SCHOOLS: RCSD capital project may have hit snag

An article in the Democrat and Chronicle today highlights a potential snag in the Rochester City School District's $1 Billion capital project to modernize facilities.  The story really focuses on the red tape that's holding up payment to the company contracted to manage the construction and planning - which is interesting all by itself.  You can read that article at the D&C's website by clicking HERE.  But that's not the part of the story that got my attention.

The name of the building company the District contracted with is Gilbane, Inc.  I knew I recognized that name before, so I did some searching on Google, and found what I was looking for.  Gilbane is the same company handling a major school renovation project in Syracuse.  The company stuck out because the project got a lot of attention, and scrutiny, from the Syracuse media.  If how things are going there is any indication of what's in store here in Rochester - we'd all better fasten our seat belts.

Now, to be fair - the scope of the work that needs to be in both cities is significant.  We're talking about some buildings that are nearly a century - or more - old.  And amid massive deficits and cuts, neither district is in the best position to finance all the work that needs to be done.  And at least in Syracuse, there was plenty of blame to go around - including the district and city hall.

I've dug up several articles from the Syracuse Post-Standard that shed some light on just some of the problems in Syracuse (links below).  Hopefully Rochester can learn a few things.

Syracuse Post-Standard articles:

Joint board cuts fee for manager of troubled Syracuse school construction project 

Schools on hold: construction project must get back on track - quickly

80 percent jump in Central Tech cost has officials bewildered

Other Links:

Rochester Schools Modernization Program 

Syracuse Joint Schools Construction Board 

DEVELOPMENT: Townhomes Coming to Downtown

There's more good news for downtown Rochester.  In a unanimous vote at its January 25th meeting, City Council approved the sale of 116 West Main Street to a developer for $1.  The current site - a city-owned surface parking lot - will be turned into 24 market-rate townhomes and a mixed-use commercial development.

The city is selling the property to Plymouth Terrace, LLC - headed up by John Summers, of Graywood Custom Homes.  This is a departure from the suburban housing tracts that Graywood has already developed in the area - Kensington Woods and Auburn Estates in Pittsford, and Bristol Harbour in Canandaigua.

The Plymouth Terrace project will be going up in what's referred to as "Scott Alley", across the street from the Hochstein School of Music, and two blocks west of City Hall.  The diagram above shows how the plots have been divided up (this could always change).  There are 24 narrow parcels, each containing an approximately 1,850 square foot, two and a half story townhome with a 2-car detached garage. 

So far, the developer has not released any schematics, but with the parcels being so long and narrow, a logical possibility is a row-house look on the front (which I would assume would be the N. Plymouth Ave. side) with patios and detached garages at the back, facing Scott Alley.  This is pure speculation, but it would make sense.  The city is retaining a right of way in the middle of the block, to eventually connect Scott Alley and N. Plymouth.  This would approximately align with Church Street.

A commercial development would anchor the project on the south side, along West Main Street.  That building will be at least two and a half stories as well, and will include office and/or retail space, along with parking space. 

This comes as the City is trying to bring new life into the Cascade District - an area of old warehouses on the west end of downtown inside the inner loop.  Once along the original route of the Erie Canal, the neighborhood has declined in recent years.  It boarders rougher neighborhoods to the west of 490, and an area of downtown that's home to many government buildings.  This development is part of the Cascade Area Urban Renewal District.

The Plymouth Terrace project is the latest announcement in a series of encouraging developments for the area.  Just down the street, Nothnagle - the Rochester area's largest realty firm - is renovating a series of old buildings that will become the company's new headquarters.  There are also reports that the City is close to making an announcement on the former Josh Lofton High School Building, across the street from Nothnagle.

The property being sold to Plymouth Terrace, LLC for $1 has an appraised value of $1,176,000.  The City gives several reasons for the bargain-basement price tag.  While recent housing studies show there is a demand for owner-occupied units in downtown Rochester, the cost of building them is not attractive for developers without incentives.  This tactic of offering "dollar deals" has been used in many large downtown projects, and was key in sealing the deal with Christa Development / Morgan Management to re-purpose Midtown Tower, as well as attracting ESL to build its new headquarters downtown (which also went up on a city-owned parking lot).

Construction on the Plymouth Terrace project is scheduled to begin this spring, and is expected to take about 18 months to complete.

University of Rochester Medical Center to invest $500 Million

With the recent completion of its 2007-2012 Strategic Plan, the U of R Medical Center has some ambitious goals. According to a press release, URMC will invest $500 million into research, facilities, patient care, and personnel recruitment over the next 5 to 10 years. It will construct - pending state approval (likely) - a six story addition to Strong Memorial Hospital. The $259 million "PRISM" project, as the addition is known by, will add 123 beds to Strong's current capacity. There are also plans for an off-campus ambulatory surgery center to handle thousands of surgeries each year that can't be accommodated in Strong's current operating rooms. But one of the cornerstones of the URMC's strategic plan is the construction of the Clinical and Translational Sciences Building. Governor Spitzer has committed $50 million in state funding for the building - which will be the first of its kind in the country. Designed to foster the process of turning medical research into clinical trials, and then into standard treatment, the building is a major part of a plan to boost Rochester's expertise in Biomedical research. The University is also gaining a reputation for its research of stem cells. All of this is part of a determined effort to become one of the top 20 university medical centers in the country. U of R officials say the changes going on will have a huge economic impact on Rochester - they estimate that by 2015, over 700 new staff members will be hired by the medical center, and that an average of 1,400 construction jobs will be sustained between 2008 and 2012. A report by the Center for Governmental Research estimates that 1,000 jobs will be created in the community as a result of the expansion of the URMC. The University of Rochester is the largest employer in Monroe County.