Once the largest department store between New York and Chicago, the 112-year-old Sibley Building in Rochester, N.Y., which shuttered its doors in 1989, is undergoing a renaissance.
Boston-based WinnCompanies’ largest historic preservation and adaptive-reuse project to date, Sibley Square will result in 1.1 million square feet of a mix of uses to help boost Rochester’s downtown.
The development team has preserved the building’s façade and significant historic features while bringing the Sibley into the 21st century.
It currently boasts 176 units of affordable, market-rate, and luxury housing, with additional workforce housing in the plans. Landmark offers 72 units of affordable apartments for seniors 55 and older who earn 50%, 60%, and 90% of the area median income (AMI). Lease-up began in February, and those units are expected to be fully occupied this summer.
Spectra includes 104 market-rate and middle-income apartments; 21 of the units serve households at 80% of the AMI. All residents have access to a 24-hour fitness center and an indoor/outdoor dog park.
“The building itself is attracting retiring empty-nester baby boomers who want to come back into the city,” says Ed Cafasso, senior vice president of communications at Winn. “We’re also attracting young tech-related professionals who also want to be in the downtown.”
The Sibley also houses the headquarters for NextCorps, an affiliate of the University of Rochester and the region’s only state- and federally designated business incubator to foster the creation and growth in high-tech companies.
A bank branch and a police substation are also on the first floor. Negotiations are underway to bring a college preparatory school and a high school equivalency school to the building as well as a 10,000-square-foot urban food hall.
“When you’re looking at reviving a downtown, part of it is momentum and part of it is psychology. This building sends out a great vibe,” says Cafasso.
The development, valued at $200 million, utilizes condo structures for each of its uses and has received New Markets, low-income housing, and state and federal historic tax credits, in addition to state and local funding.
