Plans for River Park Commons signal future growthBy This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Rochester Business Journal With Conifer Realty LLC's plans for River Park Commons on Mount Hope Avenue now imminent, South Wedge organizers and merchants say they look forward to the property's extreme makeover and its prospect to spur development nearby. "This site has been the Achilles heel of the South Wedge for over 30 years, reducing nearby property values and blocking access to the river," says Christina Jones, president of the Business Association of the South Wedge Area. "The new plan can't help but be an improvement over the existing development, which is deteriorated and uninhabitable and pretty darned unattractive, to boot." Built in 1975 as subsidized housing, River Park Commons will undergo its first phase of demolition this spring. The plan calls for replacing the failing low-rise buildings, significantly refurbishing the existing tower and improving access to the Genesee River. Conifer's plan spells good news for the South Wedge, organizers and merchants say. As a triangular parcel of land southeast of Rochester and bordered by the Genesee River on the west and Interstate 490 on the east, the neighborhood has made steady progress in recent years, now boasting numerous businesses, energetic neighborhood groups and an improved streetscape. Micheal Faucher, broker associate for Nothnagle Realtors, says the neighborhood's home appreciations have run between 4 and 6 percent a year as of late. From designs revealed in September, Conifer's plan for the seven-acre parcel at 185-405 Mount Hope Ave. appears sweeping. Central to the project is the razing of the four low-rise buildings, making way for 130 market-rate and affordable flats and townhouses. The developer will rename those units Erie Harbor. The adjacent 13-story tower of one- and two-bedroom units will remain, undergoing a major overhaul inside and a prism-like facelift, with 15 colors resurfaced onto the exterior. Installation of new carpeting, cabinetry, bathrooms and energy-efficient features is now under way, requiring tenants to move into furnished vacant units in the building for a week's time. The tower, to be called the Hamilton, also will boast new common spaces, such as a community kitchen and exercise, meeting and computer rooms. Conifer-LeChase Construction LLC, a joint venture between Conifer and Rochester-based LeChase Construction Services LLC, is the project's builder. Conifer chairman Richard Crossed expects the project will cost $43 million. The developer has various funding sources, including roughly $2 million from the city of Rochester through a community development federal grant and roughly $3.5 million in low-interest loans from New York State. Because of ongoing and completed environmental cleanup efforts at the site, Conifer also is eligible for brownfield tax credits. Neighborhood organizers, residents and merchants near the property have voiced their views throughout the redevelopment process, says Robert Boyd, executive director of the South Wedge Planning Committee Inc. Due to written input from more than 300 people, the design now includes improved views, riverfront walkways, porches and more parking. Boyd adds that Conifer's dismissal of the initial architect in order to bring on a fresh perspective from Philadelphia-based Barton Partners highlighted the developer's willingness to accept community feedback. "This is unheard in the annals of development that when you get to the preliminary (draft environmental impact statement) that you throw out the architect and bring in somebody new," he says. "That was a major, major play on Conifer's part." Conifer faced several hurdles while pushing the project forward, beginning with a nearly three-year approval delay from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Even though occupancy at River Park hovered at 50 percent in recent years, HUD initially questioned the reduction of affordable units. "Their regulations didn't make any distinctions between whether the housing functioned, and provided space and the needs of affordable housing," Crossed says. "It was just that you couldn't demolish it unless you were going to replace it one for one. "So it took us about three years to get the federal government to agree to let us subdivide the site and redevelop it with this plan." Scattershot urban renewal efforts that plunked low-income housing on defunct rail yards and industrial sites decades ago helped fuel dysfunction at complexes like River Park, Boyd says. "There was no frame of reference to the river, to the neighborhood," in River Park's case, he notes. In contrast to the existing configuration of buildings, the Genesee River will play a major role in the new development's setting. "All of the (low-rise) units will have patios or balconies that look out and have good views of the river," Crossed says. Conifer has enlisted the help of the Rochester Housing Authority and the Greater Rochester Housing Partnership to relocate the handful of tenants now remaining in the low-rises, Crossed says. He expects the buildings to be completely vacant by year's end. Jennifer Posey, co-owner of Hedonist Artisan Chocolates on South Avenue, says she feels quite positive about Conifer's project and its potential to bring in more customers. "I think that it's been a long road for the development," adds Posey, who relocated to Rochester from California three years ago. "In fact, before we even moved here our Realtor told us about the development." Like Posey, BASWA president Jones sees the project in a positive light. "By simply bringing 130 more residential units into the neighborhood, all of our businesses will have a larger local population from which to draw business and clients, provided we attract them with our various wares and services," says Jones, co-owner of Historic Houseparts Inc. on South Avenue and a South Wedge resident and landlord. "However, if there are traffic or parking issues generated from the development, that might have an adverse effect on some of us. For now, we'll be optimistic," she adds. The South Wedge Planning Committee organization estimates that those new residents could spend millions annually, Boyd says. "Now how much will be spent in the neighborhood? Who knows?" he says. "But it will be an opportunity for people to shop in the neighborhood and patronize businesses, and that's very, very important." Nothnagle Realtors' Faucher, who has listings in the South Wedge, says the neighborhood's residential property values have fared well despite the stalled economy. High home prices in Rochester's Park Avenue area have spurred buyers to give the South Wedge a second look, and some two- and three-family homes in the neighborhood are now being converted back to single-family residences, he adds. Faucher predicts that homes near Conifer's development-specifically those on Mount Hope and Averill avenues-will see somewhat higher appreciation levels. "But I don't think it's going to have a huge impact," he says. Some appreciation in the neighborhood has occurred already, mirroring the higher appreciations that happened in Rochester's Corn Hill neighborhood before the Corn Hill Landing development went up, Faucher says. Though she would prefer a far less modern and "clinical" design for the residences, South Wedge Business Association's Jones says she cannot wait for the wrecking ball to arrive. "I can't overstate how long the neighborhood has eagerly awaited new development on this site," she says. "There will likely be a flock of neighbors cheering and toasting with champagne as the old buildings come down." Sheila Livadas is a Rochester-area freelance writer. 12/12/2008 (C) Rochester Business Journal |