Economic growth spurs cooperation

The transformation and development on the west side of the Genesee River has been a gradual process. Boarded up shops have been dismantled and replaced with modern commercial storefronts. About 400 UR undergraduates now call Riverview Apartments in the Plymouth-Exchange (PLEX) neighborhood, home, while UR financial services, human relations and an employment center now occupy 20,000 square feet of office space. And across the street from the offices, Boulder Coffee has become a community attraction— an amalgamation of students hovered over laptops and residents out for a bite to eat.

“What’s happening at Brooks Landing is really a partnership among a lot of parties,” UR Chief Financial Officer Ronald Paprocki said. “The city of Rochester, the neighborhood organizations have been extremely important. We have played a role in that.”

Paprocki noted that UR’s lease of the office space will give the developer, Ron Christenson, an advantage in attracting commercial tenants on the ground floor.

“We really provide the critical mass or the cornerstone for that development,” Paprocki said. “It’s pretty safe to say... that the office building and commercial property would not be possible without the University’s participation.”

Christenson said that names of the tenants, including restaurants for the bottom floor of the office strip, may be released in about a week, as terms are finalized. Christenson was hopeful that these restaurants would be ready for business by the first of January.

Another cornerstone of the Brooks Landing development are the Staybridge Suites. According to Paprocki, UR worked with Christenson for a number of years to develop a case for the privately owned hotel.

“We were able to provide usage that was likely from visitors, including admissions, alumni, hospital patients and their families and speakers,” Paprocki said. “The hotel really depends upon the University for occupancy.”

Paprocki was adamant that the University isn’t acting as a developer across the river, but rather working with several members of the 19th Ward. “I see mostly private development that fits in with the neighborhood,” he said. “We don’t see ourselves as developers.”

UR’s reach into the 19th Ward and the PLEX neighborhood is not the only neighborhood the current administration is discussing in terms of development. Preliminary discussions have taken place about the College Town project, a development that would occur on University grounds on Mt. Hope between Elmwood and Crittenden Avenues.

“We see [across the river] developing as a residential neighborhood,” Paprocki said. “You live in the 19th Ward and the kind of retail that we’re going to see is that you’re going to want to get a bite to eat, you want to go out and get a newspaper and a bagel on a Saturday morning.”

He added that the retail demand in the Mt. Hope area, which is in close proximity to thousands of employees at Strong Memorial Hospital, would permit more national stores.

UR’s reach into the 19th Ward and the PLEX neighborhood is not solely based on infrastructure. Paprocki detailed a housing incentive program, in partnership with the city of Rochester and the participant’s bank, to provide University employees with up to $9,000 credit to live in the 19th Ward. According to Paprocki, 100 people have already been involved in the program.

Assistant Director for Student Activities in Wilson Commons Stacey Fisher was recently looking for a house close to the River Campus that would allow her to bike or walk to work.

“When I found out that there was going to be a perk in terms of the University supporting it, it just made the deal ever sweeter,” she said.

Construction in Brooks Landing is not quite finished. The Christenson Development Corporation is in discussions with the city about constructing a free-standing, 5,000-square-foot restaurant in the parking lot adjacent to the Staybridge Suites, with potential for apartment buildings on top. Christenson hopes to start construction in the spring of next year.

Christenson cited a petition of 19th Ward residents with 400 signatures of approval as a sign that many in the neighborhood were on board with the latest developments.

“We’ve shown everybody [the 19th Ward residents] the Web site and what the plan is going to look like,” Christenson said. “I think we’re getting some favorable responses.”

Not all 19th Ward residents were up to date on the latest plans outside of the Staybridge Suites, but some were still pleased upon hearing about the proposals. “I think that would be great, it brings more to the neighborhood,” 19th Ward resident Shantel Ricketts said. “I think anything to increase the way the neighborhood looks and to bring new residents in is a good thing.”

Coffee house plans

In 2000, 150 people — including architects, designers and community members — gathered together in a church basement for a design session.

“[We wanted] to provide high quality goods and services to the community, to provide away of attracting students to the neighborhood and to provide a catalyst for additional development,” City Councilmember and long time 19th Ward resident Dana Miller said.

The following year, the community was polled about what businesses they would like to see.

“The No. 1 business people wanted was a coffee shop,” he said. “They said ‘We don't have a place in this neighborhood where we can just hang out.’”

The Community Development Corporation made the coffee shop top priority; through donations, they purchased and renovated the dilapidated building on the corner and turned it into Boulder Coffee.