Rochester developer reveals plans for new business center on North Broadway

A prominent Rochester developer and architect is looking to build a new office building on North Broadway, specifically designed for the post-pandemic world.

Hal Henderson, who also serves as the director of HGA’s Rochester office, has drawn up plans for a four-level, 25,400 square-foot space on 1700 North Broadway, preliminarily called the North Plaza Business Center.  

The original renderings call for an outdoor terrace on the building’s top floor, overlooking Broadway and downtown Rochester. The developer’s website calls the design “distinctive” with “the most visionary concepts in office and retail space design,” while Henderson says the goal of the exterior was simply to stand out on a well-traveled road.

“We want it to be eye-catching, we want it to be unique,” says Henderson. “That’s the type of business we’re in. We don’t want it to look or feel like your typical office building.”

Additionally, the website says “virus prevention strategies” will be incorporated throughout the space, with a ‘cutting-edge’ air filtration system and more space accounted for between tenants. Henderson says those strategies were included to get on the leading edge of a growing trend: companies choosing quality over quantity in terms of office space, with more employees working from home to avoid large groups of people.

“I think there’s a lot of people that are going to be re-thinking their space, with concerns about virus spread,” said Henderson. “For people in older buildings, especially ones with older HVAC systems, that’s a legitimate concern. People are going to take a serious look at their spaces, and will want to get into a building that’s cutting-edge.”

Henderson estimates the project will cost roughly $6 million, but the exact total won’t be known until the building is near completion. Ground-breaking will wait until a “good chunk” of space is leased out; Henderson says “lots of inquiries” have come through in the past few weeks.

If the construction process avoids major delays, expect the space to open by fall 2021.

Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.

Cover rending courtesy HGA