Henrietta’s ‘ugly duckling’ former Cartwright Inn slated to receive makeover

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The former Cartwright Inn in Henrietta will undergo an extreme makeover soon, courtesy of Realtor Mike Liess.

Well, actually, it’s thanks to his mother’s credit card and an infomercial he saw on television in the wee hours of the morning 20-some years ago. Crazy, perhaps, but true.

Liess transitioned from a fledgling front-office career in minor league sports to the world of real estate around 2002, shortly after his purchase of a how-to guide to financial freedom.

He took to heart — and eventually to the bank — the strategies contained in Russ Whitney’s Wealth Building: From Rags to Riches Through Real Estate, turning it into a career in property sales and investment.

“I got home late one night after work and was watching an infomercial,” he said. “I took my mother’s credit card, bought the book (and DVDs) and within two weeks of reading the book I bought my first property.

“I can’t tell you how many times along the way people told me, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’”

Among the doubters was his mother, who was hoping he could explain the credit card charge. But today the results are actually quite clear. Liess is owner of Coldwell Banker Custom Realty and Coldwell Banker Commercial Custom Realty, overseeing 48 agents between the residential and commercial sectors of the Henrietta-based businesses.

He’s also a bit of a history buff, which was one reason he was drawn to the Cartwright Inn property and adjacent apartment building, both of which date back to the 1830s.

Liess, through Stagecoach Landing LLC, paid a combined $535,000 for two properties on West Henrietta Rd.: 5691 (the old Cartwright Inn) and 5711 (a five-unit apartment building and large parking area). The LLC name pays tribute to the past for two of the town’s oldest buildings.

The inn property was originally a stagecoach stop and hotel. The building at 5711 was the wagon house where they made wagons, Liess said.

His own family history with the Cartwright Inn also made the properties intriguing.

“I remember my grandparents would say we’re going to the Cartwright Inn and it was a big deal,” Liess said. “My grandfather would put on his suit, and we’d get there and my grandmother would keep telling me to stop tapping on the lobster tank.”

The restaurant closed in 2007, and the current state of abandonment and disrepair brought sadness to Liess.

“I have driven by the property for 20 years and have watched it deteriorate,” he said.

But it was his oldest son, Nolan, who actually put the buildings on his investment radar. Currently a freshman at Harvard University and a member of the school’s wrestling team, Nolan wanted to learn more about the real estate industry last summer before he left for college.

So, his father gave him a list that contained scores of properties that might be available in the Rochester area — some that were on the market, some that were vacant and some that were financially distressed.

“I said, ‘Find the owner, get to know the owner and see what was happening,’” Liess said. “I told him I wasn’t going to pay him, but I’d let him have an equity stake in whatever property we bought.”

Nolan Liess tracked down Lawrence Sacheli, administrator of the estate of Ralph Sacheli. Nolan said he wanted to know if there were plans for the Cartwright Inn and adjacent apartment building. A deal was soon consummated.

“I think he was excited to see a father and son take over,” Mike Liess said.

Liess intends to keep the apartment building a multifamily dwelling, and necessary renovation is already underway. What’s in store for the former Cartwright Inn isn’t as definitive.

“Obviously I plan on keeping it very historic,” Mike Liess said. “The vision I have is probably not a restaurant but something mixed use or multipurpose. I would definitely develop to fit a user.”

The town has a vision as well. Supervisor Stephen Schultz said he would like the historic nature of both buildings preserved.

“Beyond that, I was open to proposals,” Schultz said, “since we could do a lot under the Historic Property Incentive Zoning we put in place a few years back just for this purpose — to provide incentives to developers so that they are encouraged to restore and upkeep historic properties rather than tear down and replace them.”

Since a significant part of Henrietta’s legacy is tied to the West Hamlet, preservation is vital.

“The entire West Hamlet area has more historic properties than most of the rest of town put together,” Schultz said. “We have a concerted effort to preserve this area to hold onto our heritage.”

State money also could be available to aid in development through the NY Main Street Program grants aimed at blight removal. The intersection of Erie Station Road and West Henrietta Road, along with the intersection of Lehigh Station Road and East Henrietta Road, are the “closest Henrietta has to an old town main street,” Schultz said.

He said the state agreed that restoration of the Cartwright properties would qualify for blight removal grants.

At least one previous developer backed out of a potential sale because of where the northwest corner of the Cartwright Inn building sits: within the right-of-way of state Route 253 (Erie Station Road). Banks won’t finance a property that does not have a clean title.

Even though the building existed long before the state roadway, the right-of-way somehow includes the building corner. The town is now working with the Department of Transportation, lawmakers in Albany and Monroe County officials on a plan for the state to cede a slice of the right-of-way, Schultz said.

“Steve Schultz has been amazing to work with,” Liess said. “He has a great vision for the town.”

In total there are about 3.5 acres of land on the two sites, so the vacant parking area to the south offers other development possibilities in what likely will be a two- to four-year development endeavor.

“I have a vision,” Liess said, “but I don’t need to decide right away.

Schultz said his one ask on any possible new buildings is that the architecture conform to the era in which the existing structures were built.

“Others have handled that,” Schultz said, “by making the new buildings look like agricultural structures, which were common next to or behind historic homes and properties like the former Cartwright Inn and historic house on the adjoining property.”

Liess hasn’t moved that far along in his vision. But he is sure of one thing: nothing will move into the property until the old Cartwright Inn is gutted and refurbished.

“I’m hoping to salvage as much of the (original) Stagecoach Inn as I can,” he said. “We’ll need to take everything down to the studs. Once we do that, I’ll have a better idea of what to do. I’m hoping to keep the footprint, the timbers.

“If anything, I want to take an ugly duckling and make it look historic.”

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