Agathi & Co. take Arbor Midtown from ‘sunken Titanic’ to elegant event space

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Agathi Graham contends her talents are limited, even if the success of her business, Agathi & Co., dispels that notion.

Too many things wouldn’t be considered strengths, she says.

She can, however, see things that don’t exist. In a design way, that is. Show her an abandoned, dilapidated historic building and she can envision a dynamic restoration that accentuates the architectural essence and exudes elegance and sophistication.

“If there’s one superpower that I have, it’s taking an old space and renovating it into something pretty spectacular,” Graham said. “I may not be great at a lot of things, but I believe I have a knack for seeing potential in things that others might overlook and turning them into something really spectacular.”

One need only look at Arbor Midtown, in the heart of downtown Rochester, as proof. Or at Arbor Loft at 17 Pitkin St in the city. Or at Arbor at the Port, located where the Genesee River flows into Lake Ontario.

The event venues each offer a different vibe — a different appeal — depending on what the occasion demands. In just eight years, she and her husband and business partner, Zach Graham, have helped transform the event industry in Rochester.

Which was very much her intention when she and Graham transformed the business from event planning to a service featuring venue operation with the creation of Arbor Loft.

“Right off the jump in 2016 I knew there were no other boutique events spaces in Rochester that were large,” Graham said. “I knew Arbor Loft would be the first boutique, bespoke event venue in Rochester.”

They couldn’t stop at just one venue, though, not with the instant success of the Loft. So, it was off to the Port of Rochester, leasing space from the city in the old fast ferry terminal.

“We knew what kind of vibe Arbor Loft was giving off to a specific type of person, so once we found out about the space at Arbor at the Port, we were thrilled to be able to take what was old and make it new,” she said.

“I knew there was a different set of people that would love that vibe. And then my wheels started turning and I’m like, ‘There has to be other people out there that want a different vibe, a little more classic and art deco; something beautiful and extravagant and grand.’”

Which is how Arbor Midtown was added to the venue roster. Agathi & Co. transformed the nearly century-old, left-in-ruin former home of Lincoln Alliance Bank at 183 East Main St., welcoming the first event in September of last year.

When the financial institution opened in 1926, the 15-story structure was downtown’s tallest building. A resplendent escalator took customers to tellers and loan officers in the bank’s distinguished, ornate second-floor space.

But when the Grahams toured the space a few years back, there was nothing elegant about it.

“This place had serious sunken Titanic vibes,” said Sara Tone, director of sales and business development for the Loft venues, “but Agathi had the vision and now there’s not anything else in Rochester like it.”

Which, of course, was the intention. Graham worked with Hanlon Architects on the final design. Original features were restored or recreated, the massive west-facing windows were brought back to life and magnificent 6 ½-foot long chandeliers were hung from the ceiling.

Arbor Midtown occupies 10,000 square feet on the second floor. There are suites for the wedding parties on the third floor, along with the restored bank board. The entire space appealed to Graham because it checked all the boxes on her list of requisites.

“Some of the simple formulas I look for are big, bright windows for great lighting, good bones in a building and great acoustics,” she said.

Restoring an old building presents a host of challenges. Recreating space in a building with historic designation is even more cumbersome with the requirements set by New York State’s Historic Preservation Office.

For instance, the age of the escalator made it functionally obsolete. But it took nearly a year for the stamp of approval to convert the moving stairs into a traditional staircase.

“We had to get approvals through their organization before we moved on anything,” Graham said, “so some things were delayed for months because we had to wait for them to give us the green light.

“Like the color of our marble wall. Some of the marble on the property was original to the building and others we had to paint to look like marble. So we had to get approval for the paint color and we had to get approval to every minor detail.”

But to see the finished product, it was worth the wait.

“It was really important to us to keep those details original to the building, everything from the flooring to the details in the ceiling,” she said.

“That’s what’s so exciting about being a part of this space, learning about the architecture and looking at all the incredible detailing, like the plaster work and the gold detailing. You don’t see anything like that anymore.”

Arbor Midtown has become a desirable destination for weddings, but the venue has also hosted corporate and fundraising events, including Fashion Week of Rochester. Mayor Malik Evans used the venue for his State of the City address in April. Saturdays are booked through the end of 2024, Tone said.

The addition of Midtown to the Arbor roster provides what Graham believes is something for everyone. Arbor Loft has an intimate, contemporary, industrial feel. The Port is bright, airy and on the water. Midtown is historic and grand.

“Between 2011 and 2016 (while doing event planning), I met so many different types of people, I really learned what brides – specifically couples – want for their wedding days,” Graham said. “They want a blank canvas. They want clean lines, they want white walls. They don’t want the fuss. I wanted to keep it as beautiful and clean as possible so that our couples could be really inventive and creative in making their day what they wanted it to be.”

Arbor Loft will relocate within the block to 20 North Union St. when the lease at the Pitkin Street space expires in January. Graham said the opportunity to own a facility was appealing.

Arbor Loft 2.0 will feature a French countryside aura “with an anthropology funk,” she said.

To properly staff each venue, the firm has 15 full-time employees and 60 part-time workers. Her husband is very much an integral part of operations, and they make a perfect team, she said.

“He’s incredibly sharp and logical, and he excels on the business side,” she said. “His strengths lie in dissecting financials and devising strategies to enhance sales and marketing efforts for our events.”

Working side by side as soulmates is the perfect workday that, she said, gets even better simply because of what they do.

“The core of our business is two people who fell in love in the wedding industry and we are still very much madly in love,” she said. “We love this industry and we love seeing other people get married and spend the rest of their lives together.

“It started out of love and we’ve continued it in love.”

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