General

​City and Destination Medical Center (DMC) officials, development professionals, and members of the community gathered with developers PEG Companies (PEG) and EKN Development Group (EKN) on April 11 to break ground on the Rochester Hyatt House. This 172-room extended stay hotel is located on the former Legion site in downtown Rochester.

“The DMC legislation has created an excellent opportunity for developers and investors to invest in Rochester, Minnesota and join the vision to be part of the City’s growth as the medical capital of the world,” said Ebbie Nakhjavani, president and chief executive officer of EKN.  “With its elegant design, the Rochester Hyatt House hotel will stand as a shining testament of what can be achieved through collaborative public-private partnership.”

“This new hotel property is a wonderful addition and fills a niche for visitors and patients to Rochester, Minnesota,” said Lisa Clarke, executive director of the DMC EDA. “It’s another great example of the investor and development community taking notice of the tremendous opportunities that exist in Rochester.”

Project leaders regard the property itself as a formative piece of Rochester’s history and paid special tribute to the American Legion, Post #92 – the land’s previous stewards – at the groundbreaking.  This organization served the Mayo Brothers Veterans; Dr. William J. Mayo and Dr. Charles H. Mayo in the early 1900’s.  

The Rochester Hyatt House is slated for completion in summer 2020.

 

Honoring the Rochester American Legion

EKN Development wanted a way to honor and recognize the American Legion in Rochester, Minnesota. When the Rochester Hyatt House opens in summer 2020, it will display a special flag donated by the Rochester American Legion Wm. T. McCoy Post #92. The flag was retired in a ceremony on January 15, 2019. During the ceremony, the Post’s Honor Guard fired rifles and a bugler played Taps for all its fallen members. The shell casings are the blanks that were fired.

With the April 16 opening of the Hilton Downtown Rochester fast approaching, Rochester is preparing to celebrate the completion of one of the first concrete examples of the Destination Medical Center (DMC) initiative. So, it’s probably fitting that the driving force behind the landmark project is a local company with deep roots in the Rochester community – Titan Development & Investments.

DMC recently chatted with Titan Development & Investments leadership to learn more about their long history in Rochester, their upcoming opening of the Hilton hotel, and a look into the future.

 

Titan has a long history of being a successful developer. What do you attribute that to?

Titan has always had a diverse portfolio because we are able to strategically shift to different asset classes as the market changes on a local and national level. One of the big reasons that we are able to be this aggressive and continually deliver superior results is that we have a dedicated team focusing on the entire process including financing, planning, and construction management.

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Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Commissioner Steve Grove recently stopped in Rochester to meet with Destination Medical Center (DMC) leaders, to tour innovation sectors in the city, and to discuss new startup incentives with Rochester’s entrepreneurs.

Grove, a native of Northfield, Minn., built his career in the private tech sector, spending time at both Google and YouTube before relocating back to Minnesota with his family. After being appointed DEED Commissioner by Governor Walz this January, he’s now tasked to revitalize Minnesota’s innovation economy to help make the state a magnet for top tech talent.

As part of this plan, Governor Walz issued a $9 million budget proposal for a Minnesota Innovation Collaborative (MIC) to encourage startup growth in the state. The MIC would utilize grants and other resources to help lower risks associated with starting high growth potential businesses, including early grant funding, R&D vouchers, an entrepreneur benefits package, and enhanced educational opportunities. Walz’s proposal also includes reinstatement of the Angel Tax Credit incentive to encourage investment into early stage Minnesota startups. If approved, MIC would be administered by DEED.

During his meeting with DMC leadership, the commissioner saw the growth in downtown Rochester and learned how the DMC initiative is serving as a successful model of economic development for the state. In a separate meeting with local entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial ecosystem builders, government officials, and DMC staff, the commissioner shared information about the Governor’s priorities related to entrepreneurism and learned more about the local innovation community. As part of the visit, Grove also toured One Discovery Square and other innovation hotspots in downtown Rochester, including Collider Coworking and the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator.

Grove’s visit highlights the growing interest in Rochester and DMC as a success story in economic development and as a major technology hub within the state. If approved, MIC could have major implications for entrepreneurship and startup growth in the Discovery Square sub-district.

“It was great to have Commissioner Grove see for himself how the DMC initiative is catalyzing economic development in Rochester, and how we can serve as a model for other Minnesota communities interested in developing similar public-private partnerships for growth,” said Lisa Clarke, executive director for DMC EDA. “With One Discovery Square opening this year, Rochester is entering into a new era of innovation and entrepreneurship. We are positioned to benefit from the MIC initiative.”

Mayo Clinic spinout and Rochester-based COVR Medical aims to protect patient privacy and dignity during surgical procedures. Driven by a passion to fulfill an unmet medical need, COVR was founded by husband and wife team Dr. Bruce Levy, MD, a Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon, and Heather Levy in 2014. With three medical garments currently on the market, COVR is facilitating patient dignity one surgery at a time.

Dr. Levy’s “passion for improving the patient experience” ultimately moved him to become an entrepreneur. During one particular surgical case, he requested a blue towel be used to cover a patient to avoid patient exposure to the entire operating room staff during the procedure. However, the towel kept dropping to the operating room floor during the surgery as the patient was moved, leaving the patient naked and exposed for the majority of the operation.

Distressed by the situation, Dr. Levy searched the market for possible solutions to remedy this problem. Finding none, he decided to create his own solution, a medical garment that could cover and protect patient dignity during surgeries in the groin area while allowing adequate access for medical staff.

In 2014, Dr. Levy utilized Mayo Clinic’s Employee Entrepreneurship Program (EEP) to license the intellectual property for the garment line from Mayo to launch his startup, COVR Medical. Two years later, Dr. Levy presented his idea at the Walleye Tank business pitch competition hosted by the Office of Entrepreneurship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. COVR Medical won first place.

Since that time, COVR has grown to a five-person team including Dr. Bruce Levy, Cofounder and CEO; Heather Levy, Cofounder and President; Romeo Catracchia, Chief Commercial Officer; Thomas Pavilon, US National Sales Manager, and Donald Cilley, Manufacturing Manager.

COVR, Dr. Levy explains, is a pioneer. The company is not bringing a better product to the market but is instead creating a whole new class of products, which can come with unique challenges. However, he says COVR continues to gain momentum with leading US medical institutions, demonstrating the value of their products.

As a Mayo Clinic surgeon, it felt natural for Dr. Levy and wife Heather to grow their company in this city.

“Understanding and overcoming the challenges of starting a business is no easy task and we are extremely grateful to find a thriving, helpful, and welcoming entrepreneurial climate in Rochester, Minnesota,” Dr. Levy explained.

Through the EEP program, COVR connected with several local consultants and organizations that assist Rochester startups including the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator, Medical Alley Association, and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

“I remained amazed at how many people unselfishly dedicated their time and expertise in guiding us towards making the right decisions for our company,” he said.

Dr. Levy thinks that “success breeds success” in the Destination Medical Center (DMC) entrepreneurial climate, where thriving startups will allow more startups to launch and grow. He sees the DMC vision to make Rochester a premier medical community of extreme value, especially for healthcare focused startups.

“It’s very much a symbiotic and synergistic relationship between successful entrepreneurs and the supportive organizations that help make them successful,” he said. “I think we can all work collaboratively and mutually benefit from our combined efforts.”

 

When is a parking ramp more than just a functional structure for stacking up cars? That question has found an answer with the city of Rochester’s new “Parking Ramp #6,” which opened March 26.

This $31.4 million, 630-stall municipal project has indeed been designed as much more than just a parking ramp — although in that simple role alone it is a much-needed improvement as Destination Medical Center (DMC) creates more growth, energy and vibrancy downtown.

And to be sure, merely as parking ramps go, it’s something special. Ramp #6 has several cutting-edge design features such as a space guidance system to help parkers more quickly find available stalls, license plate recognition to speed entry and exits, and a mobile app to help locate parked vehicles.

In addition, a landscaped plaza to the east along First Ave. NE will provide bicycle storage options and feature backlit art walls to create a welcoming public space.

But as one of the earliest infrastructure projects to receive financial support from the DMC, the city has always had bigger goals in mind for Ramp #6 than simply providing additional downtown parking.

One aspect of that vision is its strategic location which leverages other DMC-backed efforts. Situated on 1st Avenue SE and between Center Street and 1st Street SE, it’s on the same block as two important lodging amenities: Titan Development and Investments’ Hilton Hotel, which is preparing for an April 16 opening, and the Broadway Plaza. The ramp will provide them with new skyway access points, thus greatly enhancing pedestrian connections.

The parking ramp has also been designed to accommodate up to 10 stories of residential development atop its easternmost section. The City and DMC are actively seeking proposals to construct mixed income or affordable housing units on the site.  

A grand opening for the new ramp is being planned for summer.

Heart of the City is part of the Destination Medical Center initiative to revitalize downtown Rochester to reflect the city’s diversity and vibrancy and solidify it as a global destination for health and wellness.

As part of the Heart of the City public space design process, First Avenue in downtown Rochester is being designed as a curbless, pedestrian-friendly street. Recently, the future of First Avenue was prototyped, which showed the new design of the street, curb, and sidewalk.

Members of the Heart of the City design team were present to answer questions and collect feedback from business owners and the public.

One of the goals of Heart of the City is creating opportunities for year-round use of public spaces. At the wildly successful SocialICE event in February, produced by the Rochester Downtown Alliance, DMC tested heated benches, which were very popular. Other ideas included adding winter-friending programming, wind buffers and using heated benches or site features to create additional ways to keep people warm outdoors.

“Heart of the City is an important community gathering place. The feedback we receive from our public engagement is valuable as we continue to create experiences in Heart of the City for everyone to enjoy,” noted Patrick Seeb, director of economic development and placemaking for Destination Medical Center Economic Development Agency.

Rochester, Minnesota continues its high ranking in Livability’s 2019 Top 100 Best Places to Live, placing 5th and a jump up four spaces from 2018.

The publication notes: “While Rochester may be best known for its famous hospital, which draws patients, doctors and researchers from all over the world, this city is so much more than that. There’s a growing food scene and plenty of community events to keep residents entertained. And for a relatively small city, Rochester has a great public transportation system. Its bus system has 40 weekday routes. Skyways and pedestrian subways connect buildings downtown. If you’re car-free, Rochester has 85 (!) miles of interconnected trails that are available for pedestrian, bike, wheelchair and stroller use.”

Livability also acknowledges the community for being incredibly civic-minded.

“It’s no surprise that Rochester is consistently listed in the top 10 of Livability and many other rankings,” notes Lisa Clarke, executive director, Destination Medical Center Economic Development Agency. “High quality of life, a growing, innovative business climate, and top-notch healthcare, are just a few examples of what makes Rochester special.”

Rochester is in good company. WalletHub says Minnesota ranks first when it comes to the best place for women to live in the United States.

 

Five proposals have been received by the City of Rochester in response to the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the initial operations and management of the historic Chateau Theatre. The submissions included: Entourage Events Group, Exhibits Development Group, Arcades are Awesome!, Threshold Arts LLC, and Arts Trust Minnesota.

“We are pleased with the number of proposals received. It is always encouraging to see a mix of local applicants with those outside of the area,” said Aaron Parrish, Rochester deputy city administrator. “We look forward to moving this process forward in a thoughtful and timely manner.”

Of the five proposals, three are from local entities and two are from Twin Cities organizations. City of Rochester and Destination Medical Center Economic Development Agency (DMC EDA) staff are currently reviewing the submissions and will be bringing forward a review process in the coming weeks. Community engagement will be a part of the selection process.

“The interest in the Chateau Theatre has been and continues to be strong. This is reflected in the five proposals received,” noted Patrick Seeb, director of economic development and placemaking with DMC EDA. “All five proposals are diverse in their approach to use and activate the space.”

The Destination Medical Center Corporation Board of Directors and the Rochester City Council approved $1.1 million in DMC funding for the renovation. All initial renovation work to the building is anticipated to be completed by mid-June 2019.