Rochester City Council agrees to sell former Dooley's site for $1.4 million

The Rochester City Council voted Monday to approve a purchase agreement with Powers Ventures for the former Dooley’s site — despite dissent from some members who raised concerns over the process of the deal.

The $1.4 deal, which had the support of city staff, followed a request for proposals by the city that attracted little to no interest. During that process, however, the city listed the property for lease, not sale.

Council Member Patrick Keane, who voted in favor of the agreement, said he did not necessarily “feel good” about how the proposal came to the council. Still, noting the complexity of the deal, he described it as “a messy thing, but in balance is good for our city.”

“These are not the sort of deals you go to the highest bidder with,” said Keane. “These are a lot more complicated because you live with these new people in the [restaurant space].”

Keane also added that the city is a “weak landlord” that “should try to stay out of that business where we can.”

“If private enterprise wants to own these and do the same mission, I think we are better served than the city owning them,” he said.

Keane was joined by four other colleagues — Council Members Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick, Shaun Palmer and Mark Bransford, along with Council President Brooke Carlson — in supporting the motion.

“We are in an existing lease with a person who is not paying the rent right now, and the business is not open; and I think that we need to move ahead and I think this will help downtown Rochester in a better way,” said Palmer.

Mayor Kim Norton also spoke in support of the agreement, noting that Powers Ventures founder Joe Powers was someone the community “knows and respects.” She also commented that the city was “pleased” to get out of the business of leasing bars. (She stopped short of suggesting the city should sell the entire BioBusiness Center, as Kirkpatrick did.)

Council Members Molly Dennis and Nick Campion were the only two to vote against the agreement. While both said the deal was not bad on paper — and that they had no qualms with Powers Ventures for bringing the proposal forward — they were concerned about the idea of selling off the property before putting it up for a competitive bidding process.

“I think this is being very quickly done,” said Dennis. “I do not think this is transparent … what I have been hearing from the public [is] maybe favoritism or not having enough bids, and I feel like we should open this up again and go more slowly to have a more competitive [bidding process].”

Dennis added, “To sell it this quickly, I think, gives some a bad image and loses trust with the public.”

Prior to the council’s comments, city staff defended the process — pointing out how unique the property was. For instance, they noted the condo/ retail unit is connected to an existing parking structure — and the deal includes provisions for scenarios involving the potential demolition of the ramp.

“It’s very challenging to be a public entity that is operating commercial real estate in this space. You do have a number of other holdings that are clear dirt… but I would probably say this is one of the more unique sales we would be looking at, just because of the nature of how the condo unit is integral to the parking ramp,” said City Administrator Alison Zelms.

The $1.4 million purchase price for the site, 255 First Avenue SW, is in line with the assessed value of the property. (It is also almost the identical amount of federal funding Joe Powers’ PH Catering LLC just received as part of the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund, though the Powers family says the transactions are unrelated.)

Nick Powers, president of Powers Ventures, said last week that the proposed concept will “offer a family-friendly atmosphere, relaxed and casual, with … a fun unique dining experience.” The restaurant, he said, would be ready to open later this year after an extensive renovation. It will likely be open until around 10 p.m. and offer a “Chesters-style” experience, added Zelms.

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.