Rochester officials outline plan to acquire parcels around 161 South Main; residents press for transparency and fiscal caution

Rochester’s economic development director presented a plan April 15 to acquire five parcels around 161 South Main Street — the former Care Pharmacy site — and assemble them with city‑owned land to create a larger redevelopment parcel aimed at mixed‑use housing and street‑front commercial space.

The presentation, delivered by Mr. Scowler, director of economic development, said the city would combine privately owned lots and nearby city acreage to make a saleable downtown development site. “Rochester still has a 1% or below vacancy rate when it should be 4%,” Mr. Scowler told the council, arguing that municipal involvement and tax‑exemption tools have helped draw private investment downtown.

The plan proposes using municipal tools such as the 79‑E property tax program and direct acquisition to influence what is built on the site. Mark Sullivan, the city’s director of finance, told the council the request would be the single largest use of the unassigned fund balance for an economic development project in recent years and described the city’s current balances and constraints: the city reported a FY24 unassigned fund balance of about $29,000,000, an audit hold of roughly $5,000,000 related to water and sewer cash deficits, and an estimated available balance of about $24,000,000 after accounting for the hold; the FY25 budget already commits roughly $7,900,000 from reserves.

Why it matters: council goals and policy tools

Mr. Scowler framed the acquisition as consistent with council goals to attract housing…