Armory Could Go to City for Resale ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) - The City of Rochester is negotiating with New York State to buy the old Armory on Culver Road. The property was slated to go to auction in October, but the city wants to buy it before then for $1 million, with approval from City Council. That move would allow Rochester to resell the armory to a developer of its choosing.

Bret Garwood is with the City of Rochester. He says the resale of the Armory would lead to the building being redeveloped.

"It's clearly the neighborhood group's preference and the city's preference to find a reuse for the Armory if at all feasible. But the Armory only occupies a very small portion of the site, so what we'd be looking to do is identify a reuse of the Armory for some economic development purpose. Depending on what it would be reused for, and depending on its parking requirements, the rest of the land would be available for what would more likely be a residential development."

Garwood says city officials would prefer to see market-rate housing on the remaining 12 acres of the parcel.

City leaders have been negotiating with the NYS Office of General Services since April of this year. The Armory was previously used for military purposes by the state, but has been declared surplus. Rochester had already declined to buy the Armory from the state for a dollar, for public or transportation use, because it didn't need those functions there.

The initial bid for the auction, slated for October, was set to be $500,000. The city's offer of $1 million is based on the appraised value of the property.

Council will vote on the purchase of the Armory at its next meeting, on September 16.
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