City looks to turn part of iconic Times Square Building into apartments

CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, News10NBC stated, based on information provided by the City of Rochester, the Times Square building was mostly vacant.

Rich Calabrese, the owner of the building, tells us that’s not true, his building is about 75% occupied.

Calabrese sent News10NBC the following statement:

“The Times Square Building isn’t a largely vacant building as it was reported. It’s quite the opposite;  we are about 75% occupied. It’s a building where people are proud to work and that is shown by our high occupancy rate.“

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Changes may soon be on the horizon for one of Rochester’s iconic skyscrapers, the Times Square Building. Known for its art deco design and the striking “Wings of Progress,” the building is set to undergo a transformation that could bring new life to downtown.

The city plans to convert part of the building into residential apartments. Dana Miller, Rochester’s Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development, shared the city’s excitement about the project.

“You know, we’re really excited to see developers taking a look at this building, which is primarily empty at this point,” Miller said. “And looking at a way to convert it into 90 residential units and then there are an additional 15,000 square feet available for business uses on the lower floors.”

Miller says the city plans to keep the apartments at market value.

“Our understanding at this point is that these will be market rate units,” he said. “So they would be in the typical market rate that we’ve seen in some of the other buildings downtown. Other units that have been mostly market rate, like the Tower 280.”

For context, a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment at Tower 280 ranges from $2,400 to $2,800, according to Apartments.com. The potential developer, Syracuse-based LaHinch Group, said in an email, “We’re in the early stages of due diligence and planning. There’s a lot of work yet to be done in order to determine the feasibility of a rehab project. Our early estimates show the total project would come in at approximately $30 million.”

Miller highlighted the growth of downtown’s population over the years.

“We go back 15 years ago, the downtown population was about 2,000 people. It’s now well over 10,000 people. And we expect to see that continue to grow,” he said.

Rochester City Council endorsed Monroe County’s application for a grant to support the building’s rehabilitation project on Wednesday night.

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