leaders called Paterson the "de facto" governor.



Council Examines Local Development
RNEWS 9

The Rochester City Council is taking another look at a plan that would put any new development near the University of Rochester on hold.

The council’s Neighborhood and Community Development Committee tabled a request from the mayor to put a six month moratorium on development near this section of Mt. Hope Avenue. The mayor wants the city to study land use, transportation, and planning for the corridor.

But with a request to build a Starbucks in this business strip, council members say there are still too many unanswered questions.

"You have the University of Rochester that's looking at developing a college town; you have some other streetscape improvements that will be going on. So you want to make sure that you're making the best decision," said Lovely Warren, council member.

Warren said that she is hopeful a compromise can be reached that would satisfy all parties involved.

The council was expected to vote on the measure next week.



RF Communications to recruit 50 new engineers
Rochester Business Journal

Harris Corp.’s RF Communications division is adding at least 50 engineering positions to keep up with demand for its products. The need for workers is being driven by growth in RF Communication’s domestic and international business, as well as product development initiatives, company leaders said.


Applied Coatings Group targets new market
Rochester Business Journal

Applied Coatings Group Inc. expects to create as many as 40 jobs over the next few years. The Rochester-based company plans to launch its Modano glass collection, part of its Color Mirage line, at a trade show in April.


Cabling company plans expansion in Gates
Democrat and Chronicle

Integrated Cabling & Communication Systems, a Gates-based telecommunications cabling company, plans to add 2,500 square feet of office and warehousing space, and six additional employees, the company announced this morning.

The company, at 1555 Brooks Ave., plans to start renovations on the adjacent space next week, moving into it later this month.

The six additional workers will be added over the next few months, according to the company, which currently employs about 40 people.

Some of the new hires will be installation technicians, responsible for installing Integrated Cabling’s voice, data, video and fiber optic cables for clients, said Jonathan Prutzman, vice president of sales and marketing.

The others will be project coordinators overseeing the installation of such cables for a new Integrated Cabling client, a national retail chain with approximately 700 locations nationwide, Prutzman said.

The company declined to name the new retail chain customer.


Study says city parking OK, cost a turnoff
Democrat and Chronicle

City Hall today released a parking study showing downtown meets overall demand, and should remain adequate for the next five years.

However, certain blocks are experiencing shortages at peak times, and those only are expected to worsen given future developments — including redevelopment of Midtown Plaza, a new crime lab and the proposed Renaissance Square. The west end of downtown becomes an increasing concern.

The study focused on the 70 city blocks inside the Inner Loop, but also included High Falls and the East End districts. Walker Parking Consultants of Kalamazoo, Mich., conducted the study, funded by an $80,000 federal grant.

“It reinforces some of the challenges we have,” Mayor Robert Duffy said of the study’s findings. “We have to make sure we bring people (downtown). And the greatest challenge and competition with the suburbs is parking.”

According to the study, 72 percent of people surveyed said the cost of parking keeps them away from downtown. Forty-seven percent view downtown parking as negative or somewhat negative.

The study does not state that additional parking structures need be built, but does suggest any construction address key shortage areas identified as Four Corners, the Federal Business District and St. Paul Quarter.



I agree with the St Paul Qtr, its hard to find parking there and somewhere in the area they should build a parking garage.


Fairfield Inns begin renovations
Rochester Business Journal

Remodeling at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott Airport began Friday, with upgrades scheduled to begin March 22 at the Fairfield Inn Marriott Rochester South, the hotels’ owner E.J. Del Monte Corp. said.
Renovations at both hotels will include new bedding and headboards, carpeting, couches, desks, chairs and wall coverings, the company said. Each room will have a 32-inch flat-screen television.
The lobby and breakfast area at each hotel also will be remodeled.
The cost of the renovations will be a total of $1 million, the company said.
Both hotels were opened in 1995.

Rochester's resiliency shines in face of downsizing
Democrat and Chronicle

Eastman Kodak Co. today adds a little post-St. Patrick's Day cheer to the Rochester economy as it pays out about $163 million to about 60,700 Rochester area employees in the annual wage dividend."

— Democrat and Chronicle, March 19, 1982

That was a good year for Eastman Kodak Co. And that meant it was a good year for the entire Rochester area.

Kodak was still the Big Yellow Box.

Those 60,000-plus Kodak local employees — a number never seen before or since — added up to a lot of job security.

After all, Kodak was known as a workplace where you could count on lifetime employment and good benefits.

And all those wage dividends added up to a lot of cash, even for people who didn't work at Kodak.

After all, car dealers and furniture stores, for example, could always count on an extra boost in sales at Kodak bonus time. Indeed, the annual Kodak bonus had "come to be as much a part of Rochester life as Genesee beer or salt on the roads in winter," reporter Phil Ebersole wrote.

And there seemed to be no reason to think it would ever be any different.

Out of nowhere

Kodak's new disc cameras and film — a "new era in amateur photography," according to company officials — had been well received that year. More than 8 million cameras had been shipped from Rochester. Sales of Ektaprint copiers for businesses continued strong.

The 1982 Kodak annual report showed an unbroken string of yearly sales increases, from $3.47 billion in 1972 to $5.96 billion in 1977 to $10.8 billion in 1982.

The company's stock closed the year at $86 a share.

And all this despite a decidedly sluggish economy.

And yet, within four years, Kodak was reeling. And it wasn't because of the digital revolution.

Not yet.

Instead, Kodak had miscalculated the growing popularity of 35mm photography, which, one RIT professor suggested, had "blind-sided" the company's disc systems, and had "created new expectations of photographic quality that disc pictures . . .couldn't meet."

A high exchange rate for the U.S. dollar was cutting deeply into the company's overseas profits.

And Polaroid's successful patent infringement lawsuit against Kodak had forced the company to shut down its instant photography business.

"Secure for a century at the pinnacle of the photographic industry, Eastman Kodak Co. suddenly has found itself trying to navigate a sea of troubles," Ebersole reported on Aug. 25, 1986.

Adrift on those seas were thousands of Kodak employees who had already been laid off or encouraged to retire early. Kodak's local work force would drop to 45,550 at year's end. Many of those who remained nervously awaited the tap on their shoulder. The Big Yellow Box no longer meant a guaranteed job, and this took its toll on morale, even as the company attempted to loosen its bureaucracy and give employees more participation in decision-making.

Trying to keep pace

What had gone wrong? Had the company become too big, too complacent, too set in its ways?

"Down through the years, Kodak has been known as a company of technical perfectionists. It, so to speak, commercialized no technology before its time," Ebersole noted.

Ten years earlier, Walter A. Fallon, then chairman and chief executive officer of Eastman Kodak, had been quoted as saying "We try to keep things in balance, to avoid crash programs. We bring things on in an orderly way, and we sleep well."

By 1986, however, it was clear that approach would no longer work. "As circumstances change," chairman and CEO Colby Chandler acknowledged, "we must be much faster to respond to market changes."

It wouldn't be the first time a major Rochester industry struggled to keep up with market changes. As noted in previous columns, it happened to the women's shoe industry here, and it happened to men's clothing.

A new approach

Digital, the technology that spelled the doom of traditional film photography, is the new challenge. Five years ago, "hammered by freefalling consumer film sales, Kodak announced a sweeping plan to change its fundamental business structure and focus on digital products," reporter Matthew Daneman wrote three months ago. "That was followed by a plan laid out in early 2004 for huge cuts in company costs."

The blueprint hasn't worked out exactly as planned — the company has gotten out of health imaging, for example, which was to be a key part of the strategy. Nonetheless, Kodak officials insist they now have a "viable, sustainable business."

Perhaps, though analysts point out the company will face much tougher competition than it ever faced when it dominated the traditional film photography industry.

In any event, it is sobering to take stock of where the company was then, and where it is now:



The company that at one time dominated popular photography now has only 15 percent of the digital camera market.


Kodak Park, which a decade ago had 212 buildings and 23.4 million square feet, has been reduced to 104 buildings with 14.5 million square feet.


The company that once employed more than 60,000 here now employs only about 9,200.

Resilient Rochester

So where does this leave Rochester?

"Rochester has always been able to adapt her economy to changing times and, save for the infancy of the milling business, has never kept all her industrial eggs in one basket," Arch Merrill wrote in his Rochester Sketchbook.

Never does that seem more true than today.

Despite the loss of about 90,000 manufacturing jobs since the 1980s, there has been a healthy employment growth in other sectors of the regional economy. As a result, today's overall employment in the six-county area is still close to what it was in 2000.

Granted, we no longer have a dominant manufacturing company like Kodak, or even a dominant manufacturing industry stepping to the fore in the way Kodak and other optical companies did in the early 1900s. In fact, employment in various service sectors — health and education, for example — has now surpassed manufacturing employment here.

Moreover, the Rochester-area economy is moving from "a historical reliance on big employers to a more elusive arena of small high-technology businesses," reporter Patrick Flanigan wrote recently. But that could also be interpreted as a strength. At least that avoids the pitfalls of overreliance on a single big employer.

In addition, as Kent Gardner, president and chief economist of the Center for Governmental Research observed in a recent "Resilient Rochester" piece, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that many of the jobs "lost" when companies here downsized or relocated were actually spun off into separate, divested companies that are still here.

His best example is what happened when a Washington Post reporter came to town to assess the damage done when General Dynamics closed the local Stromberg-Carlson facility and was relocating to California. "By the time he filed his story, he had identified 17 companies that were somehow descended from General Dynamics." They employed 5,000 people — the same number General Dynamics had employed in the 1970s.

At least to some degree that has also happened with Kodak. When it divested its health business it became Carestream Health, which employs 1,400. When Kodak sold its remote sensing systems division to ITT, the division became ITT Space Systems Division, which provides more than 1,600 jobs here.

"Let's check back in 25 years and see what Kodak's legacy has become," Gardner suggests. Sounds like good advice to me.



http://cmsimg.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A2&Date=20080317&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=803170326&Ref=AR&Profile=1003&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Group lobbying for Clock of Nations
Democrat and Chronicle

Where will the famous Midtown Plaza Clock of Nations end up?

The clock, one of the most recognizable symbols of Midtown Plaza, needs a new home because the plaza is being demolished to make way for the new headquarters of PAETEC Holding Corp., the telecommunications company based in Perinton. The city could begin demolition by early 2009.

In the meantime, Artisanworks is seeking community-wide support for its appeal to have the clock donated to them. The arts group said it will accept responsibility for picking up the clock, installing it in its refurbished Rochester showroom and maintaining the clock.

Artisanworks says its 60,000-square-foot gallery space is a maze of historical and artistic tribute rooms. The gallery is evolving into "a Rochester history museum," said founder Louis Perticone.

Strong National Museum of Play has declined an offer for the clock, and the possibility of the Rochester Museum and Science Center obtaining it has yet to be discussed, spokesperson Debra Jacobson said.

Artisanworks really wants it.

Perticone says it will fit nicely in its 10,000-square-foot dinner theatre and be visible "when you first walk in the main room."

It's been about a month since Artisanworks made a request to the city. However, it has yet to receive a response, one way or the other, Perticone said.

The Clock of Nations has become a symbol of Midtown Plaza, having been installed there in 1963 when the plaza was constructed.

"I get the sense some other decision will be made. (We think) it belongs here," said Perticone, who is concerned that his organization's application with the city seeking tax-exempt status for Artisanworks may have become a sticking point in the group's request for the clock.

Susan Welk Lindsay, of the city's department of economic development, said the city has been getting dozens of requests for Midtown Plaza artifacts, including the clock, the monorail and the totem pole.

She said the city will honor the request of Midtown Plaza's owners to donate the items to nonprofit organizations.

Welk Lindsay said Artisanworks has expressed an interest in the clock and believes they are the only group with current interest in it.

Welk Lindsay declined comment on Artisanworks' request for nonprofit status, saying no decision has been made how to process and award any Midtown Plaza artifacts.

"We are just getting into that process. If one or more organization wants an item, we're not sure what we'll decide. We haven't gotten that far," Welk Lindsay said, adding the city could announce how it will process requests as early as next week.


Channel 10 debuts 7 p.m. newscast
Rochester Business Journal

WHEC-TV-10 debuts a live newscast Monday in the 7 p.m. timeslot, station officials said.
“News 10NBC at 7 p.m. will report on the news of the day along with live, late-breaking news and weather reports at a time when many families are either just getting home, or beginning to wind down from their busy day,” said Mike Goldrick, news director, in a statement.
Jennifer Johnson and Rich Funke are anchors for the 7 p.m. newscast, which will feature live weather reports from meteorologist Kevin Williams and sports news with Mark Gruba.
The station also has 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts. Johnson, Funke, Williams and Gruba will continue to anchor News 10NBC at 11 p.m.


Do we really need another news? We already have a morning news, 12, 5, 6, 10, and 11. As well as RNEWS 24 hrs. Rochester is not that big, what will they fill it with? When I was in Naples Florida last month a metro of 400,000 people (800,000 people if Ft Myers is included) they had a morning news, 11, 12, 1, 5, 6, 7, 10, and 11pm news. All they did was report car accidents and drug (grow) houses. It was the most uninteresting depressing news Ive ever seen.

HA! That's where I work...glad to see you're another fan of more news! (It's filled with a lot of re-cues and re-cuts of stories from other times)

Althought we just introduced a brand new studio set, graphics, everything, so it looks very modern and up to date!

HA! That's where I work...glad to see you're another fan of more news! (It's filled with a lot of re-cues and re-cuts of stories from other times)

Althought we just introduced a brand new studio set, graphics, everything, so it looks very modern and up to date!


O thank god.
I like WHAM 13's set and their reporters are the most charismatic.
WROC 8's news feels the most professional, almost similar to the national news.
While WHEC 10's set always felt outdated and Lomax is the coldest news anchor on Rochester TV. You do have the hottest reporter in Rochester though. Jennifer Johnson is beautiful, I wish she wasnt getting married, Id ask her on a date.

Big development plans brewing in Brighton
Messenger Post Newspapers

In presentations to the town this month, Anthony Costello is proposing two large-scale projects that he said will dynamically change Brighton.

At last week’s Town Board meeting, Costello, CEO of Costello and Son Development, and his Senior Vice President Terry Slaybaugh showed off their plans for a project titled “CityGate,” a 63-acre community, that will feature commercial and residential aspects. Set west of Brighton Town Park, CityGate would be south of Westfall Road, east of East Henrietta Road and abut the Erie Canal at its southern tip. About one-third of the total community would be in Brighton, with the other portions sitting on property over the Rochester city line.

Described as a “lifestyle center to live, work, play and shop,” Costello said that similar communities can be found all over the country, many of which he studied for the design in Brighton. A 21.6-acre portion of the community will mostly be on the Brighton side of the project, as are parts of canal-front development and most of the community’s roughly 500 surface parking spots. Slaybaugh said that a parking garage is planned for the center of the community, which would hold about 1,000 cars.

Costello said that he’d like to start construction on the project later this year or as early as possible in 2009. It would take about three years to complete, although, Costello added, sections would likely be built in annual increments. The residential part in Brighton would most likely be the first portion finished because the land is more construction-ready.

One major aspect of the current property is the Iola Powerhouse, an old county power plant, which will be demolished within five years. Once that is completed and the community is built, it will put $2.7 million on Brighton’s tax rolls, Costello said. It would put $6.8 million onto the rolls for Rochester. That money would also affect the Rush-Henrietta School District, since CityGate would sit in a part of Brighton that is included in that district.

Costello said he hasn’t applied for any state or federal grants, but is working with the state to look into the possibility of funds for the community’s parking garage.

Costello will also be presenting plans to the Brighton Planning and Town boards on another project he’s got on tap.

On March 19, the Planning Board will hear from the developer about an office park and commercial area he wants to create near Buckland Park. One week later on March 26, the Town Board will discuss the environmental impacts of the same project.

Costello is planning an 820,000-square-foot office park and 168,000-square-foot retail space that will be constructed just north of Interstate-590 and west of Winton Road. The total size of the lot would be about 4,500 feet long and encompass 82 acres. The space would include a hotel, restaurants, shops, a conference facility and about 3,400 parking spaces.

Costello has previously presented information to the Planning Board about his proposal, which seeks to rezone the space from residential to an office park district. The board’s main issue was the density of the project, which currently calls for about 12,000 square feet per acre for office use. The town’s recommended amount is about 5,000 square feet per acre. The office park would also need height variances for several of the buildings, which would be between 20 and 40 feet above the current height allowed, depending on how the space is zoned.

The Planning Board has requested a traffic study for the area, which is the proposed site for a state Department of Transportation project. The state is looking to construct a “diverging diamond” intersection at the Winton and I-590 intersection to help ease the traffic flow. The diverging diamond project should cost between $3 and $4 million.

Part of the office park project would be connecting Senator Keating Boulevard, which comes off of Clinton Avenue South, to Winton Road.

Some incentives Costello is offering the town as part of the office park project are a park, sidewalks, bike trails and gardens. The site’s conference center would also open for use by the town.

The March 19 Planning Board meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. and the March 26 Town Board meeting starts at 7 p.m. Both are at Brighton’s Town Hall, 2300 Elmwood Ave.



Bank eyes Greece site
Messenger Post Newspapers

Northwest Savings bank will go in front of the Planning Board at its March 19 meeting.

The bank wants to build on .92 acres next to Rockcastle Florist on Long Pond Road, near the corner of English Road. The area is zoned commercial. The project would have ATM drive-through lanes.

The site is adjacent to the florist shop and a CVS pharmacy.

“I think that probably we would end up with some cross access between sites and perhaps sharing of driveways,” said Gary Tajkowski, the town’s director of development services.



Vacant houses in Greece could be up for awhile
Messenger Post Newspapers

About two dozen former homes are waiting for the wrecking ball on West Ridge Road, but when that whack will come is unknown.

Rows of empty houses line the street between Elmgrove and Manitou roads, considered Greece’s commercial corridor. “No trespassing” signs decorate their fronts, on land owned by three different developers who have projects pending before the town. But since the projects haven’t moved forward much, the homes have stood empty for a year or so.

The DiMarco Group wants to build retail on 67 acres near Kohl’s, which it also built, on the north side of West Ridge Road. Across the street, Benderson Development and Farash Corporation want to build a senior-housing complex and retail like banks, offices and possible a Wal-Mart supercenter, all on 125 acres. That site backs up to Greece Canal Park.

DiMarco’s property has about five vacant houses, while Benderson/Farash has about 20. The town has been talking to the developers in recent weeks about the issue, said Gary Tajkowski, Greece’s director of development services.

This situation is unusual because the houses are so visible and because there are several, Tajkowski said. The town has fielded the “occasional comment” about the structures and there have been a couple reports of the homes being broken into, he added.

“I think that the developers were reluctant to take the houses down because they are concerned about what kind of message that that might send,” Tajkowski said. “A cynic might look upon the demolition of the houses as signals that an approval is imminent, and nothing could be further from the case. There’s no decision imminent, because we’re still in the middle of the environmental review process.”

There’s no specific time line for when reviews will wrap up or when the houses could come down, Tajkowski said. First, the developers have to apply for demolition permits. If it’s determined that the structures are unsafe, he said the town can give the property owners a notice of order, requiring the houses come down.

Some Greece residents are particularly concerned about a cobblestone home on the north side of the road, near DiMarco’s development. Resident Gina DiBella has been working with The DiMarco Group for the last few months on finding a way to salvage, or move, the house, which she said is eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. DiBella is chairperson of the Greece Historic Preservation Commission.

The house, built between 1830 and 1852, became vacant within the last decade, DiBella said. Despite its rundown looks, its details and place in history make it worth keeping, she said. It’s one of four left in Greece; the other three are private residences. DiBella would prefer not moving the house, as that can be risky.

“In the perfect world, it would be wonderful if that house can stay exactly where it is and be converted into some use,” she said. “We just want to get the developer to think beyond the box and come up with another use for it.”

The company is trying, said John DiMarco II, president. The group won’t touch the house until it has exhausted all the possibilities, he said. But finding another use for it is difficult. Structures as old as the cobblestone aren’t easily moved, DiMarco said, and the house’s size limits opportunities. Part of the problem, he said, is justifying spending the money to save the house if it won’t make money.

The rest of the houses — which DiMarco called eyesores — will come down. He doesn’t know when, but he pointed to the 17 houses his group tore down a few years ago to make room for Kohl’s as a sign of his company’s commitment.

“We believe they’re an eyesore just like the town does,” he said.



City moves to condemn Midtown Plaza
Democrat and Chronicle

The city of Rochester began condemnation proceedings today against the owners of Midtown Plaza, a necessary next step toward demolishing the downtown mall to make way for PAETEC Holding Corp.’s new headquarters.

The city is taking legal steps now to take the property so that it can keep to a tight schedule for emptying the plaza, knocking it down and preparing for the PAETEC development, city spokesman Gary Walker said.

The purchase price has been under discussion, he said, and those talks will continue while condemnation goes forward in state Supreme Court.

The parcels are owned by Midtown Rochester Properties LLC, an arm of New York City-based Blackacre Bridge Capital.

City officials have said they hope to gain possession of the property by July to begin preparing for the plaza’s removal. The city is to pay for acquiring the Midtown property and relocating its tenants, while state money is to finance the demolition.
PAETEC, the fast-growing telecommunications company now based in Perinton, hopes to move into its new downtown headquarters in 2011.


Good stuff! I have noticed commercials of the stores inside the plaza having closing sales, so movement is happening.

On a sad mall note, I was in Eastview yesterday and noticed Sharper Image is closing. I liked their unnecessary gadgets. That store made Eastview unique to upstate, o well. I also noticed Camilles is expanding to a 3rd location in the food court, the Linehan family is doing well with Camilles I guess. Im underwhelmed with Camilles, while its not bad, its nothing special. Thay have also begun site work on LL Bean.

I also saw the Fruit and Salad company moved to Bushnells Basin next to Richardsons Canal House.

Great news on the CityGate development finally coming to fruition as far as the planning stage goes.

I'm excited to see what the plans look like when we finally get a chance to see them.

As for news in Rochester, I'm not saying what channel I watch when I actually watch the news other than I watch the same channel my family has watched since I was born, has won a morrow award or two because of it's newscast, that's all I'm sayin.

DEVELOPMENT: Monroe's new mojo
City Magazine

Periodic attempts to resuscitate Monroe Avenue, a main gateway into downtown, have met with mixed results. And the Genesee Hospital's closing left a large urban parcel that borders the Park Avenue neighborhood tipping toward decline.

Alexander Park, Buckingham Properties' $83 million redevelopment of the old Genesee Hospital site on the northeast corner of Monroe Avenue and Alexander Street, will be one of the largest investments ever made in the lower Monroe Avenue corridor.

Buckingham Properties bought the 16-acre campus for $6.7 million in 2006 from the GRHS Foundation, a real estate affiliate of ViaHealth. Buckingham's CEO Larry Glazer says Alexander Park will be a 750,000-square-foot mixed-use development with medical offices, retail, and new housing.

Besides Alexander Park's close proximity to Main Street and Midtown Plaza, Glazer was attracted to the site's ample parking. Despite a recent report released by the city of Rochester which concludes that, in general, there is sufficient parking downtown, Glazer says parking is in short supply.

"I just bought an office building downtown and I'm having problems renting it because there's no parking," he says. "It's the number one, two, and three issue downtown as far as I'm concerned."

Alexander Park has a 30-year-old, 1,700-vehicle ramp garage built by the hospital. Glazer envisions Alexander Park as a complex where people can live, work, and shop, with an emphasis on offices catering to the area's growing number of medical service providers. About 150 people will eventually be employed at the site, Glazer says.

"We are really pushing hard on this, meeting numerous times with Rochester General Hospital and ViaHealth about moving some of their services here," says Glazer.Alexander Park will consist of a seven-story building at 220 Alexander, which will become the new home of Preferred Care. The company's scheduled move-in date is June, Glazer says.

"Next door, 222 Alexander, is being completely renovated," says Glazer. "It's the doctors' offices building, which should be completed by sometime mid-summer."

The old hospital building is being abated for asbestos and it will be demolished in three weeks, except the 110,000-square-foot Center Wing, which will be renovated. The Monroe-Alexander corner of the site has already been cleared. The Raj Mahal Indian restaurant, a badly modified 100-year-old brick building, occupied the spot for more than two decades. Glazer says a branch office of Canandaigua Bank will be built slightly north of the corner near Wolk Boulevard.

Offices, town homes, and residential lofts with parking will be located at the north end of Averill Avenue. That will be the last phase of the project, which Glazer says won't be complete until late 2010. The number of units he intends to build, he says, is still under discussion.

"The site will be less dense than the prior construction," he says. "There was about 1.2 million square feet of building there, and we'll be reducing that substantially."

The taller commercial buildings will face Alexander and Monroe, says Glazer, while the lower buildings will face Averill.

Alexander Park is not Glazer's only venture on Monroe Avenue. He purchased the old Sears store, an art deco building with a large parking lot. It is partially occupied, but Glazer says it will be updated with more office space. Glazer says Sears is an important building because of its location and its deco design.

But Monroe Avenue is also where Glazer began his real estate career more than 30 years ago. He started with a $1,000 investment in a house on Buckingham Street, and eventually acquired a total of 43 residential and retail properties he later called Oxford Square. Glazer sold the properties, primarily rental units, to take on his first major development project. He is a leader in downtown development, buying and restoring rundown apartment buildings, vacant and neglected industrial sites, and warehouses. Buckingham Properties currently owns and operates 7.5 million square feet in 40 properties in Rochester, with another 2.5 million square feet under design and construction. The company has recently expanded into the Tampa, Florida area.

The Old Rochesterville Apartments overlooking the Genesee River and Buckingham Commons near Paetec Park are a couple of examples of the company's work. The terracotta-painted Buckingham Commons is what Glazer sees from his office window on Washington Street.

"We added decking to the rooftop so the tenants can go up there and watch the games," says Glazer. "We get a lot of people who ask about it, but we don't have many vacancies there."

When a Rite Aid pharmacy was proposed at Monroe Avenue and South Goodman Street last year, the project drew fire from neighborhood associations. So far, Alexander Park hasn't met that kind of resistance. Glazer has met with different resident groups and, he says, he is encouraged by their input. But he's only in the preliminary planning phase, says Art Ientilucci, the city's director of zoning. And Glazer still has to apply for a zoning change from institutional to mixed-use.

"The initial application allowed him to take down the buildings on the corner of Monroe and Alexander, and begin the demolition work on the old hospital," Ientilucci says. "But all we have so far are preliminary plans. He'll probably have to go for an environmental review, as well."

There are no firm dates, but Glazer expects to have his applications and updated plans into the city within the next two months.

"It's important that we have a really good understanding of the fabric and the landscape of this project because it is so big," says Helen Hogan, executive director of the Southeast Area Coalition. "We're looking for developers who are interested in multi-use development, and are exploring green approaches to building - by that I mean something more than energy-saving appliances."

The Monroe Village Task Force has developed a detailed master plan for the Monroe Avenue corridor, says Hogan. And Alexander Park should complement that plan.

"I have a much better feeling working with Larry Glazer," says Carolyn Curry, president of the Task Force. "He's a different kind of developer. We feel positive about him investing that kind of money into our neighborhood, and this guy really gets urban development."

Genesee Hospital's roots
When Mrs. Hiram Sibley saw a woman slip and fall on the icy walkway in front of the Sibley mansion on East Avenue, she had the woman taken to City Hospital, which is now Rochester General. The hospital is located on the west side of the city, which prompted Sibley to begin working on getting a hospital built for the east side of Rochester.

Rochester Homeopathic Hospital opened in 1889 on the Monroe Avenue site that later became Sears, and is now Monroe Square. That same year, the hospital opened a nursing school next door. After graduating more than 2,000 nurses, the school closed its doors in 1978.

The hospital was relocated to 224 Alexander Street in 1889, after the Sibleys and another prominent Rochester family, the Watsons, purchased the estate of US Representative Freeman Clarke. By the early 1900's, the hospital had been renamed the Genesee Hospital. It had 385 beds with a North Wing, a Center Wing, and an East Wing.

The site also has a connection to Frederick Douglass. Douglass enrolled his daughter, Rosetta Douglass Sprague, in the prestigious Seward Seminary, a private school for girls once located on Alexander Street, adjacent to the hospital.

But Rosetta wasn't allowed to mingle with the other students.

"She was upset because she was isolated from the other girls, and that enraged her dad," says David Alexander, an expert on Rochester's African-American history.

Douglass removed Rosetta from the academy and home-schooled her instead.

A sign commemorating Rosetta Douglass Sprague's ordeal still sits in the overgrowth of bushes and vines near the entrance to the hospital's Pluta Cancer Center. Larry Glazer, CEO of Buckingham Properties, says the sign will be restored during construction of Alexander Park and left in its original location on the site.

In the 1970's, the hospital went through its largest growth spurt with a $30- million investment, primarily in maternity services, the Wasyl Pluta Radiation Oncology Center, and the Hopeman Orthopedic Unit. At its peak, Genesee was serving nearly 100,000 patients annually, and accounted for more than one-third of all city emergency room cases. But the investment was made just as the hospital began losing money. When it finally closed in May 2001, Genesee Hospital, which had become part of the ViaHealth network, was $60 million in debt. Over 2,000 employees lost their jobs.



Changes in Albany will not affect downtown Rochester projects
WHEC 10

Changing governors in Albany will have no impact on state-funded development here in Rochester that's the word Tuesday from the president of the Rochester Downtown Development Corporation.

Right now there are $750 million in business projects under way in Rochester. In addition to the Midtown-PAETEC Project, Renaissance Square and new headquarters for ESL Federal Credit Union.

Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, president of the Downtown Development Corporation, said there are 18 housing developments in the pipeline for downtown Rochester. She said it requires a whole different set of urban planning skills.

“It's gonna be much different over the next three to five years than it's been around here for the last generation so we've got to be able to handle that well different set of skills we're managing growth for the first time in a long time,” Zimmer-Meyer said.

Zimmer-Meyer said the tentative date to close the parking garage at Midtown Plaza is September 30. In the short term that slashes 1,400 parking spots in downtown Rochester.


http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/images/uploads/articles-pic-6126-2708.jpg
DEVELOPMENT: Environmental study ordered for former Rascal Cafe site
City Magazine

Before the Cultural Commission sends out a second request for proposals to develop the old Rascal Café site, an environmental study is needed, says commission chair Jim Vazzana. The 1.5-acre site on East Main Street across from the Eastman Theatre is one of the most important in downtown.
"It's the center of culture in Monroe County, and we have almost what you would call a fiduciary responsibility to see to it that it is developed properly," Vazzana says.

Four proposals were submitted following the commission's initial request for bids: a $19 million hotel project; a $29 million, four-story luxury apartment building; a $56 million, 17-story apartment building; and a $92 million, 15-story mixed-use project. All were rejected because they called for the commission to play a role in the site's development.

"All four of the proposals came back with some kind of contingency and, of course, we're not going to do that," Vazzana says.

An environmental study was ordered when one of the developers tried to get the commission to take responsibility for any possible contamination found on the site, which may have at one time, hosted a gas station.

The commission will make the environmental study available to developers in the second round of requests for proposals. The requests will go out after the commission's April 8 meeting.

Residents want proposals that emphasize owner-occupancy, says Tom Fink of the Grove Place Neighborhood Association.

"The East End would be healthier if more people living there had a stake in the neighborhood," he says.



Mt. Hope Moratorium Approved
RNEWS 9

Rochester City Council voted Tuesday night in favor of a moratorium on new development on Mt. Hope Avenue, with one exception though.

Council voted to allow the Starbucks on Mt. Hope to continue with its plans to expand at that location because its plans were in the works before the moratorium was proposed.

The proposal also includes plans to knock down the old Record Archive building.

The mayor had the city study land use, transportation and planning for the Mt. Hope corridor.



City house-buying expos start up again
Democrat and Chronicle

City Living Sundays, the annual showcase of homes for sale in Rochester, begins on March 30 this year and for the first time will include an exposition at Aquinas Institute to highlight northwest neighborhoods.

City officials, joined by bankers and real estate agents, announced the schedule for the three-week program Tuesday.

"It's all about getting people to buy, to invest in our city," said Mayor Robert Duffy in a news conference at City Hall. The city is "a great place to live. There are so many great deals and bargains," Duffy said, noting that many homes feature architectural details found nowhere else in the area.

The program runs on the weekends of March 29-30, April 5-6 and April 12-13. Each will feature a different section of the city, with Saturday bus tours led by the Landmark Society of Western New York followed by the Sunday expos.

At these expos in local schools, prospective home buyers can consider lenders, real estate agents and other services.

Beverly Fair-Brooks of M&T Bank, co-chairwoman of the event, said lenders often have special deals — even grants — available to help buyers.

The informational part of the program will take place at:

Wilson Foundation Academy, 200 Genesee St., on March 30 for the southwest section of the city.

East High School, 1901 E. Main St., on April 6 for the northeast section.

Aquinas Institute, 1127 Dewey Ave., on April 13 for the northwest section.

Each expo will be from noon to 4 p.m., with a home-buying seminar at 12:30.

Duffy said the program brought 500 people to look at city homes last year and 20 percent of them bought houses. Nearly two-thirds of the 138 homes offered for sale in 2007 were sold.

http://www.pittsfordplaza.com/Stores/New.aspx

Pittsford Plaza states that a new store is coming called Farm Fresh. I wonder if it is this chain? http://www.farmfreshsupermarkets.com/


RESTAURANT REVIEW: Gate House Cafe
City Magazine

I ordered the mini burgers at Village Gate's new Gate House Café, expecting that what would come out would be some variation on the sliders - tiny beef patties on cute little rolls - that have been on trendy restaurant menus for the past couple of years. What arrived at our table was a precariously balanced tower of meat and potatoes: a bed of shoestring fries topped with three thick burgers stacked one atop the other and held together with cheddar cheese, smothered in meat hot sauce, and then sprinkled with chunks of beer-battered onion rings. In short, it was a garbage plate, and a pretty good one at that.
Continued here: http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/dining/articles/RESTAURANT+REVIEW%3A+Gate+House+Cafe/


I tried Gatehouse the other day and it was excellent. I used to work with Kristen Fratto Flores and she is a great person and good chef, you should def try it out.


http://plainvanillashell.com/article.asp?ID=9467
I just wanted to post this story. They use NYC as the bastian of hope for the American economy right now and now even that hope is faltering.

COMIDA approves tax breaks
Rochester Business Journal

Four entities were approved for tax breaks Thursday by the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency, including Weldrite Closures Inc., which plans to establish its U.S. headquarters at the Rochester Technology Park and create as many as 40 jobs over three years.
Weldrite is a maker of welded marine and isolation closures and flood protection products such as doors and hatches for ships and ocean drilling platforms.
The company was approved for sales-tax exemptions on $129,000 in equipment purchases.
Weldrite has hired 15 employees, company representatives said. It hopes to have 23 employees by the end of the year.
Property-tax abatements were approved for 1255 Portland LLC, which is spending nearly $3.9 million to build a 21,000-square-foot medical office building on Portland Avenue. The Podiatry Associates of Rochester LLP will be the primary tenant at the location, which currently is the site of two single-family homes and an 8,000-square-foot office building.
AP Plumbing Contractors Inc. was approved for sales-tax breaks on $450,000 in vehicle purchases.
M/E Engineering PC was approved for sales-tax breaks on computer hardware and software purchases totaling $200,000.



New bar opens downtown on Friday
Democrat and Chronicle

A new “neighborhood saloon” opens Friday at 4 p.m. in downtown Rochester.
Abilene, at 153 Liberty Pole Way, will carry a large selection of American craft beers as well as feature folk, blues, jazz and Zydeco , according to owner Danny Deutsch.


New Owner, Old Name for Downtown Hotel
WHAM 13

The Crowne Plaza Hotel on State Street in downtown Rochester is undergoing a name change and renovations with a new, independent owner.

The hotel will soon be known as the "Rochester Plaza Hotel,” the same name it had back in 1997.

The hotel will also be run by an independent owner, who is planning a $3 million renovation in facility and room upgrades.


Rochester Rhinos have a new owner
WHEC 10

It’s official. The Rochester Rhinos have a new owner. A team official for the Rhinos confirms that Rob Clark is the new owner of the soccer franchise. The Rhinos will introduce Clark Thursday at a 3 p.m. press conference at the Convention Center.

Clark has been working to finalize the purchase of the team from NBT Bank as well as come to terms on a lease with the City of Rochester for PAETEC Park.

Mayor Duffy and City Council President Gladys Santiago and United Soccer League Commissioner Tim Holt will also be at the press conference. Rob Clark did not return our phone calls Wednesday afternoon.

The Rhinos are slated to open the season on the road May 2 at Charleston. We hope to learn more details on the team's plans for the 2008 season at the press conference.



Ontario County regional-growth hot spot
Democrat and Chronicle

Marci Kolstad and her husband, Michael, moved into their four-bedroom house in the new Phillip's Landing development in Farmington in December.

The house, bought for $267,315, is worth more than twice the one they will sell in Penfield, but they feel the lower taxes in Ontario County make this move for a family of four possible.

"The taxes make a big difference," said Marci Kolstad, who would be paying $3,224 more per year in school, town and county property taxes had they bought a house for the same price in Penfield.

Being five minutes from the Thruway is also a big plus because Michael Kolstad is a sales representative and needs quick access to the Thruway.

Ontario was the only county in the six-county region that gained population since 2002, according to the new population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Ontario grew by 2,317 — from 101,639 residents in 2002 to 103,956 in July 2007.

In Victor, the growth has been especially pronounced. The population has shot up about 67 percent since 1990, and 1,166 building permits were issued between 2001 and the end of last year.

Monroe County, meanwhile, lost more residents than any other Rochester-area county since 2002, and only Erie and Nassau counties lost more residents statewide. Monroe's estimated population dropped by 6,766 in the five-year span, from 736,447 to 729,681.

Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wayne counties lost an average of about 1,320 residents each since 2002.

"Unfortunately that drop in population is along the lines of what we've been expecting, so the numbers don't come as a surprise," said Monroe County spokesman Noah Lebowitz.

He blamed high property taxes for the population drop here and in other upstate communities.

"Young families don't want to stay here because taxes are so high. It makes it harder for seniors to make ends meet, and it also makes it more difficult for business to make a profit and create jobs," he said.

A magnet

Deputy Administrator Darlys McDonough of Ontario County calls the area along Route 96 in Victor and down Route 332 in Farmington and Canandaigua the "growth corridor." The location of businesses in this area and the rural atmosphere coupled with the proximity of the Finger Lakes are a magnet, attracting residents from Monroe County and elsewhere.

Ed Dunn, owner of Pittsford Homes, is building his third house in the Cobblestone Creek development in Victor.

He's confident the house he's completing will sell in the $600,000 range, since the first two he built for that price sold — and he's already getting inquiries about it.

"We're seeing people from overseas coming for these," said Dunn, noting that several executives relocating here from Europe to work in area companies have inquired about the home.

On Wednesday, a businesswoman from Mexico with a real estate agent stopped to tour the 3,850-square-foot Georgian Colonial house.

Ogden residents Bruce and Yvette Charleton plan to move their family into a house being build in the Camden Hills development in Victor. They've already put a payment down on a four-bedroom house.

They probably would have eventually moved to Victor at some point, said Bruce Charleton, 47, since he's a financial planner who works in Pittsford and they want to be near relatives and family members in eastern Monroe County and in Farmington.

But the decision to close St. John the Evangelist School in Spencerport at the end of this school year took away the reason for the Charletons to stay in Ogden. Two of their children attend the school.

The numbers

Warren Brown, research director of the New York Census Research Data Center at the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research, cautioned that the new estimates are essentially educated guesses.

"We know there is error, and the errors undoubtedly get bigger and bigger as you get further away from census," Brown said.

The last census took place eight years ago in 2000. The next will be done in 2010.

"My inclination is to use these estimates in combination with a bunch of other indicators. And if they're all pointing in the same direction, then we say I think we're on to something here," Brown said.

The other indicators would include building permits, school enrollment and regional work force statistics.

Between July 2006 and July 2007, the six-county region lost 792 residents, according to the new estimates. Ontario County gained 416. Monroe County lost 240. The other four counties lost an average of 242.



83% support bringing back ferry
Rochester Business Journal

An overwhelming majority of readers participating in the RBJ Daily Report Snap Poll support efforts to restore ferry service between Rochester and Toronto. But only 32 percent say they back use of any local taxpayer-funded incentives to encourage a privately run ferry service. That percentage is slightly higher than the 30 percent recorded a year ago, when the same question was asked in a Snap Poll. At that time, 65 percent of poll respondents thought the city should make a strong effort to attract a company to launch a smaller, privately run ferry between Rochester and Toronto.
The city of Rochester and the Toronto Port Authority recently said they had begun an effort to see if any private companies are interested in restoring ferry service between the two cities across Lake Ontario. Rochester and the port authority jointly are issuing a request for qualifications, aimed at a privately funded and operated service only. Potential operators are being asked to submit proposals by March 31.
The effort by officials in both cities aims to make use of the port facilities they developed for the fast-ferry operation that shut down in 2005. Rochester is paying a $250,000-a-year lease to the port authority for the Toronto terminal.
Roughly 1,090 readers took part in the poll, conducted March 10 and 11.

Do you support efforts by the city of Rochester and the Toronto Port Authority to solicit interest from private companies in restoring ferry service?
Yes: 83%
No: 17%

Would you support the use of any local taxpayer-funded incentives to encourage a privately run ferry service?
Yes: 32%
No: 68%



Census decline slows sharply
Rochester Business Journal

In the six-county Rochester region, only Ontario County grew its population in the 12-month period ended July 2007, new U.S. Census Bureau estimates indicate.
But regionally, the pace of decline slowed sharply.
Ontario gained more than 400 residents, bringing its population to an estimated 103,956. By contrast, Genesee County’s population declined at 0.51 percent—a loss of nearly 300 residents.
The region as a whole lost 792 residents, a decline of less than one-tenth of a percent. In the previous 12-month period, the six counties lost 2,343 residents, which followed a loss of 4,296 people in the year ended July 2005.
Monroe County’s population declined 0.03 percent, or some 240 residents, to 729,681. In the previous two 12-month periods, the county lost 1,123 and 3,371 residents, respectively.
Orleans County lost 208 residents, or 0.49 percent; Wayne County’s population declined by 307 people, or 0.34 percent; and Livingston County shrank by 157 residents, or 0.25 percent.
Many counties across New York also suffered population declines in the latest period, but overall the state’s population grew by 15,741 residents, totaling 19,297,729.
Nationwide, areas hard-hit by the 2005 hurricane season continued to regain residents in 2007. The Louisiana parishes of St. Bernard and Orleans were the nation’s fastest-growing counties last year, with 42.9 percent and 13.8 percent population growth, respectively.



http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080320/GROUP01/303200004/-1/group01
I went to Roc City Rising last night. The High level gist is that it was 168 CEO's from Rochester companies and not for profits that the common young professional could speak to. You could ask them how they got to where they are today, and how you would be able to help them. (It was also a way to look for a job.) Good stuff.

4 projects get tax breaks of $460,000
Democrat and Chronicle

COMIDA approves aid to create 50 jobs, medical complex
The County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency approved more than $460,000 in tax incentives Thursday to help create about 50 jobs and replace two vacant houses in northeast Rochester with a new medical complex.

"In light of all the negative things being said about our economy, we're very pleased with the investments being made by these companies," said Judy Seil, the county's director of economic development and planning.

She said the projects will generate about $1.5 million in revenues from sales taxes, property taxes and state income taxes over 10 years.

The COMIDA board approved tax incentives and abatements for four companies, including a manufacturer that opened last month at the Rochester Technology Park in Gates.

Weldrite Closures Inc. fabricates watertight closures and floodgates for large ships, oil-drilling platforms and structures located in flood zones, said Greg Scace, vice president of the company.

Scace and his partner, company President Jason Nelson, are from the Toronto area and decided to locate their business in Monroe County because of the skill set of the labor pool and the government incentive packages.

"There are a lot of talented trade workers here," Scace said.

COMIDA approved a $9,600 sales tax exemption on about $129,000 worth of equipment Weldrite intends to purchase. The company has hired 14 people so far and hopes to employ about 35 by the end of next year.

The agency also approved:

Slightly more than $400,000 in property tax abatements over 10 years for 1255 Portland LLC. The company plans to spend more than $3 million to build a 21,000-square-foot medical office building on Portland Avenue. The building would replace two dilapidated vacant houses and a small office building.

"It eliminates slum and blight from that area and increases the tax base for the city," Seil said. The project is expected to create nine jobs.

About $36,000 in sales tax exemptions for AP Plumbing Contractors Inc. on $450,000 in new equipment purchases. The Rochester company hopes to add two jobs.

M/E Engineering PC in Rochester was granted about $16,000 in sales tax exemptions to buy $200,000 worth of hardware and software. The firm plans to add four jobs.



Starbucks brewing larger cafe, Mount Hope
WROC 8

Not even a recent moratorium on development could stop it. After getting the “go-ahead” from the City of Rochester to expand, Starbucks on Mount Hope is hoping to set precedence for more neighborhood stores to come.

It's a plan that's been steeping for over a year, to expand the existing Starbucks on Mount Hope.

"We want to have that community store where the neighborhood comes together," said Ron Aylward, District Manager for Starbucks.

The coffee giant wanted to tear down the old record archive building next door and build a brand new, larger Starbucks cafe in its place.

"This new brick and glass building will make a difference for the community," said Aylward.

But that plan was nearly demolished when Rochester City Council members approved a ban on development this week in the Mount Hope area. But Starbucks proved timing is everything. Because it submitted permit papers early, the company was exempt from the moratorium.

Now, Starbucks can continue planning for a space that's more than twice the size of the existing one. It will include more furniture, tables, stools and a first-ever drive-thru Starbucks in Rochester.

"We actually offer a pedestrian walkway and our drive-thru actually bows around, so unlike a lot of drive-thru establishments they go straight to the street. This one is not this is safe for the neighborhood," said Aylward.

Not only will the drive-thru be the first of that kind, Starbucks hopes it can set an example for more neighborhood stores to come. The potential for success is why Starbucks chose the mount hope location in the first place.

"It's a unique challenge for us to be in a neighborhood that is unsightly that could be economically challenged and Starbucks does go into those neighborhoods and enhance them and it's not something new for us. We figure if we can go in and be kind of a cornerstone for that community and have this wonderful, nice building others follow," said Aylward.

Starbucks says the goal is for demolition of the old record archive building to begin next week. If construction goes smoothly, it expects to open the new cafe this Fall.



I just thought this was interesting: A 25 year old who will probably have a great future in Rochester. http://democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080321/BUSINESS/803210338/1001


Here is a story about Dallas' downtown, they have the same issues downtown Rochester does. http://plainvanillashell.com/article.asp?ID=9493

The Dallas facts echo Downtown Rochesters facts:


FAST FACTS

The number of residents and retail businesses in downtown Dallas has grown in the past five years, but city officials would like to see more. Downtown is bordered by Woodall Rodgers Freeway, Interstate 45, Interstate 30 and Interstate 35E.

Retail space downtown: 2,353,893 square feet

Retail vacancy rate: 9.1%

Retail rent: $18 to $25 per square foot

Land prices: About $100 per square foot

Residents: About 5,000 (RDDC says that Rochester will have 5,000 people living downtown by 2012.)

Median age: 33

Per-capita income: $64,558

Residential units: 4,505*

Apartment occupancy: 92%

Downtown employees: 135,000

Workforce within a 30-minute drive: 694,708

Households within a 30-minute drive: 528,399

*80 percent apartments and 20 percent condominiums

Not much of an echo though considering that Downtown Dallas has roughly triple the number of workers, more than triple the number of hotel rooms, double the population within a half-hour drive, and a per capita income that I can only assume is double ours. Oh, and by 2012 (when Downtown Rochester will have 5,000-plus residents) Downtown Dallas is projected to have more than 10,000 residents. So, while we can take solace in knowing that even "successful" cities have trouble revitalizing their downtowns, it makes it all the more depressing to know how much further we have to go to have a chance at real vibrancy.

It is interesting to note that Dallas has an Inner Loop of their own, which likely adds to their troubles at attracting and sustaining retail - the downtown is an island, just like ours. Immediately outside of downtown is their relatively successsful Deep Ellum neighborhood, similar to how the Upper East End has thrived just outside of our downtown. Of course, Dallas has a decent passenger rail network to get people to/from downtown without a car, so they've got that going for them as well. Still, an interesting little article. Thanks RocAddict.

Northwest Savings expanding in Rochester
Buffalo Business First

Northwest Savings Bank has received New York state regulatory approval to open a branch office in the Town of Greece, its second Monroe County location.

A fourth quarter opening is expected, said James Holding, vice president of marketing for the $6.6 billion-asset bank. Another office in suburban Webster also is planned.

Northwest, based in Warren, Pa., operates 166 offices, including -- in New York -- seven locations in Erie County, one in Cattaraugus County, and six in Chautauqua County under the name Jamestown Savings Bank.

Holding said the bank opens about five new offices a year, but there are no plans at this time to open any New York offices other than the two in metro Rochester.

The existing Monroe County office is in the city of Rochester.

"Over time, we expect to be adding new offices in all our markets, especially major ones like Rochester and Buffalo, because convenience is the Number One factor for customers choosing a bank," Holding said.


225 employers expected at RIT job fair
Democrat and Chronicle

A record 225 employers are expected to be on hand Wednesday for Rochester Institute of Technology’s annual Spring Career Fair.

The university estimates that 2,000 RIT students and recent alumni seeking full-time jobs and co-op positions will attend the event, to be held at its Gordon Field House and Activities Center.

Among the companied signed up to attend are Xerox Corp., Eastman Kodak Co., Harris RF Communications, IBM, Canon USA and Anheuser Busch.



Miniroo offers high-end baby goods
Democrat and Chronicle

When Tim Bergeron and his children were searching for a location to open a store for high-end baby goods, Bergeron had a simple request. He wanted the store to be near a Wegmans Food Market.

"I love Wegmans," said Bergeron, chairman of Bergeron Cos. of Dolgeville, Herkimer County. "People who shop there seem to love the idea of shopping at Wegmans. I want us to be the Wegmans of the baby gear market."

Miniroo opened for business in Perinton in December and will celebrate a formal grand opening March 29. Katie Peglow of Perinton, Bergeron's daughter and the manager of Miniroo, said they're going for a specific niche in the baby goods market, which she described as high-quality "gift and gear."

While other local baby-goods boutiques such as Simons or the Rugged Bear focus on furniture or apparel, the Bergeron Cos. are trying to establish Miniroo's identity as an outlet for specialty items from high-end manufacturers.

These include a $400 Bloom high chair that can be used from babyhood to the start of the school-age years; a $198 Baby Kaed diaper bag with a laptop compartment and "drawstring mess bag"; and MiYim stuffed animals made with organic materials that sell for about $30.

"There isn't another place in Rochester that offers some of the products we have," Peglow said. "Nobody else takes it to this level."

Offerings also include the Keekaroo brand high chair and stroller designed by Rochester Institute of Technology graduate Ross Nadeau, an employee of Bergeron Cos.

The Miniroo store is just one component of a business plan to grow a nationwide market with its Internet site.

Miniroo also represents the Bergeron Cos. entry into the mainstream juvenile market. Tim Bergeron, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, started his career designing seating systems for special needs children. The company started moving into the mainstream market after discovering the Keekaroo high chair, which can be used as a school desk for special needs children, was gaining popularity among parents of mainstream children, Peglow said.

The Bergeron Cos. are entering an industry with a lot of challenges, said RIT professor Bob Barbato, who owned a USA Baby franchise in Henrietta in the 1980s and '90s. The store went out of business a few years after he sold it, as did other local baby-supply stores. "They're going to have to broaden their base on the Internet because there just aren't a lot of babies born in Rochester every year," he said.

Peglow said she's confident Miniroo can carve out its own place on the local and national scene. "The items we offer will set us apart. And the Internet gives us national exposure," she said.



I thought this was interesting, stuff invented in Rochester: http://democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080324/NEWS0204/803240315/1003/NEWS01
including French's mustard.

College’s Victor campus inches toward lift-off
Messenger Post Newspapers

The process of picking a developer and location for a Victor campus center for Finger Lakes Community College moves forward today.

Representatives from DiFelice Development Inc. of Victor and MCA Group LLC of East Rochester will present their proposals in separate meetings today with the College Projects Committee, a joint committee of college and county officials.

Plans from DiFelice and MCA Group were chosen from four proposals submitted last month, which included those from DiMarco Group and DHD Ventures Inc., both of Rochester.

Location — particularly to sites west of the village of Victor and close to the Thruway — was key in deciding which proposals were selected for closer review, said County Associate Planner Tom Harvey.

Officials at the Hopewell-based college want to open a satellite center in Victor by August 2009. The college currently has campus centers in Geneva and Newark and targeted Victor for a third center because of its proximity to Monroe County and Victor’s high-tech business corridor. The college is looking to lease at least 25,000-square feet initially, with the option to expand.

DiFelice co-owner Mark DiFelice said he was asked to present more details and answer questions about his proposal to build a campus center on a 24-acre vacant site at 7470 Route 251.

The site is adjacent to Lehigh Crossing Park, the newest addition to the Victor parks system, and is half a mile from Route 96 and adjacent walking trails that would allow students to access it by foot or bicycle, as well as by car. DiFelice said the center could be built and ready to go by August 2009.

As for the MCA Group proposal, developer Bill Mendick would not return phone messages and his staff said he wouldn’t comment. The proposal involves space in the 80-acre Omnitech Business Park on Phillips Road.

Supervisor Richard Calabrese, R-Gorham, who heads the College Projects Committee, said the cost of leasing the space will also be a key factor in deciding which proposal to pick. The college has proposed a $58 million upgrade of its main building in Hopewell, which includes adding a student center and renovating existing academic space and outdoor parking areas.

County staff is trying to sort out how that project will be paid for, said Calabrese. “We have a long way to go yet.”



Buffalo-based developer has three area locations and is expanding nationally.
Democrat and Chronicle

Rochester has been known for years as a test market for new retail products.

Rochesterians munched Arby's Market-Fresh sandwiches, for example, long before they reached the rest of the nation.

Now the area has been used as a test market for an office park development concept. Buffalo-based North Forest Office Providers just broke ground on its fourth office park project, the East River Professional Park in Henrietta.

North Forest's concept is standardized office layouts and pick-your-own-term leases that allow a company to move in quickly and expand as needed, often into adjacent space. Taxes and maintenance fees are rolled into the lease prices.

Marshall Cook, the company's general manager for the Rochester area, said after North Forest founder Roy Jordan blanketed the Buffalo area with office parks (14 of them) he wanted to see whether the concept could be taken elsewhere.

"He basically said, 'We've done fairly good in Buffalo, and Buffalo is not as strong as a Rochester,'" Cook said. Since 2002, the company built single-story office parks in Bushnell's Basin in Perinton, near the Erie Canal in Greece and near routes 441 and 250 in Penfield.

North Forest expected to close on a four-acre site for an additional office park last week in Webster, near the Holt Road Wegmans.

The Rochester experiment apparently worked, as North Forest has two office parks in development in the Denver area, overseen by a former apprentice. Cook said two more development apprentices are learning the ropes with the company now and will pick two more markets in which to deploy the North Forest concept.

The six-acre Henrietta site will feature six buildings totaling 69,000 square feet. The first one, 11,000 square feet, should be ready for tenants this summer.

Additional buildings will be built each year.

The Henrietta office, at 250 Lucius Gordon Drive in the RIT Business & Technology Park, will be unique in the North Forest portfolio because occupants of that park receive perks on the RIT campus.

An RIT spokesman said the perks include discounted rates on campus events, use of research services and facilities and use of athletic facilities, as well as access to the campus library, training and development programs and other campus features.

The site attracted North Forest because it's equally convenient to the state Thruway and the Greater Rochester International Airport, Cook said. Being next to a college campus is a plus, he said, as these office units often attract startup companies that seek college students for their work force.

A North Forest office park near the Amherst, Erie County, campus of the State University of New York at Buffalo, for example, is home to a call center for a search engine company that employs almost exclusively college students.

Cook said startup companies and medical businesses are the most common tenants of North Forest office parks.



Ontario County population inches up
Messenger Post Newspapers

U.S. Census estimates released Thursday show that Ontario and Yates counties’ populations grew slightly, while Wayne County’s population declined slightly between July 2006 and July 2007.

“Even though it’s small, it’s good that we’re not losing population, as is happening in some other upstate counties,” said Canandaigua real estate agent Chris Costello of Ontario County’s four-tenths of a percent population increase, from 103,540 to 103,956. He added that despite the “doom and gloom” economic predictions in the media, the real estate business has managed to maintain a steady clip here these last few years.

Ron Brand, planning director for Farmington and Canandaigua, said the county’s population increase is “reflective of several of the apartment projects recently completed” in those towns. The increase is also indicative of a shift in population from metropolitan Monroe County to suburban Ontario County, due to favorable tax rates here.

“You can get more of a house and pay lower taxes on it here than in places like Penfield, and a lot of people are realizing that,” said Brand.

Yates County also saw a population increase — six-tenths of a percent, from 24,403 to 24,557. Wayne County’s population declined three-tenths of a percent, from 91,598 to 91,291.

Upstate’s largest counties continued to lose people, even as the overall state population nudged up by 15,741 in the 12 months ending July 2007, to 19.3 million people. Population changes among New York counties over the year followed a pattern that has been consistent in recent years: growth in and around New York City and losses in many upstate areas.

Orange County in the Hudson Valley has been the fastest growing county in the state since 2000 and remained so last year, with a growth rate of eight-tenths of a percent. Neighboring Sullivan County was No. 2 with a seven-tenths of a percent growth rate over the year.

The mid-Hudson Valley experienced a population boom over much of the decade, fueled in part by post-Sept. 11 jitters in New York City and sky-high home prices closer to the city. The area’s real estate market has reportedly cooled recently, though.
New York City grew by three-tenths of a percent over the year.

Among the population losers were the counties that include Buffalo (Erie, five-tenths of a percent), Rochester (Monroe, three-hundreths of a percent), Syracuse (Onondaga, one-quarter of a percent) and Albany (Albany, one-tenth of a percent). Albany is the only county in that group to post a net population gain since 2000.

There were losses in New York’s rural counties too, with Cattaraugus County’s drop of 497 people giving it a state-high loss rate of six-tenths of a percent.

Politicians upstate have been trying for years to stanch population losses as more people settle in the South and the West. The so-called “brain drain” of young, college-educated people is a particular concern.

While some counties in the Southwest experienced dramatic change over the year — growth rates were as high as 8 percent in Texas — no county in New York saw a percentage gain or loss of more than 1 percent.

The population estimates are based on records of births, deaths and migration patterns.



Rohrbach to celebrate new brewery Thursday
Democrat and Chronicle

Rohrbach Brewing Co. will celebrate its new location near the Rochester Public Market on Thursday.

The event is set for 4 to 8 p.m. at 97 Railroad St. and will include tours of the brewery and free samples of food and beer.

Mayor Robert Duffy is expected to attend.

The brewery will serve as Rohrbach’s primary manufacturing site. The Rohrbach restaurant and brew pub will continue to operate in Ogden.


Ill be there!



United Way announces campaign goal
Rochester Business Journal

United Way of Greater Rochester Inc. launched its 2008 spring campaign Tuesday, announcing a goal of $33 million.
“Goal-setting for United Way isn’t much different than goal-setting for businesses,” said Jonathan Judge, president and CEO of Paychex Inc. and chairman of the United Way Campaign. “You want to make sure you set the goal as aggressively as you can to achieve your highest performance ... but not so high that you can’t be successful for our community. The difference for United Way is if we don’t raise sufficient dollars, we are not able to fund—at the necessary level—very important programs for our friends and neighbors in need.”
United Way also announced details of two new community challenge grants. This year, ESL Federal Credit Union issued the 2008 Challenge for Change, where every gift to United Way that is increased to $500— or any new gifts at that level—will result in ESL donating an additional $500 to United Way.
Also, Nelson and Nancy Leenhouts and Norman and Arlene Leenhouts, members of United Way’s Alexis de Tocqueville Society (those who contribute $10,000 or more each year), will donate an additional $10,000 for every new Society member this year.
“We are so grateful for both ESL and the Leenhouts for putting forth these remarkable challenges,” said Peter Carpino, United Way President. “Their generosity, coupled with the incredible support of our community, will allow us to help hundreds of thousands of people in our region—many of whom have a wide array of needs.”
The announcement was made at Community Place of Greater Rochester, which has four programs supported by United Way’s Community Fund.
United Way’s Community Fund supports programs that help prevent violence, foster success in school, shelter the homeless, help people with disabilities, prevent child abuse, and help keep seniors independent. For more information, visit www.uwrochester.org.

United Way Rochester beat their 2007 goal: http://rochesterhomepage.net/content/fulltext/?cid=10794

Rochester's 33 million was more than double Buffalo's 2007 amt of 15 million.

A very different story about the Buffalo United Way: http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2008/03/17/daily27.html

United Way Rochester beat their 2007 goal: http://rochesterhomepage.net/content/fulltext/?cid=10794

Rochester's 33 million was more than double Buffalo's 2007 amt of 15 million.

A very different story about the Buffalo United Way: http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2008/03/17/daily27.htmlI am not sure what your point is regarding these two but if you are going to attempt a comparison you should be sure you are comparing apples to apples.

For example the Greather Rochester United Way covers Monroe, Eastern Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston, Yates, Ontario and Wayne Counties. A total of 8 counties.

The United Way of Buffalo and Erie County does not even cover all of Erie County. Also in Erie County is the United Way of the Tonanwanda's. In fact Erie, Niagara,Cataraugus ans Chautaqua Counties are served by Eight (*) separate and distinct United Way's.

In sum Rochester United Way = 1 United Way for 8 Counties.

WNY for four counties eight (8) separate United Ways. To compare the two areas you would have to combine the 8 entities and then compare to the one Rochester entity, and even then you would be comparing the resources of four counties to eight.

I am not sure what your point is regarding these two but if you are going to attempt a comparison you should be sure you are comparing apples to apples.

For example the Greather Rochester United Way covers Monroe, Eastern Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston, Yates, Ontario and Wayne Counties. A total of 8 counties.

The United Way of Buffalo and Erie County does not even cover all of Erie County. Also in Erie County is the United Way of the Tonanwanda's. In fact Erie, Niagara,Cataraugus ans Chautaqua Counties are served by Eight (*) separate and distinct United Way's.

In sum Rochester United Way = 1 United Way for 8 Counties.

WNY for four counties eight (8) separate United Ways. To compare the two areas you would have to combine the 8 entities and then compare to the one Rochester entity, and even then you would be comparing the resources of four counties to eight.


Oy, it was just a comparison. An easy one since I read it the other day. Stop being annoying.

I didnt know or care how many United Ways Buffalo has. I didnt even know as much as you told me about the Rochester United Way.

I think having 1 United Way for Rochester is stupid, why does Buffalo need 8? Seems pretty ass backwards.

I would also like to remind you that Erie county is the physical size of Monroe and Ontario counties combined, that would be comparing apples to apples. All of the counties in WNY are ginormous for some reason, the counties in the finger lakes region are some of the smallest in NYS.

http://county-map.digital-topo-maps.com/new-york-county-map.gif

I think WNY took offense to the 'Buffalo vs. Rochester' style comparision...something which, fortunately, has stopped around here for the most part.

As annoying as you think he is, imagine how annoyed YOU would be if you read something like this trashing Rochester in the Buffalo thread...What pisses me off when I read this stuff is I think people in Buffalo rarely compare their city to Rochester while the folks from Rochester seem to stop at nothing to try and make Buffalo look bad so they can boost their own civic ego.

Buffalo has plenty of problems and the people from that city already KNOW it. We don't need the folks from Rochester pointing out all our faults, especially since the only reason Rochester seems to do it in the first place is to make itself feel like less of a loser. But since you brought it up....

http://www.census.gov/population/censusdata/90den_ma.txt

The data is a little old (1990), and I'm not sure what has changed since then, but according to the numbers the Buffalo-Niagara Falls CMSA is 1,567.6 square miles while the Rochester MSA is 2,931.5 square miles. I think everyone already knows Rochester has more money per-capita than Buffalo, but to settle the 'ginormous' debate it would appear to me that the Rochester MSA is 1,363.9 square miles larger than Buffalo's.

Of course, I don't think it matters much....because if what you're trying to do is make yoruself feel better because Rochester can donate more money to the United Way than Buffalo I'd say you're probably right...which makes Rochester's dismal failure as a metropolitan region all the more pathetic. How can all of you rich snobs who can literally throw twice as much money to charities and live in the best damn place on earth possibly suck nearly as bad as Buffalo? For all your glorious city has going for you it completely boggles the mind.

And don't harp on me about that rich snob part either....you ARE if you feel the need to point out that you can GIVE twice as much money and THEN have the nerve to point out how awesome that is compared to the second poorest city in the USA. That is arrogant, snobish behavior.....something the people in Buffalo apparently CAN'T AFFORD.

Congratulations! Enjoy your unbelievable wealth Rochester, as you desintegrate right along with the rest of upstate! At least Syracuse doesn't bitch as much as you...they've got too much CIVIC PRIDE to look like assholes.

I think WNY took offense to the 'Buffalo vs. Rochester' style comparision...something which, fortunately, has stopped around here for the most part. As annoying as you think he is.

Well, at least you figured out Im a proud arrogant snob.

DEVELOPMENT: In Chili, a struggle for identity
City Newspaper

Very LONG story on development in Chili...
http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/articles/DEVELOPMENT%3A+In+Chili%2C+a+struggle+for+identity/


I found this site, thought it was pretty interesting, a list of public art projects around Rochester and a nice quote about Midtown plaza on the Midtown page. http://www.rochesterpublicart.com/

RochesterAddict - No, I don't think that of you...but I think it's important that you understand how those comparisons look sometimes. Pointing out that Buffalo is falling further and further behind isn't going to endear you to anyone living there...especially when it couples itself with 'and look at how good we've done!'. It just looks like a comparison done in bad taste designed to make Rochester look good, and Buffalo look bad.

Unfortunately, I think both cities are struggling...but in 20 years I think the tables will turn in upstate's favor. For both cities sake, lets hope I'm right. ;-)

I didn't mean for that to become a rant and I'd like to appologise for taking the shot at you. I should proofread my posts before I hit send...especially when I take things personally.

300 to lose jobs at Chase, I'm thinking the community once again will be able to absorb the loss of these jobs, but WTF...??? When will we ever catch a break, if it isn't NYS that is bending us over, it's now the federal governments terrible management of our economy that has us ready to once again take it in the rear.

300 to lose jobs at Chase, I'm thinking the community once again will be able to absorb the loss of these jobs, but WTF...??? When will we ever catch a break, if it isn't NYS that is bending us over, it's now the federal governments terrible management of our economy that has us ready to once again take it in the rear.

Doh! you beat me to it!

http://cmsimg.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A2&Date=20080326&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=80326016&Ref=AR&MaxW=318&Border=0

Chase to cut 300 jobs in Rochester
Democrat and Chronicle

JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced today that a downturn in its home equity loan business is forcing it to eliminate 300 jobs in Rochester and combine that operation with Chase offices in Milwaukee and Phoenix.

The job cuts are necessitated by national, not local, trends, said E. Malcolm "Sandy" Wolcott Jr., the Rochester-based president of Chase's upstate operations.

Chase is the largest financial employer in the region, with about 950 workers at the Chase Tower in downtown Rochester and branches throughout the area.

The 300 jobs to be cut will all come from the home equity loan processing center in the tower.

Wolcott said the bank has contacted local business groups to help place at least some of the affected employees with other companies.



The parent company of my company (doesnt affect us we just hired 35) just laid off 2,200 people in Phoenix, Wash DC, and Tampa. Its just the state of the economy.



Preservation lobbying group to visit city
Rochester Business Journal

The president of Preservation Action, a national historic preservation lobbying organization, will be in Rochester today and Thursday to meet with activists and politicians.
Heather MacIntosh, president of Preservation Action, is going on the road to help local preservationists with in-district lobbying efforts. Based in the nation’s capital, Preservation Action supports congressional efforts to fund preservation programs.
Rochester and Las Vegas were chosen as the first two cities in the nation for the group’s first such trip, organizers said.
In Rochester, MacIntosh will meet with preservation advocates from the Landmark Society of Western New York Inc. and local politicians, including New York’s Rep. Louis Slaughter, D-Perinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and staff of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY. MacIntosh will be encouraging enhancements to the Federal Tax Credits on historic buildings and increased funding for preservation programs.
She also will visit local landmarks, including the Susan B. Anthony House and the Medical Arts Building.
MacIntosh will take part in a happy hour discussion tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Old Toad. Anyone interested in preservation and planning is welcome to attend.

Area's population loss goes on
Democrat and Chronicle

The Buffalo-Niagara Falls area had the nation's sixth-largest population loss last year, while Syracuse ranked 20th and the Rochester area 35th, making them the biggest losers among metro areas in New York state, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today.

Dallas-Fort Worth had the nation's biggest population gain, while the Detroit area had the nation's biggest loss.

The census estimates are based on tax returns and describe population shifts between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007.

"The story of population loss or stagnation in upstate New York is one of decreasing employment opportunities," said Warren Brown of the New York Census Research Data Center at the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research.

"That does not mean there are not robust parts of the economy. ... It's just that overall jobs are declining, and there are fairly heavy rates of out-migration. The dividing line is west of the Hudson River," Brown said.

Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy added that schools are an important factor causing migration from the city itself, if not from the metro area: "I think we would keep the people we have if we saw an increase in graduation rates. ... The schools play a big, big role."

Four thousand more people moved away from the Rochester region than into it during the 2006-07 period, estimates show.

Enough babies were born here so that the overall population of Monroe, Livingston, Ontario, Orleans and Wayne counties, which make up the Rochester metropolitan statistical area, lost only about 500 people and remained slightly higher than 1 million.

The Census Bureau estimates that the region has lost 7,300 people this decade.

"My caution would be not to get too excited about a particular change one year to the next," Brown said. "But if that trend continues, then there is probably something to it."

The 50 fastest-growing metro areas, lead by Palm Coast, Fla., grew by at least 2.3 percent and were concentrated in the South and the West, the Census Bureau said in a news release.

None of the 50 fastest-growing areas was in the Northeast.

Growing and shrinking
Metro areas estimated to have had the greatest numerical population change from July 1, 2006, to July 1, 2007.
GAINS
1. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas: 162,250.
2. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga.: 151,063.
3. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.: 132,513.
21. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.: 33,273.
130. Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, N.Y.: 3,613.
180. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.: 2,163.
270. Glens Falls, N.Y.: 618.
274. Ithaca: 546.
301. Utica-Rome: 58.
303. Kingston: 40.
LOSSES
1. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich.: 27,314.
2. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio: 8,848.
3. Columbus, Ga.-Ala.: 7,591.
6. Buffalo-Niagara Falls: 5,166.
20. Syracuse: 1,278.
35. Rochester: 496.
37. Binghamton: 429.


Housing development down in Webster
WROC 8

There are signs of the national economic slowdown in our area. One of the fastest growing communities in the Rochester area is seeing a decline in developments.

In 2003, the Town of Webster was booming with housing developments. According to the Rochester Home Builders' Association, the town recorded 300 new building permits for single-family homes. That number has gradually decreased. Overall last year, homebuilders applied for 131 permits for single- family homes, and this year only 15 permits are on the table so far.

Town officials and homebuilders blame the economy. But there are other factors affecting development in Webster.

Homebuilders in Webster, like Jake Swingly, say the Monroe County town isn't booming with housing developments like it did in the early 2000's.

“Webster's a little bit slower,” he said. “Well, the whole area is a little bit slower than it was a couple years ago, but I think it's just settling out.”

Just last year, the town was named second in the county for amount of development. However, from 2003 until 2007, Webster saw a 56 percent decrease in building permits for single-family homes.

"For a while, there was a number of builders gravitating toward Webster because there was a real need for it then,” said Rick Herman of the Rochester Home Builders’ Association. “We saw commercial growth in the Webster area which created more of a demand."

So far in 2008, only 15 building permits for single-family homes are on the drawing board.

Why the decline?

“It's partially the economy, but what I look at is our master plan and our comprehensive plan for the town,” said Bill Rampe, the deputy supervisor.

About 3,200 acres of land in Webster is preserved for open space and town parks. That leaves less space for development.

“Every parcel of land that the town is able to purchase and set aside as open space - that's a piece of property that wouldn't be able to be developed,” Rampe said.

And there may be other factors.

“The number of housing units built in surrounding counties has also increased,” Herman said, “so (they are) taking a little away from some of those towns such as Webster.”

“People are watching the national news, and that's having an effect when the housing market was strong regionally,” Swingly added.

The peak construction season has yet to begin this year, but homebuilders say they don't expect the Webster market to waiver too much from its current trend.

"It's steady, and there's still a demand," Swingly said. "Webster's still a very desirable area."

Beer Makers Want More Respect from Albany
WHAM 13

http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=42d25200-f6d2-4e1a-8da3-93ee5fdba2cb
Good video of the event.


Revitalization Fund Key to New Development
RNEWS 9

The man who will work in the Empire State Development Corporation building in Buffalo said that the revitalization fund is a key tool for his job.

Dan Gunderson agreed that the money needs to be invested so the whole state does not get left behind. "Clearly we have to make some tough choices. As this governor believes, now is the time to invest wisely,” said Gunderson, “We look at this as investment, the revitalization fund. We're experiencing some difficult economic times, but two years from now as other states have made the wise investments and are moving along, we want to be able to be along with them to compete."

While Gunderson cites PAETEC's move downtown as the most significant development project in Rochester now, he said that many more are in the works. He would not say exactly what those were but said we could be close to hearing some announcements.



Stagecoach Inn project to begin soon
Democrat and Chronicle

The Stagecoach Inn restoration project in Chili could begin as early as late April.

The 1,200-square-foot-historic building, which was scheduled to be demolished two years ago, would be rented out as office space to prospective leasers, said Ben Kendig, the new owner.

"We just got the keys to the building so we are getting ready to mobilize," said Kendig, president of Plainview Collateral LLC. "It's a little cold now but we are probably only a month away from our guys coming in to start fixing the building. When we're done people will be happy that they can drive through Chili and see a tiny bit of history."

The 194-year-old building at 4358 Buffalo Road, in North Chili, was on its way to seeing the broadside of a bulldozer with former owner, Alexander Tulloch, prepared to sell the land to a developer to build a Walgreens drugstore.

Three Chili residents sued in 2006 to stop the demolition. After a sometimes bitter nine-month court battle, a deal was reached to save the inn and build the store behind it.

Walgreens and Maude Development, based in Illinois, agreed to pay $50,000 each to Kendig, who will orchestrate the inn's renovation. Maude Development will perform environmental cleanup on the site and local residents are fundraising to improve the front stoop, about $8,000 to $10,000.

The deal was made official late last month when Tulloch sold the property for Walgreens to Maude Development for $1 million, and the site for the Stagecoach Inn was sold to Kendig for $415,000, according to the Chili Assessor's Office.

The citizen fundraising project stalled for several months until the inn's land was finally sold.

"We stopped until we were sure that everything was going to go through, and now that it has, we will start to ratchet up our fundraising drive," said Rodney Jones, one of the three Chili residents who sued.

Other repairs include $10,000 for underground electrical service, about $17,000 to replace more than 20 windows, $5,000 to build several chimneys and $2,400 to rebuild a new arched entrance door.

The two-story federal style inn was built in 1814 as a tavern and a 13-room inn featuring fireplaces, an expansive ballroom and wine cellar that predates the town of Chili.

Carol Hively, Walgreens spokesperson, said construction on the 14,800-square-foot store should start by fall with the store to open next spring.



Houses to be razed for club’s expansion
Rochester Business Journal

A $7 million expansion of Midtown Athletic Club begins Tuesday morning with the demolition of 10 houses on Gould Street.
The houses have been gutted and abated of asbestos, club officials announced late Thursday. Appliances, fixtures, windows, hardwood floors, trim and cabinets from the houses have been donated to Flower City Habitat for Humanity Inc.
“After four months of work, the demolition prep is finally complete and the houses are ready to be razed,” Midtown Athletic Club general manager Glenn William said.
The club began purchasing the houses in 1992 to prepare for its expansion.
“Our goal has been to expand our outdoor facilities to become a full-service, four-season club,” William said.
Following the relocation of utilities, four outdoor swimming pools, a café, a locker room and an Adirondack-style lounge will be constructed. The new facility also will include nine outdoor clay tennis courts.
The expansion will result in 25 new jobs created over three years, officials said. The opening of the outdoor tennis and pool complex is scheduled for Memorial Day 2009.


Pactiv Corp. adds jobs as part of plant upgrade
Rochester Business Journal

The first phase of Pactiv Corp.’s $73 million plant improvement project in Canandaigua is near completion and the Illinois-based firm has hired some 45 workers to support the expansion.

Robert Clark moved fast in bid to buy Rhinos
Rochester Business Journal

Rochester Rhinos executive vice president Matthew Ford was meeting with a staff member on Feb. 29 when he received a phone call from Utica-area banker Robert Clark. Nineteen days later, Robert Clark reached an agreement with the city of Rochester, with the USL and with NBT Bancorp Inc. to settle $10.6 million in unpaid loans due from the Rhinos’ previous ownership group.


That should be the speed of everything!

Robert Clark moved fast in bid to buy Rhinos
Rochester Business Journal

Rochester Rhinos executive vice president Matthew Ford was meeting with a staff member on Feb. 29 when he received a phone call from Utica-area banker Robert Clark. Nineteen days later, Robert Clark reached an agreement with the city of Rochester, with the USL and with NBT Bancorp Inc. to settle $10.6 million in unpaid loans due from the Rhinos’ previous ownership group.


That should be the speed of everything!
Lots of good signs so far. The $4 million to (more or less) finish the stadium is finally being released and they can finish up the stadium for '09. He's going to try to move the parking focus to the Oak Street/Frontier area where (paranoid) suburbanites will be more comfortable and there will be transportation for those that need it. He was able to get out of the previous group's food vendor contract and he's requesting bids from local vendors. Finally, he fired an unpopular coach, brought back a popular player to coach, put "Soccer Sam" in charge or marketing, and just signed a pretty solid player. So there seems to be some real commitment, which is exciting, because it means PAETEC Park will have the opportunity to meet its real potential. As a sidenote, Clark is living in Corn Hill Landing.

Texas company has plans for Rochester
Democrat and Chronicle

Rochesterians might think this region has little to recommend, in light of big-company layoffs in recent years and other bad economic news.

From a national perspective, though, this area's economy looks good enough for a Texas real estate investment company to put $3.25 million into the first of several purchases it plans here.

AIC Ventures, an Austin-based company that specializes in buying buildings and leasing them back to the previous owners, closed on a plant at 105 Elmore Drive in Greece this month. The 80,000-square-foot building is occupied by Alliance Precision Plastics, which bought the business in 2002.

Alliance also has another location on Trabold Road in Gates and between the two sites employs about 300 people, according to Rocky Butler, the Atlanta businessman who is chairman of Alliance.

A holding company from Atlanta actually owned the Elmore Drive building and leased it to Alliance. Butler, who is a principal in both, explained that the investment fund that provided the money to buy the building in 2002 was coming to the end of its term.

"We have the capital to agree to pay cash," said Paul Robshaw, founder and managing partner of AIC. Originally from Buffalo, he is well acquainted with upstate New York.

"Rochester has always been the best city in upstate New York to invest in," Robshaw said. "It has a more stable economy and RIT has been a great plus to the Rochester community. Kodak and Xerox — even with the problems they've had — they've reinvented themselves."

Besides a good local economy, AIC looks for a stable business to partner with when it buys a building, Robshaw said. Alliance signed a 15-year lease with the building's new owners, said President Brad Scott.

AIC has closed more than $700 million in sales, according to its Web site. Robshaw said no changes usually are made to the buildings its buys unless the company wants help with expanding. The buildings eventually resold in bundled investment packages after several years.

Butler said that no changes would result from the sale of the building. "Alliance, who was renting the building, will continue to rent the building."

Robshaw said AIC has submitted a letter of intent to buy another building in the area and is looking at several others. "We like Rochester."



http://cmsimg.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A2&Date=20080330&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=803300317&Ref=AR&Profile=1001&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Park Point taking shape
Democrat and Chronicle

Mixed-use project near RIT hopes to become a hub of the community.
The search for businesses to occupy Park Point, the mixed-use project going up near Rochester Institute of Technology, began three years ago with a survey.

RIT students, faculty and staff were asked about the type of restaurants, services and shops they wanted for the $72 million retail and residential development at Jefferson Road and John Street in Henrietta, said Kevin Wilmot, vice president of finance for Wilmorite Management Group, developer of the project.

"Using that survey as a basis, we tried to target the best in class in each category," said Wilmot. "We think we ended up with a pretty unique mix."

Wilmorite, which manages several Rochester-area shopping malls, including the nearby The Marketplace mall in Henrietta, also tapped into some of that knowledge when making leasing decisions for Park Point.

The nine Park Point businesses — anchor Barnes & Noble@RIT, several restaurants, a sports bar, coffee café, a salon and natural nail spa and 24-hour convenience store — bring the retail portion of the project to 95 percent leased. Of the 300 apartments, 90 percent are leased.

Scheduled to open in August, Park Point is "an appealing destination for the community," Wilmot said.

RIT isn't the only area college with such ambition.

Part of the University of Rochester's campus master plan is a proposal for a mixed-use development on university-owned land at Mt. Hope and Elmwood avenues.

Meanwhile, work continues on two other UR projects: Brooks Landing, at South Plymouth and Brooks avenues, and the nearby Riverview Apartments.

Ron Christenson, developer of Brooks Landing, said the 88-room hotel is scheduled to open by the end of August while the office building is set to open by November with more than 100 UR employees working there.

Leasing has just started for the 8,000-square-foot retail space in the office building, Christenson said, adding that he is looking for the kinds of businesses found in a neighborhood shopping center.

Farther north along South Plymouth Avenue is the 120-unit Riverview Apartments for UR students. Developer John Yurtchuk said the apartments, 100 percent leased, will be ready to move into by August. UR is already showing a furnished model.

Urban universities adding retail to enhance campus life and energize nearby neighborhoods is becoming increasingly common, said John-david W. Franklin, senior vice president of leasing for Madison Marquette in Washington, D.C.

Madison Marquette consults with universities on their master plans and handles mixed-used development and leasing for schools. Among the colleges the firm has worked with are the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and Ohio State University in Columbus.

"The goal is to enhance the vital academic and social community that already exists," Franklin said. "The university campus is already the center of learning. You can't forget the basic services."

In recalling the RIT survey responses, Wilmot said, "The students wanted a place to congregate and socialize. Whether it's a restaurant, sports bar or coffee café, I think we met most of those desires."

James Watters, RIT's senior vice president of finance, said the university is excited about Park Point and that Wilmorite has attracted a good core of retail businesses, but that work still needs to be done.

"There clearly needs to be additional offerings and variety that students are looking for. We hope Wilmorite strengthens and adds to the retail."

Wilmot said the company hopes to do just that; a 13,000-square-foot outparcel has yet to be marketed.

Among the business owners coming to Park Point is Wayne Luong, who has three downtown restaurants. "RIT is growing and Henrietta is booming," Luong said. "I wanted to be a part of that."

Park Pointers
Barnes & Noble@RIT. This 46,000-square-foot superstore will anchor Park Point and carry the bookseller's standard products along with RIT-branded merchandise.
Abbott's Frozen Custard. The 38th location for the legendary dessert specialist.
Gallery Salon Too. A full-service and natural nail spa that offers clients and the public an opportunity to exhibit and view original artwork by local artists.
King David's Restaurant. Syracuse restaurateur Nader Hatem brings his Middle Eastern, Greek and vegetarian dishes to the Rochester area.
lovin' cup. It's a "café and music bistro," according to Leslie Zinck, one of the partners.
Paradiso Pizza. Nick Lacoviello and Lea Contomanolis operate Cosmo's Pizza at The Marketplace mall in Henrietta. Paradiso will also feature calzones, pasta, sandwiches and wings.
7 Day's Convenient Store. The staples, plus Western Union service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to the Anasari brothers, Ikram, Obaid and Aman.
Tiger's Sport Bar. Food, drinks and plasma TVs. Next door is a 2,000-square-foot dance club that will feature live music and disc jockeys in a "venue for the entire community," according to Wilmorite.
Wok With You. Wayne Luong said his fourth area restaurant will offer a sushi bar, Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese specialties.


Lending industry jobs fairly safe here
Democrat and Chronicle

Turmoil in the nation's housing industry is costing 300 Rochester workers their jobs as JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced last week it was closing its home equity loan processing center here.

But it is perhaps remarkable that the area's high finance industry hasn't been hit harder by a crisis that has seen tens of thousands of jobs axed in banks, mortgage companies and related businesses.

While local mortgage lending is much slower than it had been, "I don't think we've seen many (local) job losses in the broker arena," said Susan A. Kreyer, western region president of the New York Association of Mortgage Brokers. "Downstate is really struggling."

The mortgage business employs 1,000 to 1,500 in the Rochester area, Kreyer said.

The association still is trying to quantify the jobs fallout in the Empire State from the subprime mortgage mess, she said.

In announcing the job cuts, which will be complete by October, Chase cited declining home prices nationwide leading to a big drop in home equity loans.

Buffalo-based M&T Bank has not made any job cuts in its home lending area, and the bank has a number of openings companywide, said spokesman Chet Bridger. The openings posted on M&T's Web site for the Rochester area, however, are relatively small, and most of them are part-time tellers.

Maureen Wolfe, vice president and director of people and organizational development at ESL Federal Credit Union, said that while the Irondequoit-based financial institution is not planning to hire in home lending, "we're not anticipating we're going to have layoffs by any means."

As of Friday, ESL had 10 job listings posted on its Web site.

Area's population loss goes on
Democrat and Chronicle

The Buffalo-Niagara Falls area had the nation's sixth-largest population loss last year, while Syracuse ranked 20th and the Rochester area 35th, making them the biggest losers among metro areas in New York state, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today.

...

"The story of population loss or stagnation in upstate New York is one of decreasing employment opportunities," said Warren Brown of the New York Census Research Data Center at the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research.

...

Four thousand more people moved away from the Rochester region than into it during the 2006-07 period, estimates show.

...

The Census Bureau estimates that the region has lost 7,300 people this decade.

...

OK, now Buffalo's population loss has been pretty much boiled down to be due not to an abnormally high rate out outmigration but rather an abnormally small rate of inmigration. Both cities quite obviously have the same common denominator, but is it fair to assume Rochester is facing the same secondary issues or is there something else in play?

Wow Utica...move over Phoenix! :lol:

UR's Simon School in U.S. News & World Report's top 25
Democrat and Chronicle

University of Rochester’s Simon Graduate School of Business Administration has been named among the top 25 business schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in its annual ranking of graduate schools.

Last year, Simon was ranked 36th overall.

This year’s survey also put Simon at 13th in finance and 24th in accounting among U.S. business schools.

The rankings are in U.S. News’ April 7 edition.

For the rankings, U.S. News & World Report surveys business school deans and directors of accredited M.B.A. programs as well as corporate recruiters on academic quality measures and key indicators.



RIT glass art, photography programs ranked No. 2 and 3 in nation by magazine
Democrat and Chronicle

Rochester Institute of Technology’s graduate studies in art and photography have earned top ratings from U.S. News & World Report.

Its influential annual report, America’s Best Graduate Schools, hit the newsstands today. It ranked RIT’s glass art program No. 2 in the nation — just behind Rhode Island School of Design and tied with Alfred University in Allegany County.

RIT and RISD tied for third place in photography, a highly competitive category. Top honors went to Yale University’s powerhouse program.

Canadian company responds to ferry call
Democrat and Chronicle

An open call for ferry operators interested in starting up a Rochester-to-Toronto service in 2009 had drawn one suitor pitching a hovercraft when the deadline passed Monday.

Only the Canadian company Hover Transit Services responded to the city and Toronto Port Authority's joint request for interested operators to submit their credentials, financials and a rough business plan.

The city and Port Authority will take the next 30 to 45 days to review the proposal and make a recommendation on how to proceed.

Four suitors responded in 2000 when the two entities last put out a request for interested operators.

That ill-fated effort led to brief private, then city-backed operations in 2004 and 2005.

Other ferry stories:
http://rnews.com/Story_2004.cfm?ID=59745&rnews_story_type=18
http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=d144f4d4-8179-4b3e-9d26-d61cd7c7c1e3



http://www.mpnnow.com/towns/brighton/x325169196
I cant believe anyone would oppose the development in Brighton. These projects need to move forward.


http://www.mpnnow.com/towns/henrietta/x1565505161
I thought this was interesting about the land on Jefferson Rd where AbDick used to be.


http://www.mpnnow.com/towns/penfield/x1012433922
Blang, they are speaking of bringing CVS back to Four Corners in Penfield.


http://www.mpnnow.com/towns/pittsford/x1279456908
Oak Hill commons in Pittsford has site plans now, but still no approval.


http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2007/12/12/foreclosures-and-crime-rate-rising-in-charlotte-nc/
I thought this story and map on the right hand side was interesting.



On another note, wheres Rocguy? He must be having a good time at college.

Costello is just bombarding the Town of Brighton with development proposals. It doesn't help that they don't have the best reputation in the community. Brighton is notorious for its residents being opposed to just about everything so this isn't a big surprise. But residents have known for decades that the land would be intensely developed. It's ridiculously prime property and Costello's plans are relatively impressive. I have to assume the Big W is part of either CityGate or Keating...

According to my sources at Paetec HQ, they are leaning towards a 25-story tower. That would make sense given that 25 is right smack in the middle of the 17-to-35 story range that they have been considering. It would take a nice crown or spire to make a 25-story building our new tallest, but I assume it will be. Paetec is already behind schedule on this; they should have had the decision made by now!

According to my sources at Paetec HQ, they are leaning towards a 25-story tower. That would make sense given that 25 is right smack in the middle of the 17-to-35 story range that they have been considering. It would take a nice crown or spire to make a 25-story building our new tallest, but I assume it will be. Paetec is already behind schedule on this; they should have had the decision made by now!

Thanks for the update MAT. Lets hope they announce, or you first, their plans soon.



I just thought this story on the canal was interesting: http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/articles/COVER+STORY%3A+Historic+canal%2C+historic+debate/

Wegman liquor store in Pittsford OK'd
Democrat and Chronicle

Business to complete move from Ridge Road by April 26.
On the day the state Liquor Authority approved her application to open a liquor store at Pittsford Plaza, Nicole Wegman insisted Wednesday that the new venture does not signal the launch of a chain of Wegman-owned liquor outlets.

“It’s not a Wegmans plaza,” Wegman said of the 45,000-square-foot Century Pittsford Wines store, which will open later this month below the SteinMart.

Some area liquor store owners had vehemently opposed Wegman’s liquor application, expressing concerns that Wegman family members and friends would open liquor stores at the grocery chain’s other plazas.

Wegman is owner of Nicole’s Wine & Spirits, a company she formed to buy Century Liquor and Wines from founder Sherwood Deutsch in March 2007. She received approval from the Liquor Authority to transfer her liquor license from Century’s longtime location at 630 W. Ridge Road in Rochester to the new Century Pittsford Wines, the former site of a Cohoes department store.

Chris O’Donnell, who is married to Wegman’s older sister, Wegmans Food Markets President Colleen Wegman, had applied to take over the Ridge Road store and operate it under his name.

While the Liquor Authority approved Wegman’s application Wednesday, O’Donnell’s application was not on the agenda.

Lisa McDougall, the attorney representing O’Donnell, said he was “optimistic and hopeful about opening in that location in the near future. There is no date certain, and it depends on the process of securing financing.

Nicole Wegman said workers will begin moving merchandise from the Ridge Road location to the new Pittsford store today. Century Liquor and Wines will close April 12, and the new Pittsford store will open April 26.

She said many customers of the original Century store used to drive from Pittsford and often asked when a store would open there.

“I believe the area is underserved. Business is growing in the area,” Wegman said.

Eugene Fram, marketing professor at Rochester Institute of Technology’s Saunders College of Business, said the new Pittsford store “increases the competition pressure in Pittsford and the east metropolitan area because of Wegman’s considerable buying power.”

Fram said it was hard to predict whether smaller liquor stores in the area would close because he did not know Wegman’s pricing or the extent of its inventory.

Wegman said the Pittsford Plaza location will offer consumers a better shopping experience and more choices.

The store will have a reading center, wireless access and computer kiosks. In this much larger space, Wegman said, the store can offer wine tastings and seminars and showcase a wide variety of wines, including those from New York state.

“I’m excited about the space where we can continue to offer our great customer service, provide education and offer low prices,” Wegman said.



Crafts store to open in Webster
Democrat and Chronicle

Former Chase-Pitkin to house Hobby Lobby chain superstore
Hobby Lobby — an arts, crafts and home decor superstore chain — will open its first location in New York in the former Chase-Pitkin Home & Garden Center in Webster.

The Oklahoma City-based chain will begin renovations on the 66,000-square-foot building at 900 Holt Road in May for an opening in either September or October, said J. Scott Nelson, assistant vice president of real estate.

Hobby Lobby operates 400 stores in 32 states primarily in the Midwest and Southwest. New York is the 33rd state for the 35-year-old chain.

Nelson said the Webster location was the "first opportunity" for the company to open a Northeast store.

"New York has a lot of population," he said. "We're excited about stepping out a little farther."

The Webster store will be one of the company's larger locations.

Typically its stores are 55,000 square feet and employ 30 to 50 full- and part-time workers, Nelson said.

Nelson said two or three more stores are planned for the Rochester area as well as one in the Buffalo area.

Hobby Lobby stores offer arts and crafts as well as home accents, jewelry, picture framing, fabric, wearable art, floral items and a large seasonal department.

"Our depth of product is considerably deeper than the arts and crafts stores in the area," Nelson said. "The crafter should be able to find anything they need for a project."

The Hobby Lobby demographic is a family with an income between $35,000 to $50,000 and a solid population base, Nelson said. The store customer is primarily a female 8 to 80 years old.


Downtown Development Corp. chief optimistic about projects
Democrat and Chronicle

After a 25-year downhill slide, downtown Rochester is starting to look up.

That was the case Rochester Downtown Development Corp. President Heidi Zimmer-Meyer tried to make this morning as she discussed the state of downtown at the State University College at Brockport Breakfast Briefings series held at the college’s Metro Center.

“Now we’re dealing with growth,” Zimmer-Meyer said. “We’re not accustomed to that in this region.”

In her talk, she laid out the various projects schedule to happen downtown, from PAETEC Holding Corp. and ESL Credit Union planning new headquarters there and the ongoing redevelopment happening at the former Genesee Hospital to the growing amount of housing being built in downtown.

And she predicted that at least the Monoe Community College campus/bus terminal portion of the $230 million Renaissance Square project would go forward.
With $176 million in public funds committed to the project, she said, “I can’t see this community walking away from that and giving the money to somebody else. We’re quite bullish about the project.”

Remember Quartet, that neat little four-unit development at East & Winthrop? Well forget about it! As I mentioned a while ago, that concept has been shelved. But it's not all bad news, the building will still be converted to residential - single family residential! A very wealthy suburbanite, and CEO of a well known local company, is buying the building and moving from his mansion in Victor to Downtown Rochester. The plan is to add two stories on top of the existing building to house the living quarters. The first floor would house a private art gallery and parking.

This will surely be the first million dollar housing unit in the Inner Loop and will hopefully encourage other super-rich folks to invest in our Center City. Another building just down the block from this site will also be converted to retail and residential - but I have no details on that one just yet.

Can someone make a list of projects in the city of Rochester?

PAETEC headquarters to tower over the city

The Xerox, Chase and Bausch & Lomb towers will be getting a very tall neighbor in downtown Rochester, one they're likely to have to look up to.

PAETEC Holding Corp.'s new corporate headquarters, to be built where the Midtown complex now sits, probably will consist of two buildings. The taller of them will rise slightly above One Xerox Square, according to PAETEC Chief Executive Arunas A. Chesonis.

Chesonis said Thursday that the new PAETEC tower will house parts of his telecommunications company, as well as retail space and a public observation deck at the top.

He also envisions a five-story building connected to the PAETEC tower by an atrium. The shorter building also would have corporate offices, plus amenities such as a fitness center and a day care center for employees' children.

Chesonis hopes the complex, which would be built toward the Broad Street side of the Midtown block, will prove inspirational.

"Sometimes we settle in the city," Chesonis said at a meeting Thursday with the Democrat and Chronicle editorial board. "There is nothing wrong with being world-class all the time. We just need more confidence in ourselves that we're world-class."

The PAETEC building, which could be finished by late 2011 or early 2012, is taking the city into unfamiliar territory, said Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, president of the Rochester Downtown Development Corp. After a 25-year downhill slide, "now we're dealing with growth" downtown, she said.

"We're not accustomed to that in this region," Zimmer-Meyer said as she described the state of downtown during the State University College at Brockport Breakfast Briefings series, held Thursday at the college's Metro Center.

The growth is notable: ESL Federal Credit Union planning to break ground this summer on a new headquarters; ongoing redevelopment of the former Genesee Hospital; expansion and renovation of the Eastman Theatre; renovation of the Saddle Ridge entertainment complex in High Falls for office space.

Those projects come in addition to 370 housing units under construction around downtown, Zimmer-Meyer said.

As for Renaissance Square, she predicted that at least the Monroe Community College campus and bus terminal parts of the $230 million project will go forward. With $176 million in public funds committed to the project, she said, "I can't see this community walking away from that and giving the money to somebody else. We're quite bullish about the project."

No architect has yet been hired to design the PAETEC buildings. Chesonis said he expects that to happen later this year.

The new structures would house about 1,500 PAETEC employees of the company's national work force of 4,000.

Most of Midtown to close Aug. 1
Rochester Business Journal

Most of Midtown Plaza will close Aug. 1, and the parking garage beneath it will close Sept. 30 as the removal of asbestos begins, city of Rochester officials announced Friday.
The plaza is scheduled to be demolished to make way for Paetec Holding Corp.’s new headquarters. The Perinton telecommunications firm plans to build a 500,000-square-foot high rise at the site and relocate in 2011.
As of Aug. 1, the only remaining tenant will be Clear Channel Communications Inc. in the Euclid Building and the Trailways bus station on Elm Street. Both will remain through December, city officials said.
Clear Channel is the parent of WHAM-AM 1180, WDVI-FM 100.5, WFXF-FM 95.1, WHTK-AM 1280, WKGS-FM 106.7, WSNP-FM 107.3 and WVOR-FM 102.3 in the Rochester area.
The city expects to take ownership of Midtown in early May, and is working with tenants on relocation plans, city officials said. Most tenants will leave the plaza by the end of June.
The city will close the JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Xerox Corp. skyway connections on June 30, officials said.
As of Aug. 1, pedestrian access to the Midtown garage will be limited to the Euclid Building lobby and the Broad Street underground tunnel from the gateway atrium at Broad Street and Clinton Avenue, officials said.
A parking relocation plan to accommodate 1,300 Midtown parking garage customers includes re-opening the Mortimer Street garage and a new surface lot on Mortimer Street, officials said. The East End and St. Joseph’s parking garages are other alternatives.


Some new schematics of Park Point:
http://cmsimg.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A2&Date=20080404&Category=NEWS05&ArtNo=304040001&Ref=V2&MaxW=318&Border=0
http://cmsimg.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A2&Date=20080404&Category=NEWS05&ArtNo=304040001&Ref=V1&MaxW=318&Border=0
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080404/NEWS05/304040001/-1/HENRIETTA


Renaissance Square funding likely to face hurdles
Rochester Business Journal

Some $27.9 million in federal funds earmarked for the proposed Renaissance Square is unlikely to be reauthorized when it expires this year and next, Rep. Louise Slaughter said. The funding includes $18.6 million that will sunset on Sept. 30 and another $9.3 million in October 2009, said Slaughter, D-Perinton, a critic of the proposed development since its inception.


Red Wings play ball with new venture
Rochester Business Journal

The Rochester Red Wings began their 2008 season this week in partnership with the Batavia Muckdogs, with the teams sharing resources in marketing, sales and concessions. The Red Wings play in the Class AAA International League. Batavia plays in the Class A New York-Penn League. The Red Wings’ front office will oversee the Muckdogs’ day-to-day operations.



Employment opportunities stable in Rochester
WROC 8

In Rochester, employment is stable. A recent survey from Manpower Inc. shows one-third of our local employers are planning to hire; 61 percent see no changes and only 3 percent plan to cut jobs. The national average is three times that -- 9 percent expect to cut jobs.

“There were a couple companies in Rochester I've been interested in because of the positive growth,” said Kim Shaffer, a member of the Paychex Corporate Counsel team. “Paychex was one of them.”

A native of Rochester, Shaffer joined the Paychex legal team just three weeks ago. She went to college in Western New York and has worked at companies in the Rochester area for the last 20 years and now Shaffer is one of about 130 new hires on the year at Paychex.

“I applied online,” she said. “From there it was pretty smooth. They called me from recruiting and set up the interviews, and I came in an interviewed with the legal group and went from there.”

Founded by Tom Golisano, Paychex has been successful at attracting employees from the Rochester area.

Currently, there are 106 job openings. During the last 12 months, the company has hired 627 people in Rochester.

Since many of the positions are in customer service, new employees generally have one trait in common.

“The biggest thing for Paychex is attitude,” said Will Kuchta, the vice president of organizational development. “We've always hired for attitude and then we train for skills.”

A benefit for new hires at Paychex – there is room for growth. About 30 percent of Paychex employees in Rochester are promoted each year.

“They'll move into an entry level position, and then within a year or two most of those people move on to the next level and beyond,” Kuchta said.

The company offers training sessions regularly to develop employees from within. Paychex leaders say there are few jobs at Paychex that require a college education except for people on the legal team, like Shaffer, who's no stranger to growth and opportunity.

”There's always opportunity,” Shaffer said. “It depends on how you position yourself and what your looking for, but I think you can always find opportunity in Rochester.”

Can someone make a list of projects in the city of Rochester?

I dont have the time, but its a lot. Perhaps MAT can do it again, he does it all the time though.

I wish I took pictures Id drive around and take a picture of all the backhoes and dumpsters around right now.

Apts in Grove Place, Apts and offices in High Falls, Apts in St Paul Qtr, Alexander Park, Townhomes on the inner loop/East End, housing subdivision going up behind a mansion on East Ave, and lots, lots more.

Remember Quartet, that neat little four-unit development at East & Winthrop? Well forget about it! As I mentioned a while ago, that concept has been shelved. But it's not all bad news, the building will still be converted to residential - single family residential! A very wealthy suburbanite, and CEO of a well known local company, is buying the building and moving from his mansion in Victor to Downtown Rochester. The plan is to add two stories on top of the existing building to house the living quarters. The first floor would house a private art gallery and parking.

This will surely be the first million dollar housing unit in the Inner Loop and will hopefully encourage other super-rich folks to invest in our Center City. Another building just down the block from this site will also be converted to retail and residential - but I have no details on that one just yet.


Sweet! Thank you for your inside knowledge, it is much appreciated!

Well it didn't take long for Arunas to respond - this will be Rochester's new tallest! It will be two-three months before they have the building's footprint identified and probably six months before the design is released. But I noticed they are now calling for 1,500 employees, not the 1,200 originally projected (as of late last year, Paetec had 600 local employees). That's 900 new jobs over the next four years! However, that pales in comparison to the growth at our other "Big P" corporation. According to the following story from WROC-TV, Paychex has added over 600 jobs locally in the past 12 months:

Employment opportunities stable in Rochester
http://rochesterhomepage.net/content/fulltext/?cid=15184

In Rochester, employment is stable. A recent survey from Manpower Inc. shows one-third of our local employers are planning to hire; 61 percent see no changes and only 3 percent plan to cut jobs. The national average is three times that -- 9 percent expect to cut jobs.

“There were a couple companies in Rochester I've been interested in because of the positive growth,” said Kim Shaffer, a member of the Paychex Corporate Counsel team. “Paychex was one of them.”

A native of Rochester, Shaffer joined the Paychex legal team just three weeks ago. She went to college in Western New York and has worked at companies in the Rochester area for the last 20 years and now Shaffer is one of about 130 new hires on the year at Paychex.

“I applied online,” she said. “From there it was pretty smooth. They called me from recruiting and set up the interviews, and I came in an interviewed with the legal group and went from there.”

Founded by Tom Golisano, Paychex has been successful at attracting employees from the Rochester area.

Currently, there are 106 job openings. During the last 12 months, the company has hired 627 people in Rochester.

Since many of the positions are in customer service, new employees generally have one trait in common.

“The biggest thing for Paychex is attitude,” said Will Kuchta, the vice president of organizational development. “We've always hired for attitude and then we train for skills.”

A benefit for new hires at Paychex – there is room for growth. About 30 percent of Paychex employees in Rochester are promoted each year.

“They'll move into an entry level position, and then within a year or two most of those people move on to the next level and beyond,” Kuchta said.

The company offers training sessions regularly to develop employees from within. Paychex leaders say there are few jobs at Paychex that require a college education except for people on the legal team, like Shaffer, who's no stranger to growth and opportunity.

”There's always opportunity,” Shaffer said. “It depends on how you position yourself and what your looking for, but I think you can always find opportunity in Rochester.”

So this new paetec headquarters will be the new tallest building in Rochester...that's very significant. I can't stand to here that Rochester is losing population, especially to think that so many of those people are coming down south, and mostly here to NC. It's just...stupid. I have a feeling that the population numbers won't be as bad as they are projecting now in the 2010 census...but it still sucks. I couldn't read the story on the D&C (who's website SUCKS now btw...they should have left it how it was) because it said I had to "log in" every time I tried to click on it, but it looked like Rochester didn't get much snow this year and had "no chance" of winning the golden snowball. Anyone read the whole story?

We were 2 or 3 inches away from winning the golden snowball...it was like 103" here, and 105" in Syracuse

4 city areas in plan to rebuild, sustain homeownership
Democrat and Chronicle

Four struggling neighborhoods — Dewey-Driving Park, South Marketview Heights, Beechwood and Jefferson Avenue — will be the testing ground for a new city program that promises millions in additional spending for improvement.

Officials hope to turn the neighborhoods around in as little as three years, rebuilding housing and homeownership with sustained, intensified investment in five- to 10-block areas.

At least $3 million is available the first year. Going forward, city officials plan to annually set aside 20 percent of Rochester's Community Development Block Grant federal funding.

The focused investment strategy is one of the most ambitious and divisive undertakings of Mayor Robert Duffy's administration. Duffy will touch on the effort tonight during his State of the City speech, an address expected to be dominated by talk of public safety and the city's financial shortfalls, while highlighting the progress of his first two years in office and charting a direction for the remainder of his four-year term.

The city has 3,000 vacant structures citywide, 1,800 of which are single-family homes. The citywide vacancy rate stands at 12 percent but rises to 30 percent or more in some areas. It is one indicator of the "two Rochesters" that Duffy has railed against as mayor, a result of the city's struggles with public safety, education and economic development.

Duffy has titled his address: "Heading in the Right Direction."

Under the focused investment proposal, block areas should be defined by this fall, likely piggybacking on existing investment and plans. Spending on demolition and homeownership programs could begin sooner.

Other areas won't be forgotten, but there are strongly opposing opinions about which are most deserving. City Council informally agreed to the final neighborhood last week during an unusually contentious meeting that had Council members arguing among themselves and with the administration.

"One thing I hated about focused investment strategy was it was going to pit us against each other. It's done that," said Councilman Adam McFadden.

"It's going to do the same thing in the neighborhoods," said Council member Carolee Conklin.

One neighborhood was recommended for each City Council district, within which the block areas will be chosen. In McFadden's south district, the selected neighborhood is bordered by Jefferson Avenue on the west, West Main Street on the north, Ford Street on the east and Dr. Samuel McCree Way on the south. The area is the most challenged of any of the four chosen — with vacancy rates four times the others, and one in three residents living in poverty.

"It's going to take a little longer. The criteria have to change," said Julio Vázquez, the city's community development commissioner.

The turnaround may take seven years, officials said, which is more in line with the type of undertaking the administration set out to do when it first unveiled plans a year ago. Upper Falls, Jay-Orchard and Plymouth-Exchange were among the first neighborhoods identified, then pulled back as neighborhood leaders demanded more input. City Council since opted for a shorter time commitment and agreed the initiative would not be applied to the most distressed neighborhoods that would require a longer time commitment.

This time, the administration had favored starting with Thurston Road in the south, and City Councilman Dana Miller agreed. He thought he had a deal with McFadden, until McFadden got five votes for Jefferson Avenue and stopped dealing.

"We're starting to lose that area," Miller said of Thurston, adding that neighbors "started two years ago with a four-step (improvement planning) process that Jefferson Avenue started Saturday. They will be ready in two years for this strategy, but they are not ready today."

McFadden countered: "I look at Thurston, and I say, 'Yeah, we could make it better.' But I don't say, 'These folks need help.' ... Folks need help at Dewey and Driving Park. Folks need help on Jefferson."



2 Midtown businesses to move to Alliance Building
Democrat and Chronicle

Two longtime Midtown Plaza tenants will be moving their businesses a little more than a block west on Main Street.

Fauna’s Gifts & Vintage Toys and Whelpley & Paul Opticians will relocate to the Alliance Building and open sometime in June, according to Conifer Realty, which has owned the building at 183 E. Main St. since 1984.

Fauna’s, which has been on the upper level of Midtown for 16 years, will be on the first floor, in Suite 104, in the Alliance Building, at the corner of Stone Street.

“I am so excited to be going there,” said Fauna’s owner, Janet Galligan.

She said she is delighted to remain downtown. “It kills me to see all these old buildings go down.”

Whelpley & Paul, a locally owned business since 1929 and 40-year tenant at Midtown, will be located in the Alliance Building’s Suite 105.

There are 45 tenants remaining in Midtown, which is closing Aug. 1. Nearly two-thirds are looking to relocate, while one in four is likely to close, according to Flaum Management, hired by the city to help tenants relocate.

Midtown will be razed to make way for a new complex that will include the headquarters for PAETEC Holding Corp.



'Fed Challenge" goes to Rochester students
Business First of Buffalo

A suburban Rochester school has won the 13th Annual Regional High School Fed Challenge sponsored by the Buffalo Branch of the New York Federal Reserve District.

Pittsford Mendon High School was one of three Rochester-area schools in the April 3 contest at the Buffalo Branch's downtown office. No Buffalo-area schools competed.

With the win, Pittsford Mendon advances to the Second District Championship round in New York City on May 1. The winner there qualifies for the national competition on May 17-19 in Washington, D.C.

Pittsford Mendon has won the Buffalo regional competition seven of the last eight years and was national champion in 2005.



http://rnews.com/images_story/UofRgeneric.jpg
U of R Rated Among Top in Engineering
RNEWS 9

The University of Rochester’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences ranked among the top private engineering schools in the nation.

U. S. News & World Report rated the school among the best.

It is home to the nation's first doctoral program in optics, and the most powerful ultraviolet laser in the world.


I didnt think that UR was known for engineering? I would have expected RIT to be more in line to win this award?

I dont have the time, but its a lot. Perhaps MAT can do it again, he does it all the time though.


Any list is fine, it doesn't need to be too detailed. I would like the list so that this thread can be retired, and a new one for Rochester can start up with that new list. (2,000 posts is the encouraged cap on threads nowadays.) If anyone can post some sort of list in here, I will take care of the rest.

Can someone give me a map or link to a map for Rochester neighborhoods? One with major roads to show more detailed locations for neighborhoods would be great. I'd like this because I am probably going to Buffalo for the weekend to see my grandparents, and I'd like to look around Rochester while I'm in the general area.

Can someone give me a map or link to a map for Rochester neighborhoods? One with major roads to show more detailed locations for neighborhoods would be great. I'd like this because I am probably going to Buffalo for the weekend to see my grandparents, and I'd like to look around Rochester while I'm in the general area.


http://rochester.propertysourceonline.com/images/RochesterCityMapMain.gif
I cant find a true neighborhood map and dont really have the time.

You will want to stay in the City SE section:

Ellwanger-Barry
Highland
South Wedge
Strong
Swillsburg
Atlantic-University
Cobbs Hill
East Avenue
Park Avenue
Pearl-Meigs-Monroe
Upper Monroe
Village Gate

The only neighborhoods outside of those to visit are Downtown, Corn Hill, Browncroft**, and High Falls.

All other neighborhoods are unimpressive/unsafe. There are many nice suburbs to visit.


http://rochestercityliving.com/Neighborhoods/
http://rochesterdowntown.com/locator/locator.html

If you need more help just ask. If you want roads the best is just to use google maps. Sorry I dont have the time to search for one for u, anyone else?

Oh, and start a new thread without a list, I have stuff to post!

In addition to having posted a list not all that long ago, I also created a map showing our city's neighborhoods. I'm not sure if I have it saved and I'm not in any rush to recreate it. Sorry man. As for not venturing into city neighborhoods outside of downtown and the southeast, RocAddict is exaggerating. For instance, you may want to check out the Public Market and its adjacent new developments on Railroad Street in the northeast, Seneca Parkway in the Maplewood neighborhood is a lovely tree lined boulevard of mansions in the northwest not far from Kodak. The southwest has the 19th Ward with some beautiful streets and new development going on at Brooks Landing. He also must be kidding about our "nice suburbs" b/c outside of the Village of Pittsford, there is nothing worth seeing in our suburbs that you haven't already seen in your own.

Surprised no one posted on this, the rumor I'm hearing is that SJFC is very interested in the empty Neisner Building opposite the Appelate Court at East & Chestnut:

Downtown might draw a law school
Fisher expected to get $2.25M in state budget to pursue project.
Bennett J. Loudon and Jill Terreri • Staff writers • April 9, 2008

St. John Fisher College is expected to get $2.25 million in state funding to help create a new law school in downtown Rochester.

Fisher spokeswoman Anne Geer said school officials were hoping that the money obtained by state Sen. Joseph Robach, R-Greece, would attract additional funding to move the project forward.

"It's a show of support and commitment for a project, and it will allow us to pursue additional fundraising activities," Geer said.

She said the law school was only a concept at this point, although college officials have been discussing the idea of a law school for a little more than a year.

"Part of the development of the concept would be to look to see the feasibility in terms of prospective students: Is the population there? Is the critical mass there? This is all part of the research that we have done some of, but not all of," Geer said.

Geer added that showing the support of a local lawmaker "to the tune of $2.25 million" can be used to draw other potential contributors.

Fisher President Donald Bain met with Mayor Robert Duffy a few months ago to discuss the law school plan. Bain also met about three weeks ago with Carlos Carballada, the city's economic development commissioner, and more meetings are planned.

Duffy said he was excited by the idea, saying it "would bring a lot of life and vitality downtown."

"This is certainly something that, if the project were to move ahead, we would love to sit down and map out what needs to be done," Duffy said.

The money in the 2008-09 state budget is part of a pot of $350 million for capital projects, often called pork-barrel spending, that will be spent by the Senate. The Assembly and the governor also control funds of identical amounts. The Senate agreed Tuesday on how its capital fund would be spent. Local assemblymen were surprised by news of the funding for Fisher.

Assemblyman Joseph Errigo, R-Conesus, Livingston County, in whose district Fisher is, and a spokesman for Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, had not heard about the project.

Robach said Fisher officials told him they would need to raise between $7 million and $9 million in capital funding for the school.

Much more money would be needed for faculty, staff and other startup costs, Geer said, but she did not have an estimate of those costs.

"I very much liked the idea of utilizing existing space," Robach said.

Makau Mutua, interim dean of the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, the only law school in the SUNY system, said there is no need for another law school in the state.

"The state of New York has a glut of law schools. There is no shortage of access to legal education in the state," he said, adding that "the state of New York has not fully supported this law school."

"It would be very disappointing, and we would find it unacceptable, for the state of New York to support a private law school when they have not fully supported the only state law school that they have," Mutua said.

In 2004, there were about 81,000 lawyers in the state. By 2014, the state Labor Department projects there will be 90,260 jobs for lawyers — a 12 percent increase.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080409/NEWS01/804090359/1003

Continued from the old thread:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=403455