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Spoleta planning upgrades for Cascade District properties
The Knowlton Building at 69 Cascade Drive is part of a planned $22.7 million renovation project by Cascade District LLC. (Photo by Gene Avallone/provided by Anchor Real Estate Advisors)
The Knowlton Building at 69 Cascade Drive is part of a planned $22.7 million renovation project by Cascade District LLC. (Photo by Gene Avallone/provided by Anchor Real Estate Advisors)
Spoleta planning upgrades for Cascade District properties
Listen to this articleSpoleta Construction & Development is planning a $15 million renovation of two properties in the Cascade District in downtown Rochester.
Spoleta is expected to go before the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency (COMIDA) next week to detail plans of a revitalization of the Knowlton Building at 69 Cascade Drive and Cascade Centre at 72-78 Cascade Drive. The developer is asking for tax incentives totaling $2.3 million.
The company intends to upgrade the 32 existing loft-style apartments and add another 58 one- and two-bedroom loft apartments, with 20 percent of the final total set aside as affordable for those earning no more than 80 percent of the Area Median Income.
The firm, through Cascade District LLC, acquired a portfolio of properties in the Cascade District from James and John Loftus in May 2024 for about $6.85 million.
The Loftus brothers were among the first developers to repurpose historic downtown industrial buildings into residential and commercial space 25 years ago.
“The Loftus brothers did a very, very good job,” Spoleta CEO Michael Spoleta told the COMIDA board last month, “but the properties are dated and needing substantial upgrades.”
The company initially projected a cost of $10-$11 million for the renovation project, but rising construction prices have boosted the figure $15 million, Spoleta told the board.
To defray costs, Spoleta is seeking a property tax abatement of $1.438 million through a PILOT agreement, as well as sales tax ($729,636) and mortgage recording tax ($136,500) exemptions.
A public hearing on the project is scheduled for at 10 a.m. Thursday at the COMIDA offices in City Place (50 West Main St.).
(This story was updated Tuesday morning with the value of incentives sought by the developer.)
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