Investors and experts all agree – more and more people are moving into downtown Rochester, New York.
Millions of dollars are being spent to convert old buildings to create hundreds of new apartments and condos.
But many who live downtown say something’s missing – where’s the retail?
Over the past year, downtown has seen several big name retailers skip town. Tim Hortons has closed two stores, and most recently Moe’s on East Avenue closed last week.
“We hear from national retail experts that downtowns need between 5,000 and 10,000 residents to start attracting retail again,” says Heidi Zimmer-Meyer with the Downtown Development Corporation.
Currently there are around 6,300 people living in the downtown core, so we’re within that number retailers say they want to see before taking a chance here.