University Club finances mending

Will Astor//February 21, 1997//

Listen to this article

The University Club of Rochester says it is out of the financial woods.
A year ago, the downtown club faced serious money problems, including a bill of more than $80,000 for property-tax arrears, and a possible mortgage foreclosure on its elegant clubhouse at 26 Broadway.
On Wednesday, the club announced it has refinanced its mortgage. It also has renegotiated terms with the city of Rochester on its back-tax bill, paid it down 10 percent and is current on the obligation, said Eric Koch, University Club president.
The club’s renaissance comes as it sheds a 40-acre outdoor recreation facility in Mendon and a racquet club located in a building adjacent to the University Club’s Broadway facility.
The racquet club already is organized as Rochester Squash & Fitness Club, which is supported by its own membership independent of the University Club. Another group expects to conclude a similar arrangement on the Mendon property within two weeks, Koch said.
“We see it as a return to our original purpose,” he said, comparing the racquet-club and Mendon divestitures to those made by corporations seeking to refocus on core operations.
The University Club has functioned as a social organization in Rochester for most of this century. It is open to college graduates, and has reciprocal arrangements with 167 similar clubs in the United States and abroad.
Founded in 1910, the Rochester University Club built and moved into its landmark-status building on Broadway in 1920. The structure includes a restaurant, bar, meeting rooms and banquet facilities.
A former University Club officer once described the organization as “an entry-level club,” a step below Rochester’s Genesee Valley Club, whose membership includes many of Rochester’s oldest-money and wealthiest families.
The University Club also faced financial problems during the 1980s, but pulled itself out of those difficulties by the early 1990s. Its present financial comeback was staged with the help of a bond offering to its own members, club marketing director Cheryl Westwater said.