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It looks as though next month the city could vote on selling the land to The Strong for their expansion plans. Reading the documents it appears they are looking to start construction May of next year and finish in 2021.
It also looks like they have bumped up the number of apartments and hotel rooms in the plan too.
The street level restaurants and retail is really the key to getting families to do longer vacations to the museum. And it should also open new opportunities for evening street level activities too.
Quote:
Strong Museum of Play and its development partners would pay $2 million for multiple Inner Loop and nearby properties as part of an agreement outlined to City Council.
Mayor Lovely Warren has proposed the sale as part of the Inner Loop East redevelopment project. Strong has proposed an expansion, a hotel, a parking garage and Strong Neighborhood of Play, a residential project with street-level retail, decorative sidewalks, sculptures and playful street fixtures.
Strong's proposal is one of three developments that Warren is recommending for stretch of shovel ready land created when the sunken highway was removed between Monroe Avenue and East Main Street.
The Neighborhood of Play concept, last estimated at $105 million, has grown in density — with housing units increasing from an initially proposed 201 market-rate rentals to 250, of which 10 percent will be affordable units. The hotel has gone from 120 rooms to a maximum 175, records show. Strong is partnering with Konar Development and Indus Adventure Street LLC.
Warren is asking City Council members to sign off on the land sale at their August meeting. She went to City Council in June seeking sale of the first Inner Loop East property, immediately north of East Avenue, to developers Christa Construction and Morgan Management. The remaining site, tagged for Home Leasing, is farther north and slated to head to City Council in October or November, officials said.
Will be transformative for the neighborhood and possibly downtown as a whole. Every time I drive down the new Union St I can't help but think that 3-4 years from now a completely dead zone of pavement will be full of buildings and some actual vibrancy. This has been a long time coming and seems to be on track to accomplish the goal of reuniting downtown and the areas just outside the filled in inner loop section.
This s what is wrong with Rochesters economics.How many family's travel to Toronto, Orlando, Boston NYC etc for a children's museum. How many times will the locals go for an evening out to support the local economy for a night out at a childrens Museum? Rochester should have a major winter based economy finishing with More summer based activities. Not just festivals , please someone post what was the dollar amount provided to the local economy from the festivals. Always the same. Not looking for an we are better then them but real solutions to the local economy. More and more of our children are moving out of. WNY. Fl will take the spot from NY for population size look at Texas booming with young educated professionals.
More details from The Strong's CEO Steve Dubnik. The new expansion space is going to have a new experience to make you feel as though you are a participant in a large video game experience. And it will also have the Video Game Hall of Fame space too. I can't wait to see what they create. That is going to be a huge draw. Especially with how large the video gaming community is.
Steve also believes they can increase visitors to over a million a year.
More details from The Strong's CEO Steve Dubnik. The new expansion space is going to have a new experience to make you feel as though you are a participant in a large video game experience. And it will also have the Video Game Hall of Fame space too. I can't wait to see what they create. That is going to be a huge draw. Especially with how large the video gaming community is.
Steve also believes they can increase visitors to over a million a year.
I agree db. This makes this so much more than a Children's Museum. Maybe this coupled with RIT's gaming program being one of the best, we can keep some of those grads here. I think this is a great thing for Rochester.
I agree db. This makes this so much more than a Children's Museum. Maybe this coupled with RIT's gaming program being one of the best, we can keep some of those grads here. I think this is a great thing for Rochester.
That is exactly it JW. I was just at Disney on vacation, and it struck me at how much Disney caters to adults at their parks and resorts. Restaurants, activities, etc. Also another thing I noticed about Disney is that it's really the theming and creativity that is the draw. For instance, they don't have many thrill rides. We could quite literally find more thrill rides right here at Seabreeze amusement park in Rochester. But it's the theming that is amazing.
And I see The Strong as being able to corner a niche related to "play" and gaming themed attractions. Leveraging their Toy Hall of Fame and World Video Game Hall of Fame, they have the credentials to be the destination for that interactive experience with gaming and toys
both for children and adults that you can't get in your home. Couple this with restaurants, apartments and a resort hotel right there, along with "play" themes on this new adventure street, and it becomes a destination even for adults.
They've also already proven at the "Happiest Hour" events that adults without children love this museum too. This a 21 and over only event where they serve food and alcohol and the event sells out every single time. I've gone multiple times and had a blast at it. The Happiest Hour | The Strong
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