How much did UR pay for College Town? Price tag revealed

Marcia Greenwood, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
·2 min read

The University of Rochester paid $51.5 million for College Town, a 312,000-square-foot mixed-use development in the Upper Mt. Hope Neighborhood, according to records filed Monday with the Monroe County Clerk’s office.

Meliora Development Company, LLC, a newly formed for-profit affiliate of nonprofit UR, purchased College Town from CT Rochester, LLC, the school announced July 28.

Meliora Development is now responsible for managing the complex and attracting new tenants — and for making payments on a 20-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, agreement that runs through 2032 and totaled $8.4 million when it was approved.

UR considers College Town, which opened in 2014 and is anchored by a 20,000-square-foot Barnes & Noble store, the gateway to its River Campus and the University of Rochester Medical Center campus.

Spread over 14 acres, College Town also includes a parking garage, a CVS Pharmacy, the 154-unit Mt. Hope Lofts (of which 10 are designated as affordable housing) and a Hilton Garden Inn.

The University of Rochester paid $51.5 million for the College Town mixed-used development.
The University of Rochester paid $51.5 million for the College Town mixed-used development.

The sale does not include the hotel, but the school owns the land on which it sits and will continue to lease it to the owner, the DelMonte Hotel Group.

In a July 28 statement, University President Sarah Mangelsdorf said UR’s goal is “to build a greater sense of community and connectedness for students, employees, patients, visitors and neighbors. The University’s new Strategic Plan and a planned update to the institutional campus master plan launching later this year will provide opportunities to reimagine how the development fits into University life.”

CT Rochester — a joint venture of Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane Development Co. and Cleveland, Ohio-based Fairmount Properties LLC — developed, owned and managed College Town on land it leased from UR.

In the summer of 2022, it announced its intent to sell, which is when talks with the school began.

College Town isn’t the only new property being added to university’s real estate portfolio.

On July 18, Rochester City Council approved the sale of the East End Garage downtown to UR for $4,447,000. Among other things, the city stipulated that the school pay full taxes on the property, which it will continue to operate as a public parking facility.

Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: How much did UR pay for College Town? Price tag revealed