(Rochester, N.Y.)- PAETEC Communications wants 20 years of free parking at Midtown, as part of its agreement to build a new headquarters downtown, according to two sources familar with the negotiations.
Mayor Robert Duffy did not dispute the information. He said nothing had been agreed upon. City Council would have to sign off on such a deal. The sources told 13WHAM News the parking arrangement could be a deal breaker, if the city does not sign off.
“Parking it could be a deal breaker for one side. I don't want to say which side,” said Duffy. “It's one of those issues that is being discussed. It has a dollar figure attached to it clearly…I don't have that exact figure in my head at this moment.”
PAETEC plans to build a $55 million headquarters on the Midtown Plaza site. The state is knocking down the former shopping mall, at a cost of $55 million, to make way for PAETEC and other development. The underground garage is being saved. PAETEC is seen as the lynchpin of the entire project, as it would bring 900 workers downtown.
But PAETEC has not finalized agreements with the city and state. Besides parking, sources say there are several other issues complicating the negotiation:
• PAETEC would like a police substation in the building.
• PAETEC was turned down for a $2 million federal brownfield grant to help pay for construction. City officials say PAETEC can reapply for the grant next year.
• PAETEC and the city have been negotiating the number of jobs the company is required to create in exchange for federal loans and state tax breaks.
PAETEC CEO Arunas Chesonis said in an email issues related to parking and job creation had been worked out, but did not offer any specifics. A company spokesman said the firm is pleased with the progress of negotiations and looks forward to construction starting next year.
“In New York State and particularly Upstate New York, trying to get companies to come downtown, especially of this size, is not something you see very often. There are not a lot of easy answers,” the mayor said.
One worker, who pays $79 a month to park at the city-owned South Avenue Garage, said, “It kind of bothers me that they're going to make it so that people who come downtown who work are not having to pay, and I have to pay.”
If the city agrees to 20 years of free parking for PAETEC, the deal would be highly unusual in Rochester. Stantec Consulting, which recently moved to High Falls, is paying for worker spaces in the High Falls Garage "at the prevailing monthly rate," according to a city news release. ESL built a garage for its employees.
The city is also hammering out Midtown parking issues with Christa/Morgan, the developers of Midtown Tower. The city has agreed to guarantee 436 spots for the housing project, and city officials told City Council last week that Christa/Morgan would pay for parking, but the details hadn’t been worked out.
Duffy said the city is not “giving away the store.”
“There is no doubt parking is one of the biggest issues facing downtown, but with PAETEC, I would look at the totality of what we’re talking about,” the mayor said. “It’s an enormously complex negotiation. Parking is one component of that. Our goal is to get 900 to 1000 employees down to main and Clinton to get them down to the heart of downtown, the resurgence that we want.”
