4th Quarter 2001
ECONOMIC & BUSINESS
Home Properties of New York Inc.-- Home Properties announced that it has sold two apartment communities with a total of 364 units located in northern New Jersey and downstate New York. The sales price of $23.7 million equates to approximately $65,200 per apartment unit. The net proceeds were used to reduce short-term debt previously incurred to fund value-added acquisitions. The properties sold included the 137-unit Towers Apartments located in Passaic, New Jersey, and the 227-unit Mountainside Apartments located in Garnerville, New York. The total gain on sale, to be reported in the fourth quarter, will be approximately $7.0 million based on book value. (The price exceeds the undepreciated cost basis by $5.3 million, or 22%.) The sales price equates to a capitalization rate of approximately 9.2% based on the properties' 2001 budgeted net operating income (after allocating 3% of rental revenues for management and overhead expenses and before normalized capital expenditures). (11/8)
Paychex Inc.-- Paychex Inc. announced net income of $68.7 million, or $.18 diluted earnings per share, for the quarter ended November 30, 2001, an 11% increase over net income of $62.1 million, or $.16 diluted earnings per share, for the same period last year. Total revenues were $233 million, a 12% increase over $208.1 million for the second quarter last year. For the six months ended November 30, 2001, the Company reported record net income of $138.9 million, or $.37 diluted earnings per share, a 15% increase over $120.8 million, or $.32 diluted earnings per share, for the same period last year. Total revenues were $467.8 million, an increase of 14% over $412 million for the same period last year. (12/19)
Employment Growth-- According to a new report from the Buffalo Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York a shift from manufacturing to service jobs has placed the Rochester region in good position for further growth. The Federal report analyzed census data only through 1997. It therefore excludes further growth in the late 1990s as well as job cuts over the past year. Smaller technology-based service companies have grown as the region's manufacturing giants have downsized. According to the report, between 1969 and 1997 Monroe County lost more than 30,000 manufacturing jobs. In the same period, the county added more than 82,000 jobs in the producer and consumer services sectors, a gain of 172%. Producer services are industries such as financial, computer and data-processing services. Consumer services include health care and education. Employment in the communications sector was up 35% during the same time period. Computer and data-processing, nursing home, hospital and education sectors each posted gains of more than 30%. (11/27)
Area Employment Reductions-- According to a state Labor Department report, the Rochester region lost 8,300 jobs between October 2000 and October 2001. Over the same one-year period, the state lost 107,000 jobs. The October unemployment rate for the six-county Rochester region was at 4.6%, down slightly from 4.7% in September. Statewide, the unemployment rate hit 5%. The report showed that the region lost 9,000 private-sector jobs over the past year, more than 15% of the total for the state. In October, there were 106,100 jobs in manufacturing, off 7,400 from October 2000. The region lost more than 2,400 service jobs; job cuts at temporary agencies and software firms were a major cause. Helping to offset the losses were employment gains in the education and government sectors. (11/16)
OFFICE
Perinton-- Buck & Pulleyn Inc. plans to relocate its headquarters from Irondequoit to the Basin Park office complex. Buck & Pulleyn will occupy approximately 18,000 square feet at Basin Park. The advertising agency should be in its new office by early January. (10/30)
Rochester-- The County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency approved $108,000 in incentives for Asset Two's $1 million office-and-entertainment complex at 298 State Street. The project will affect 20 current employees and create 30 jobs. Asset Two LLC is seeking an upscale restaurant to complete their complex. The 22,500 square-foot building currently has 7,500 square feet of vacant space on the ground floor and another vacant 5,000 square feet of space on the upper floors. Possible tenants include the Center for Dispute Settlement Inc., which may expand into a 3,000 square-foot area of the building. (12/7)
RETAIL
Greece-- Lowe's Home Improvement Center presented a proposal to the Town Board requesting approval to build a 163,000 square-foot facility in Greece Park Plaza, at 3122-3160 West Ridge Road. The facility would consist of a 135,500 square-foot store and a 27,500 square-foot garden center. If the Town Board grants it s approval, the project will be forwarded to the zoning board of appeals and the planning board. (12/13) Lowe's and local developer Dale Scutti have received most of the approvals needed to build the 163,000 square-foot store at 3160 W. Ridge Road. One zoning variance remains. In the next couple of months, Lowe's will demolish the former Chuck E. Cheese's, Ames discount store and Hoyts Cinema building to make way for the new structure. Value City Furniture, Marshalls and Bally's will remain in the plaza. (12/29)
Henrietta-- New divisions of two apparel retailers will be opening in the Bon-Ton wing of Marketplace Mall over the next three months. AnnTaylor Stores Corp.'s Ann Taylor Loft division will open a 4,700 square-foot store and Hollister Co., the division of Abercrombie & Fitch that caters to high-school age consumers, plans to open a 6,000 square-foot store. Both stores offer more moderately priced apparel than their signature stores. (10/30)
Henrietta-- The Wegmans superstore proposed for the front of the Dome Center on Calkins Road, and the rezoning of residential land for commercial use that would go along with it is being opposed by local residents. The grocery chain wants to build a new store on 30 acres of land in front of the Dome Center. It is planned as a larger, expanded version of the small store on the corner of Calkins and East Henrietta roads, which would be torn down. Both Wegmans and the Monroe County Fair Association remain committed to the proposed project. (12/12)
Irondequoit-- Wilmorite Inc. announced that an unidentified, privately held company has agreed to buy the 824,000 square-foot Irondequoit Mall. Terms of the deal for the 11-year-old mall were not disclosed. Wilmorite would not identify the buyer except to say it is a group of out-of-state institutional investors. The new owners have hired real estate developer and management company Madison Marquette of Minneapolis to manage the mall. Currently, the mall, built at a cost of $80 million, has 84 tenants down from 130 tenants a year after its opening. (12/1)
Perinton-- The Planning Board has granted final approval to the proposed development at 7516 Pittsford-Victor Road. Local Developer, Lee Lejnieks will convert the historical Ranney house into a restaurant, turning a barn on the property into a coffee shop, and adding a new building to house an ice cream shop and antique store. The project received preliminary approvals from the Historic Architecture Committee last month. Final Architecture OK and approval by the building department remain. (12/13)
Pittsford-- The village board approved a special permit for a new deli. Ensenat's Delicatessen will open in half of the Wilsie and Crump building at 1 N. Main Street by November. The deli will be open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed Sunday. (9/5)
Rochester-- Edwards Restaurant will move to the historic Jonathan Child House in March. The lease at its current location, 13 S. Fitzhugh St. is up in March, but the restaurant's last day there will be February 16th. The Child House, 33 S. Washington Street will allow Edwards to expand. The new restaurant will be able to seat 170. Buckingham Properties purchased the Child House two years ago for $225,000 from Bergmann Associates. Buckingham spent $50,000 on renovations. Details of the lease with Edwards were not disclosed. (12/18)
Rochester-- Blackacre Capital Management LLC took possession of the Midtown property after a three-year battle with former owner Peter Arnold. Blackacre's affiliate, Midtown Rochester Properties LLC, named Lawrence Cohen of Pembroke Companies Inc. as the operating manager and appointed Home Properties Management, an affiliate of Home Properties of New York Inc., to run the Midtown complex. It also hired Tait Realty Advisors for planning purposes. (12/7)
Rochester-- Manhattan Bagels has closed its downtown store in the Wilder Building at the Four Corners. The other four area bakery and restaurant stores remain open. (10/30)
INDUSTRIAL
Honeoye Falls-- David Dworkin, who co-owns the Button Factory, home to the Empire Brewing Co., has purchased a 300 acre vacant property in Honeoye Falls and Mendon from Gleason Corp. for $830,000. The parcel is one of the largest contiguous tracts of undeveloped commercial/industrial land in Monroe County. The property is fronted by Main Street in Honeoye Falls and extends west to Route 15A in Mendon. Two hundred acres of the property is in Mendon, the remaining one hundred in Honeoye Falls. Most of the land is already zoned for industrial use. The village has rezoned 15 acres to allow for retail use. According to the new owner, the type of tenants who want to locate there will determine how many buildings that appear on the site. (12/29)
Marion-- Seneca Foods Corp. will relocate its headquarters in November from Pittsford to Wayne County. Seneca Foods will move 30 to 50 employees to its processing plant in downtown Marion. The Wayne County Industrial Management Agency will give Seneca Foods a $15,000 relocation assistance grant. (10/30)
Rochester-- The city has agreed to sell 1.3 acres at the 14621 Industrial park on Rochester's northeast side to Excel Realty for $26,480 if a foreign auto parts manufacturer agrees on the lease for a 15,000 square-foot facility. Excel is planning to invest $650,000 in the project; the undisclosed company will invest approximately $1.7 million for equipment. Under the proposed deal, Excel would construct the building and least it to the company. (12/3)
Webster-- The County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency has approved a $1.035 million package of tax breaks and incentives for Paychex Inc. The Penfield company is renovating a 135,000 square-foot building that it purchased earlier this year from PSC Inc. The $14.4 million project will create 48 jobs in three years. The building will serve as the home for Paychex's Information Technology groups and house a data center. (12/19)
RESIDENTIAL
Perinton-- The Planning Board rejected developer Pittsford Homes proposal to build duplexes along Route 31. The proposed duplexes, which would be located along a stretch of Route 31 across from Lollipop Farm and abutting Mason Valley Subdivision received concept approval in 1999. No steps were taken to secure further approvals. Since that time, the hamlet of Eqypt has been declared a historic district and the town has written a new comprehensive plan. Pittsford Homes is working with the Historic Architecture Commission on a new proposal for single family homes. (12/20)
Victor-- Pioneer Corp. has submitted a new proposal for 48 acres in the Drumlins neighborhood. The Cortland-based developer originally proposed a townhouse rental complex. Pioneer's new plan calls for 154 units spread out in two, three and four unit buildings with basements. The units will be for sale to private owners instead of for rent. The Drumlins building site has been the subject of frequent lawsuits in the nearly two years since Pioneer first proposed a rental complex. (11/30)
Webster-- The Town Board has revised the towns zoning and building laws to allow one-story patio homes to be 1,500 square feet in size. The board also scaled back minimum lot sizes required from 11,000 square feet to 9,000 square feet. Patio home developers will also be required to leave 50% of the land involved in projects undeveloped. (12/20)
OTHER
Brighton-- The town has obtained an option to purchase 33.8 acres of land on the south side of Penfield Road, between South Landing and Park Lane. Acquiring the land, which is adjacent to the 18-acre Corbett's Glen Nature Park, would provide an environmental buffer for the nature park as well as allow the town to build much-needed parking areas. Under the terms of the one-year purchase option with landowner Max Farash, the town would pay $475,000 for 19 acres of the parcel, and Farash would donate the rest. The agreement gives the town one year to finance and finalize the purchase. (12/14)
Gates-- Total Sports Experience, a soccer and lacrosse complex at 880 Elmgrove Road will open its doors on December 26th. The $4 million project by developer Andrew R. Gallina, will include 120,000 square feet of fields and indoor recreation areas. The new facility is expected to draw 3,500 to 4,000 people per week. The complex is expected to create 50 to 60 jobs, of which six to eight will be full time. (12/8)
Greece-- Monroe County is considering building a 22-field soccer complex on county-owned land. The complex, expected to cost $3 million to $4 million, would be on 88 acres next to Greece Canal Park and would include two or three buildings and a championship field with bleachers for 2,500 people. (12/8)
Henrietta-- The town's gymnastics and karate recreation programs will move to a new location at the former Caldor discount store on Jefferson Road. The programs will occupy 9,000 square feet of the Caldor building, which is being converted into a family roller-skating and recreation center called FunQuest. All of the programs had been housed at the Dome Arena complex on East Henrietta Road, which is part of the Monroe County fairgrounds. The town has agreed to a two-year lease with FunQuest. Henrietta will pay approximately $40,000 a year, which is roughly the same as the town was paying to rent space at the Dome complex. (12/29)
Rochester-- The doors of the Carter Street Recreation Center will be closed for nearly a year because of a $3.5 million renovation and expansion of the facility. The project is a partnership between the city and the Genesee Settlement House, which will share space at the center with the city Recreation Department. The Settlement House is contributing $2.6 million to the project from a grant. The rest is coming from the city. Construction is scheduled to begin with the next tow weeks. The main building will be demolished and replaced by a two-story, 20,000 square-foot addition, which is more than double the size of the current building. The project also includes new basketball and tennis courts and new playground equipment. (12/11)
GENERAL
Perinton-- The town has purchased just over half an acre of property from Metrose Custom Homes for $25,000. They acquired the property to guarantee no future development of the parcel. The property on Aldritch Road has several unusual characteristics. It possesses a jutting shape, adjoins the Whitebrook Nature Area town park and is on top of a sewage pump station. Developer William Metrose had the property appraised at $36,000. (12/27)
Perinton-- The 70-year old Route 31 canal bridge has been demolished. A temporary, two-lane bridge was erected in November to accommodate traffic until the new bridge is completed. The new Route 31 canal bridge will have four traffic lanes, a shoulder and two sidewalks. It will be twice as wide as the old bridge. Construction is expected to be completed in the fall of 2002. (12/20)
