College Town MXD Breaks Ground in Rochester

ROCHESTER, NY-Ceremonial shovels went into the ground this past Thursday on the $100-million College Town redevelopment of 14 acres owned by the University of Rochester here. The mixed-use project, being developed by a joint venture of Fairmount Properties and Gilbane Development, is scheduled for completion in late fall 2014.

“This is a historic day for the City of Rochester,” Joel Seligman, president of the university and co-chair of the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council, says in a statement. “College Town is an excellent model of how public-private partnerships should work. We have enjoyed and been grateful for the incredible support we have received at every level of government, from stakeholders throughout the University community, and pivotally, from our neighbors.”

When completed, College Town will feature a Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center. There will also be a fresh-market concept grocer; a Barnes & Noble location that will be the university's official bookstore; housing; street-level retailers; second-story, class A office space; and 1,500 parking spaces, including 948 university-designated spots.

The project has been in the planning stages for the past several years. Among the stakeholders involved were the university; the City of Rochester; and local organizations including the Mount Hope Avenue Task Force, the Mt. Hope Business Association, the Southeast Area Coalition and Mt. Hope Cemetery.

This past November, a $20-million Housing and Urban Development Section 108 loan to the City of Rochester was announced for the project. The following month, $4 million more came from the state via the Cuomo administration's Regional Council Initiative, as part of a total $96.2-million award to the FLREDC. Monroe County provided $13.5 million in tax incentives this past February, while $800,000 in federal funding is intended to support mass transit.

The project is designed to promote walkability with wide footpaths and green space. To that end, the City of Rochester is making $17 million in public infrastructure improvements at the Mt. Hope and Elmwood intersection near the project, including landscaped medians, new sidewalks, broadened roadways, reduced curb cuts, new signals, signage, and traffic controls.