Government can not grow an economy—only private enterprise can do that in our market-driven system. The role of the public sector is to facilitate and guide private sector development by creating a fair and functional business environment and by removing obstacles to growth. Governor Spitzer’s promise of $50 million for the demolition of Midtown would remove a very significant obstacle to Rochester’s development. The private sector had reached an impasse on this complex problem. With market rents per square foot in the low double digits, neither renovation nor demolition made financial sense. For a less significant property, the buildings might properly have been padlocked and allowed to slowly decay until some change in circumstance presented a solution that did not require taxpayers to foot the bill. Midtown Plaza, however, is rightly “too big to fail,” a property so large and so central that it holds downtown’s future hostage.
Subscribe to CGR Brief
Monthly blog by senior staff on public policy + updates.
Enter your email address.