Riedman buys Clinton Square, will convert top floors to apartments

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Clinton Square, one of downtown Rochester’s premier office buildings for more than three decades, has a new owner and soon will have a new use.

Riedman closed on the purchase of the 14-story property at 75 S. Clinton Ave. last week and intends to create just over 100 residential units within the top seven floors while maintaining the building’s signature upscale office space on the first seven floors.

“I think it’s one of the nicest buildings downtown, it has been extremely well maintained, and it is in impeccable condition,” said David Riedman, president of Riedman, the Rochester-based real estate development and management firm.

Developed by the late Norman Leenhouts and later operated by his late brother, Nelson, Clinton Square was owned by an entity associated with the Leenhouts family.

The recent downturn in the office sector of the commercial real estate industry — coupled with the impending departure from the top seven floors by the law firm Nixon Peabody LLP — led to a transfer of the loan to special servicing in March of 2024. The property was listed for sale in February and Riedman expressed immediate interest.

The closing price was not revealed, and the documents have not yet been filed with the Monroe County Clerk’s Office.

Home Leasing, one of the area’s leading developers of affordable housing, will continue to call Clinton Square home, as will what Riedman describes as “a great roster of tenants” that includes the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, KPMG, Bank of America, Chubb insurance, two law firms and Generations Child Care.

“The office market is certainly soft, but it isn’t dead,” Riedman said.

Still, the feasibility of converting some existing space at Clinton Square into apartments appealed to Riedman. Before his death in August of 2024, Nelson Leenhouts contemplated conversion of at least a few of the upper floors.

With Nixon Peabody vacating the 145,000 square feet of space on floors 8-14, it makes sense to move forward with a residential component, Riedman said.

“Not all buildings work well for conversion, but this building does,” he said, citing the exceptional condition of the structure, the 390-car underground parking garage and building dimensions that are conducive to multifamily.

“Plus, there is available outdoor space on the 13^th and 14^th floors, so there are great possibilities for amenities,” Riedman said. “Dimensionally you have to make sure you don’t have too much common area space, because that does not generate revenue.”

Work on schematics and unit design is just beginning, so repurposing of the top half of the building likely won’t begin until the first quarter of 2026. Rents are projected to start in the $1,500 range, with the price yet to be determined for units that feature private outdoor space.

“We have much planning still to do,” Riedman said.

Riedman is no stranger to adaptive reuse. The firm is completing rehabilitation of the five-story Neisner Building at 49 East Ave. into a 54-unit apartment building now called The Neisner at East End.

The company also has undertaken new developments, highlighted by Kilbourn Place on East. The luxury, for-rent community along East Avenue in Pittsford features 96 apartments, eight town homes and six carriage houses, all with high-end finishes and fixtures.

“This will be very similar in fit and finish and very similar in the scope of amenities,” Riedman said.

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