As the Destination Medical Center economic development initiative takes off, so has Rochester’s housing market.
Case in point: new mixed-use apartment complexes are under construction in or on the outskirts of the DMC district which include Flats on 4th, Lofts at Mayo Clinic, 501, and 1st Avenue Lofts.
DMC Executive Director Lisa Clarke said these projects demonstrate that investors and developers see promise in Rochester’s future.
“If you want to measure the DMC’s momentum, just look at how many construction trucks and hard hats you see around the city,” said Clarke. “Every groundbreaking represents progress toward our ultimate goal, which is to transform Rochester not only into a health and wellness destination for patients, but a place that attracts talented, diverse workers from all over the world.”
Among those projects is Flats on 4th, a 92-unit building that sits at the southeast corner of the DMC district and ties the historic arts neighborhood of Slatterly Park to downtown Rochester. It will include 19 affordable housing units. With a shortage of affordable housing in Rochester, Flats on 4th is helping to close that gap.
Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede was on hand at a recent press conference to talk about the importance of projects like Flats on Fourth.
He said it has several important features that Rochester needs in housing. It’s walkable to downtown and other amenities like the Rochester Farmer’s Market and Civic Center. It’s mixed-use, so businesses can set up shop on the ground level. And it’s affordable, so people with varied incomes can live and work downtown.
“This shows progress with the DMC, and we are very excited about it.” Brede said. “All of this makes our city great.”
City council member Mark Bilderback said the project is emblematic of how quickly Rochester is growing.
“It is helping with the energy the DMC has brought to Rochester,” he said. “It’s affordable, it’s walkable. These are all things we need in Rochester.”
Flats on 4th is slated to open in the summer of 2017. Housing projects in other parts of the city, including the 501 on 1st project in Discovery Square, an urban bio-and-med-tech innovation hub, are under construction, too.