A boutique hotel could be coming to Park Avenue.
Plans remain tentative with several hurdles yet to clear, including a rezoning that is before City Council this month.
The proposal from restaurateurs Jon Swan and Chuck Cerankosky — whose businesses include Pearson’s, Cure and Good Luck — involves what neighbors say is an under-utilized and unkept four-story building at the corner of Brunswick Street, a block west of Culver Road.
Built as a hospital, the century-old complex today is used for apartments and a Jewish school, the Yeshiva of Rochester. The proposal is for a boutique hotel with up to 42 rooms, an unspecified number of restaurants, outdoor dining, and a possible day spa. The portion of the building at 775 Park Ave., closest to Brunswick Street, would remain apartments.
Swan and Cerankosky are the latest to propose redeveloping the building, with a plan being welcomed by many in the neighborhood.
“This project will revitalize a long-neglected property and structure, contributing to the economic and social health of the neighborhood,” reads a letter of support from Marianne Pastecki, president of the Park Avenue Neighborhood Association.
“There’s been a couple of failed attempts to build a gymnasium on the site, or high-density housing. That did not sit well with the general neighborhood up and down park Avenue,” said John Lembach, vice president of the Park Meigs Neighborhood Association, speaking earlier this year to the city’s Planning Commission, which recommended approval. “This proposal makes a lot more sense.”
The city’s Preservation Commission also has reviewed the concept.
“We are not trying to change how Park Avenue functions,” Cerankosky told the Planning Commission, according to meeting minutes. “We’ll be utilizing the space better to bring new life to the neighborhood.”
Swan declined to speak publicly about the project with it being still early in the process. Many of the details are still under discussion. In addition to rezoning, the project would require a special use variance. And the developers have yet to close on purchasing the five adjoining parcels, which include parking lots.
