Award of Merit, The Rockford

43 North Real Estate, a development firm, and Bace Build, their allied construction management, general contracting and building firm, have significantly advanced downtown Rochester’s revitalization with two highly-visible adaptive reuse projects in the last few years.

When the team acquired the 1873 property at 30 W. Broad Street with the assistance of The Landmark Society in 2019, nothing about the condition of the structure designed by leading nineteenth century Rochester architect A. J. Warner hinted at its century serving as Rochester's City Hall. "The windows were rotting, the masonry was crumbling, the HVAC wasn’t working properly and the roof had never been replaced," Joel Barrett, a leading partner in both firms, told reporters. "And you can’t patch a 150-year-old roof."

Working tirelessly through the pandemic, this team adapted the 60,000 square foot building into 30 residential units and 12 to 15 commercial spaces, opening in 2023, one hundred fifty years after the building was originally constructed. The work of architects at 9×30 Design and historic architecture firm Bero Architecture, as well as the interior design work of Veolette Design, retained and capitalized on the building’s expansive ceilings, real wood and marble floors, brick barrel vault ceilings, and ornamental plaster. A new roof, along with structural steel enhancements, ensure that this investment in Rochester’s historic built environment will grace downtown’s streets for another century and a half to come.