Public-private partnership could reshape downtown
There are at least two cities within Rochester.
One is that of safe streets, affordable housing, vibrant neighborhoods, appealing restaurants and rousing night life — much of it within walking distance.
Then there’s the other, the city of rumor and perception, where crime lurks, where defeat is in the air, where there is a clash of race and wealth and culture that for many is easier to avoid than accept and understand.
Downtown Rochester is the latter wanting to be the former. And an ambitious proposal to essentially hand control of downtown to a public-private partnership could be the key to that transformation.
To welcome the new by repairing the old, the Rochester Downtown Development Corp. (RDDC) is leading the charge to create a large Business Improvement District, encompassing more than a dozen separate neighborhoods downtown.
Improvements would be financed by assessing 505 property owners beyond what they already pay in taxes on the 1,085 properties in the proposed district. That money, in turn, would provide services beyond those a cash-strapped city government can afford, erasing some of the ills that have become synonymous with urban life.
Rarely has it been more important than now to change things.
In the past decade, more than 2,000 people have moved into such upscale housing as The Sagamore on East. The city expects another 1,800 to gravitate to the dozen or more housing projects underway downtown.
Business has made a major commitment, particularly to the Midtown mixed-use development project at the East Main Street and Clinton Street nexus. ESL Federal Credit Union, Windstream, Earthlink, D4, the Democrat and Chronicle Media Group and others have either built or plan to locate there.
The Boston-based WinnCompanies is remaking the iconic Sibley Building. A Hilton Garden Inn is rising on East Main. A full-service grocery store, Hart’s Local Grocers, will open in the East End this summer.
“Safety and cleanliness, that came through very clearly in surveys we’ve done,” Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, RDDC executive director, said about the downtown problems to solve. “Moreover, there’s no wow factor. The vibe isn’t working.”
Larry Glazer, CEO of Buckingham Properties and a major downtown developer, said he’s had a lot of inquiries about retail for his downtown developments. “But the problem is, when they drive around downtown, they see things, rundown buildings, that make them not want to come here,” Glazer said.
How it would work
That’s where the BID would come in.
It would be a tiered assessment system. Larger property owners would pay more; nonprofits and homesteads would pay less. The amounts would be based on the assessed property value of a property. The special-assessment fee would show up in the annual local tax bill.
The boundaries would be the area within the Inner Loop, High Falls, Upper East End, Alexander Park and Monroe Avenue from Averill Street to the Inner Loop.
Oversight would be centralized, with the BID run through a new organization called the Rochester Downtown Partnership. Existing downtown-related nonprofits, including the RDDC, would cease to exist should the new entity come on line next year.
“The BID would add to what the city does,” Zimmer-Meyer said. “The city is the baseline. The BID goes beyond.”
How? In part, by taking the worry out of a Main Street excursion.
Using BID assessments, “ambassadors” might roam downtown streets, helping visitors find a place to eat, or a place to buy dress shoes, or to get a haircut or to find a cab nimble enough to get to the airport on time.
Using assessments and BID oversight, the look of stores could be improved and landlords encouraged to spruce up their properties. BID security would supplement police protection. BID building standards would ensure property owners don’t let things slip. The BID would be in charge of marketing and promotion for downtown.
There would be plantings and lights along the streets. The alleys would be cleaned. The new partnership would schedule events and concerts that would complement or replace what’s already in place.
BID security would be in-house. The current system of using retired or off-duty police officers, the “Red Shirts,” would sunset.
This summer will be devoted to public outreach. BID property owners then will petition the City Council to support the approach. If the council does that, the proposal goes to the state comptroller for final approval.
More of everything
In general, the difference is not in the kind of changes contemplated. Downtown Rochester has seen lights and plantings before.
Rather, it would be the extent to which these options would be used.
There would be more of everything. Downtown would go from being an afterthought to being the first thought. Attention would be paid.
As required by state enabling law, the RDDC has been holding public hearings on the BID proposal. One for Washington Square Park and Manhattan Square area was held last week in the Kate Gleason Auditorium in the central library downtown.
The session was sparsely attended; fewer than 10 property owners showed. Questions centered on process — how would it work, who would be in charge and why the BID should do what government should already be doing.
“The city does what it can with the resources it has,” Zimmer-Meyer said.
Steven Venturino is one of those property owners. He and his family recently moved from Palmyra to a townhouse in the city. His daughter is a student at the Eastman School of Music on Gibbs Street.
“My thought was to try the downtown experience,” Venturino said. “There are more amenities downtown than people think. The issues as I see them are safety and cleanliness. You don’t want to go out too late at night.”
Much of the actual on-the-street work in the BID —from the hospitality work to the marketing —would be done, Zimmer-Meyer said, by a private organization hired for that purpose.
The standout in that field, she said is Louisville-based Block by Block. If hired, it would have sole responsibility for the on-street efforts of the BID, which would use nearly 90 percent of the additional funds.
As the state law delineates, the Rochester Downtown Partnership would be run by an elected and appointed board comprised of 15 people: nine elected property owners in the defined area, three elected tenants and three appointed representatives from the city.
The elected members would serve three-year terms. The city appointees would not have terms.
This summer will be devoted to public outreach. BID property owners then would petition the City Council to support the approach. If the council does that, the proposal goes to the state comptroller for final approval.
If all goes as planned, the Rochester Downtown Partnership would take over on July 1, 2015.
One of the questions is whether to give the property owners like Glazer, who pay more in assessments, advantages either in voting or in policy-making.
“Because of what we’re doing there, I need to be able to effect change when it is called for,” Glazer said.
BID or no BID, Rochester is still a city, with its own set of problems.
This week, for example, Venturino had to cut short his comments about the city, and the BID, and the efforts to improve life there, in order to hurry to his parked car.
He had to feed the meter.
TTOBIN@DemocratandChronicle.com
What would it do?
Supporters say a proposed Business Improvement District for downtown Rochester would:
• Improve the cleanliness and maintenance of the area, including litter removal, sidewalk cleaning and street furniture.
• Pay for flowers, seasonal decorations, decorate lighting and street banners.
• Add more safety patrols, hospitality ambassadors and trained staff members to assist tourists and residents.
• Help market and produce events.
Coming up
Rochester downtown property owners, tenants and residents are invited over the next several weeks to public hearings at which a proposed Business Improvement District will be discussed.
Subsequent meetings are:
• Four Corners neighborhood, 8-9:30 a.m. Thursday, Monroe County Bar Association offices, 1 W. Main St.
• General meeting, 8-9:30 a.m., Tuesday, Powers Building, 16 W. Main St.
• Cascade District, 8-930 a.m. May 28, Hochstein School, 50 N. Plymouth Ave.
• East End and Upper East End, 8-9:30 a.m. May 29, The Little Theatre, 240 East Ave.
• St. Paul Quarter/St. Joseph’s Park, 8:30-10 a.m. May 30, SUNY Brockport MetroCenter, 55 St. Paul St.
• Monroe/Alexander, 8:30-10 a.m. June 3, East House, 259 Monroe Ave., Suite 200.
• General meeting, 5:30-7 p.m. June 3, The Penthouse, 11th floor; One East Avenue.
To learn more, go to rochesterbid.org.