June 20, 2010
Jim Stinson
Staff writer

A few weeks ago, when beginning a $4 million renovation on an empty four-story building on the west side of downtown, the new owners, Nothnagle
Realtors, discovered they got quite a bargain. Not one, but maybe two ÷ and maybe three ÷ buildings, all in one package.

"It's a real old building," said Al Pardi, president of Pardi Partnership Architects and Nothnagle's architect. "It's a series of old buildings."

And those buildings, at 217 W. Main St., have sat since the times when Susan B. Anthony lived and walked in the neighborhood. Over time, though, Rochester's downtown ÷ and its historical players ÷ have shifted eastward, and even across the Genesee River.

The biggest blow to the west end of downtown was probably in 1961, when the Rochester Institute of Technology decided to move to Henrietta, said William P. Condo, a consultant and a former staffer of the Erie Canal Heritage Corridor Planning Commission. Other aspects of this part of downtown have also disappeared. The New York State Barge Canal once
ran west, right next to the building. But during the administration of President Teddy Roosevelt, the canal shifted southward, closer to Fairport,
according to Condo.

Armand D'Alfonso, president and CEO of Nothnagle Realtors, believes barges passed right next to the building, and freight was lifted into a second floor storage area. Thus, it's possible that one of the buildings was used as a warehouse, Pardi and D'Alfonso said.

But as times changed and new technologies arrived, the western portion of downtown was no longer fully adequate for the new Rochester. The addition
of Interstate 490 through the west end created both a physical and psychological loop. Investors looked to the east end of downtown, across the Genesee River.

Xerox Corp., Bausch and Lomb, and the Chase tower all rose on the east end of downtown. Even today, city officials are planning on the rebirth of the east end of downtown with the headquarters of PAETEC Holding Corp. and possibly the Rochester Broadway Theatre League Performing Arts Center at the Midtown Plaza site.

Yet Nothnagle officials, who wanted to move from Brighton to a downtown office, liked the old building and purchased it from Buckingham Properties LLC, which has its headquarters next door at 1 S. Washington St.

"We know the success of all of Rochester depends on downtown," said D'Alfonso, while walking through the dusty insides of the building. "We wanted to be part of it. We will be improving a whole city block."

D'Alfonso comes to the site, now under construction, almost every day. Like a kid with a new toy, he watches over the renovations, and speaks of wanting his employees to be part of the downtown community ÷ to live, work and play in the area.

The 26,000-square-foot building will be refurbished and re-engineered, with little from the original thrown away. While the brick wall facing the east will have to be knocked down to make way for a large, multi-story glass window, the bricks will be recycled within the building, D'Alfonso said.

Nothnagle will move about 75 employees into the building. Over time, 100 employees will work there, he said. The company plans to begin moving in
October. But Nothnagle isn't the first development on the west side.

Other developers, like Larry Glazer, CEO of Buckingham Properties LLC, have taken a chance on the neighborhood, and found it was the right
decision. Glazer, whose office headquarters overlook West Main Street, says he was bullish about the area when times were tough.

"We came over here 10 years ago, when it was really a disaster," he said. "There was no investment spending ... It was viewed as the poor side of downtown."

Glazer renovated his 55,000-square-foot headquarters and sold it. He continues to lease 7,000 square feet for his company's headquarters.

The block where the Nothnagle building sits has gone for years without much attention. The building itself has been empty for about 10 years, Pardi said.
But the lower costs have brought some developers to the west side, developers like Glazer and Nothnagle who could have easily bought up more
expensive real estate at the east end of downtown.

One attraction could be the historic nature of the area. The site is near the Susan B. Anthony home and many old buildings that stood before the Civil
War. Across from both the Nothnagle and Buckingham headquarters is an apartment building with a sign indicating the building was constructed in 1826. That history is perhaps one reason why city officials have plans for this particular part of downtown, which is part of the historic Erie Canal Aqueduct and Broad Street Corridor.

Condo said new investments could include a private outlay of $280 million in private investment for the area between the river and Interstate 490. Some
ideas being floated include 480 new residential units, 58,000 square feet of office space, 130,000 square feet of retail space and 210 new hotel units,
Condo said.

Broad Street could see some reflecting pools and other "watery features" added to recall the days of the old Erie Canal, Condo said.

Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, president of Rochester Downtown Development Corp., said those plans are far off ÷ and not close to being funded ÷ but the
area has already seen a surprising amount of investment, including the under-construction Monroe County crime laboratory at Broad and
Plymouth streets.

Proposals will soon be received by city officials to rework the Josh Lofton school building at 242 W. Main St., directly across from the Nothnagle
headquarters.

"There's a lot bubbling in this area," said Zimmer-Meyer. "The Nothnagle building will spark greater interest by developers. It will have a catalytic effect."

JFSTINSO@DemocratandChronicle.com

by RDDC.org