Sneak Peek Inside the Future 'Woodbury Place'

This article was scraped from Rochester Subway. This is a blog about Rochester history and urbanism has not been published since 2017. The current owners are now publishing link spam which made me want to preserve this history.. The original article was published November 03, 2014 and can be found here.

Merkel Donahue building, Oct 2014. Development Update on 210 South Avenue, Rochester NY. [PHOTO: Steve Vogt]

By Steve Vogt

RocSubway is excited to share with you some exclusive pictures of an exciting downtown development. 210 South Avenue

is currently being transformed into future commercial and residential space in the heart of downtown Rochester. The building currently known as the Merkel Donohue building--and its connected buildings--will be transformed into a mix of commercial & residential space and will go by the name of Woodbury Place...

210 South Ave, Oct 2014. [PHOTO: Steve Vogt]

It all started about 120 years ago as a warehouse for the S.B. Roby Co. Sidney B. Roby was one of the finest carriage suppliers in the nation. His burgeoning company wanted a new storage facility located on the Erie canal (the Erie canal used to run where South Ave is located now, until it was moved South in 1918.) The business changed a great deal over the next eight decades becoming a supply house for sporting goods, firearms, and automotive parts before finally being absorbed by a company named Horizon Solutions. Horizon Solutions still operates today as Rochester's leading industrial supplier of tools and abrasive products.

The S.B. Roby Co, Rochester NY. Year unknown. All buildings still stand in 2014. [PHOTO: Albert R. Stone]

Today, after the building has seen a wide array of uses, it will now become residences, offices, and hopefully retail for the growing number of people calling the neighborhood home.

Rendering of Woodbury Place in the near future, Rochester NY. [IMAGE: Provided by Patrick Dutton]

The first floor of the the buildings are prepped and ready for commercial or office tenants. The owners hope to fill the space with a coffee shop, restaurants, or that next start up company seeking an urban chic office space. There is a built in market, with thousands of hungry employees working across the street at Excellus, nightly attendees at Geva Theatre

, and the residents of 1 Capron

located right next door.

The first floor of 210 South Avenue, Rochester NY. [PHOTO: Steve Vogt]

Saw-tooth skylights inside 210 South Avenue, Rochester NY. [PHOTO: Steve Vogt]

Part of the first floor has saw-tooth skylights, a popular way to light buildings before light bulbs became the norm.

View of 1 Capron from the first floor.

Pictures were taken as Fashion Week of Rochester was about to begin. [PHOTO: Steve Vogt]

These pictures were taken as Fashion Week of Rochester

was about to begin.

Property owner Eduard Nakhamkin and developer Patrick Dutton (Dutton & Company) and Luke Dutton (Dutton Properties) announced that they have partnered with Geva and are developing part of Woodbury Place to house the theater's artists and actors, which is expected to be ready in early 2015. Geva Theatre has leased 12 of the one bedroom apartments. The other apartments, consisting of one and two bedroom apartments, will rent at very affordable rates. So affordable that the building already has many of the apartments rented, but there are a few remaining.