City hopes to be first double dipper in New York's downtown revitalization initiative

Some of the highest office vacancy rates in Rochester are around Main and State streets downtown.

But the city is hoping to change that by doing something no other community in New York has done: securing a second $10 million through the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

Through seven rounds of funding awards, the state has never gone back to the same community a second time.

“It's kind of like winning the lottery, right?” said Dana Miller, the city’s neighborhood and business development commissioner. “I mean, there's no rule against winning it twice, but your odds aren't that great.”

It was three years ago that the state awarded Rochester $10 million to address downtown blight on the east side of the river . An extensive six- to eight-month planning process ensued before projects got funded and developers got to work on design. Those projects, including one at the corner of East Main Street and North Clinton Avenue , are in construction now or soon will be.

So even if the city succeeds at getting a second award, change could take time.

Over at Main and State streets, the focus is clearly on the largely vacant Crossroads and First Federal Plaza buildings. These are the mirrored glass structures on the northeast corner; the latter is topped by the former rotating restaurant, which some refer to as a spaceship.

“You know part of it was self-inflicted,” Miller said of the vacancy, recounting how the buildings emptied amid an extensive street reconstruction on the two arterial roads outside.

“In the process of doing that, we saw large numbers of businesses leave both at Crossroads and First Federal because people just said, ‘We just can't get there. We can't get to the parking garage. We can't get to the building. Our customers can't get to the building. Our clients can't get to the buildings.”

Messages left for the buildings’ owner and manager were not returned.

The exodus was made worse by the trend seen across downtown and nationally of people not returning to the office after the pandemic.

"So those are clearly the two biggest opportunities, but they're not the only opportunities,” Miller said of potential needs for investments.

There also are buildings in need across Main Street and a long-vacant restaurant farther north at Church and State streets.

“I'm sure we could find five properties in this area that would benefit from the (added state assistance)," Miller said. "We don't need 10. And we can't really make a strong case for one or two.”

The city hopes that the state will take note of nearby developments, from Constellation Brands' new headquarters to ongoing renovations of other nearby office buildings, and see a chance to build on those investments.

Applications are due next month.