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Midtown Lures Proposal from New Development Team
Midtown lures proposal from new development team
July 4, 2009
Brian Sharp
D&C Staff Writer
Round two of Midtown Tower proposals has drawn a prominent third development team to the mix. But the local partnership of Christa companies
and Morgan Management is keeping its proposal under wraps. Meanwhile, another pair of local developers, Patrick Dutton and Shane Bartholf,
have revised their earlier plan for an 18-story tower, dropping an atrium
entrance for street-level retail, adding apartments, reducing the number of
condominiums proposed, and scratching plans to resurrect the Top of the Plaza restaurant.
The state has committed $55 million to raze the six-building Midtown complex, making the site shovel ready for redevelopment. PAETEC Holding Corp. plans to build a nine- to 10-story building along South Clinton Avenue for its new world headquarters, opening in 2012.
Instead of demolishing Midtown Tower on East Broad Street, the city has
offered the high-rise for reuse … seeking proposals first in March, then
reopening the process to allow new or revised proposals, which were due
Wednesday.
ãWhen Bob Morgan and Dave Christa care enough to submit a proposal for
Midtown Tower, that says a lot for the direction downtown and the city is going in,ä Mayor Robert Duffy said Thursday. ãIÅm excited to see it.ä
Christa has developed such projects as The Sagamore on East, while Morgan
Management is one of the largest commercial property owners in the city.
ãWe think there is a tremendous opportunity and need for housing in downtown Rochester,ä said Kevin Morgan, vice president of Morgan Management. Morgan declined comment on specifics, however, other than to say it includes a mix of retail, apartments and condos. He also declined to release images, project cost estimates or to address why they did not submit a proposal during the cityÅs initial request for proposals due in March.
The Democrat and Chronicle filed an open records request with the city,
seeking release of the proposal details. Other interested developers have
voluntarily released their project details. Duffy said details of the Christa/Morgan proposal will be made public, and residents will be asked to weigh in, before any decision is made.
Dutton/Bartholf submitted a proposal during the first go-around, along with the Harmony Group, based in the New York City area. Both plans lacked sufficient financial detail, however, requiring the city to reopen the process.
In doing so, the city ruled out HarmonyÅs idea to preserve the towerÅs current appearance. Harmony provided the financial information but
did not submit a new design, said Steve Golding, the cityÅs manager of
downtown development. Dutton/Bartholf resubmitted both. Their revised, $41 million mixed-use proposal has increased in cost from an initial $35 million. The first two floors remain designated for commercial use, with covered parking also included. Resident amenities move down to the third floor, opening up the 14th floor for more housing.
The initial plan showed 158 condos on the upper floors, where the new plan
shows 168 units … 102 apartments and 66 condos to sell for $153,000 to
$756,000.
ãWhat weÅre trying to do is look to capitalize as much as possible on the
residential aspect,ä said Dutton, who estimates he could save $3 million to $4
million if much of the buildingÅs existing skin can be preserved, repaired and
modified with larger window openings.
BDSHARP@DemocratandChronicle.com
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