Plans to redevelop the historic former Rochester Club building on East Avenue would provide the first affordable, for-sale condominiums downtown.
Syracuse-based developer ReDev CNY wants to turn the building into 33 condos, a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units, with an average sale price of $148,000.
“It's a tremendous opportunity for families to build generational wealth, (and) really break that cycle of forever renting,” said Ryan Benz, founder and CEO of Redev CNY.
The $12.5 million development of 120 East Ave. would be one of the first under a state program aimed at advancing homeownership for individuals and families earning at or below median income (roughly between $58,000 and $104,000). The Affordable Homeownership Opportunity Program would cover more than half the construction costs, records show.
This is a developer the city sought out, and Benz said that outreach "absolutely encouraged us to look at the market." The city has tried for years to attract homeownership options to the Center City, with limited success.
“It's definitely something that we believe is a missing piece of the puzzle downtown,” said Eric Frisch, the city’s deputy commissioner for neighborhood and business development.
Historic but weathered
The building at 120 East Ave., is on the state historic register and is among the city’s designated buildings of historic value.
Located within the Eastman Historic District, the original 165-year-old stone and brick structure was the home of Rochester Mayor A. Carter Wilder.
His tenure as mayor was brief and unremarkable. The house was rebuilt in 1888 as the Rochester Club, an exclusive, members-only fraternal club, then expanded and remodeled in 1911, records show.A portion of the original residence is visible along Swan Street, according to the Landmark Society of Western New York.
The Wilder Room, a small banquet hall that has been a popular jazz festival venue in past years, will be converted into four two-bedroom, loft-style condos. The street-level commercial space, once home to Victoire Belgian Beer Bar and Unter Biergarten, will remain.
“It definitely needed new owners who were going to care for it, for sure,” Frisch said. The current owner is Rochester Landmarks LLC, for which John Trickey is listed as a managing member. “The commercial space there, the restaurant space had been vacant for quite some time, certainly measured in years.”
Benz hopes to take ownership of the building in March and begin construction, eyeing an early 2027 completion.
“We are excited to come to Rochester, excited to work on this historic Rochester Club building,” said Benz, who would be making his first foray into the local market. “It's a beautiful, incredible building, incredible bones, incredible history. And we're excited to bring the next phase of that building to life.”
Why so few for-sale options?
City officials are talking with other developers interested in pursuing condo developments, Frisch said, “but this would be the first in quite some time to do that.”
Others include The Sagamore on East, which opened 20 years ago next door to the Rochester Club building, and the more recent townhouses on North Plymouth Avenue and Charlotte Street. Those three were new construction. The only conversion of any size was Capron Lofts, with 19-units at the south edge of downtown.
“A lot of this comes down to the affordability factor,” Benz said of why homeownership hasn’t caught on downtown despite what he and others insist is high demand.
There are considerable upfront costs for developers looking to do condos. And added complexities when looking at larger buildings with centralized systems.
Construction costs on East Avenue are expected to reach or exceed $375,000 per unit, he said, and in a traditional development world those would then be priced at $425,000 to $450,000. That prices out a large portion of the population who are then stuck renting.
But with the subsidized, lower sale price: “Our market studies show that our absorption rate is just around 5%,” Benz said,“meaning that I could do this project 20 times before I actually saturated the market.”
The state’s Affordable Homeownership Opportunity Program (AHOP) is geared toward income eligible, first-time homebuyers offering per-home subsidies of $150,000 to $200,000.
Under the terms for the East Avenue project, the condos could only be resold to an income-eligible buyer during the first 10 years, after which the homeowner can refinance or resell with restrictions except that the state’s Homes and Community Renewal program would take or recapture 20% of the appreciated value.
Meeting demand
Redev CNY already is building a couple of AHOP-assisted projects in the Syracuse area. One called St. Matthew’s Condominiums at 214 Kinne St. in the village of East Syracuse, just finished last month and sales of one-bedroom condos are going “tremendously fast,” Benz said. He expects to be under contract for all 21 units there by the end of the month.
“If it has a roof and four walls, I think there is a buyer out there,” said local real estate broker Mark Siwiec.
While “downtown certainly has its problems,” he continued, including high office vacancy and concerns over public safety despite low crime numbers, this price point taps into a population “desperate to start building some equity, just getting a toehold on what used to be part of the American Dream.”
And, Frisch insists, it is a solid place to invest.
“If you were to look at the re-sale value on the for-sale properties downtown, you'll find that they've maintained their value and grown in value -- not dissimilar to the rest of the market,” Frisch said. "So I'm optimistic that we're going to have these conversations more frequently.”
Maybe, he added, in the Four Corners area on the west side of downtown. The city is again applying for state assistance to aid redevelopment of the area around Main and State streets, after being unsuccessful with an initial application last year.
"We'd certainly love to see it,” Frisch said.
As for 120 East Ave., there still are a variety of approvals that need to happen before construction can begin.
Developers are seeking county sales and mortgage tax exemptions and are scheduled to meet with the city this week, where additional property tax breaks could be offered.
