UL10: Department Stores Reimagined
Once the anchors of downtowns and suburban malls, Urban Land features 10 formerly moribund sectional retailers—including TAT’s Sibley Square—that house a wide range of new uses, flaunt restored historic fabric, and add publicly accessible open spaces.
By Ron Nyren
7. Sibley Square
Rochester, New York
When Sibley’s closed in 1989, that marked the end of what had once been the biggest department store between New York and Chicago. The main building, five stories high, connects to a 12-story tower, together encompassing more than 1 million square feet (92,900 sq m) and occupying an entire city block. WinnDevelopment of Boston purchased the largely vacant complex for $5 million in 2012 and—in a multiphased, $200 million effort completed in 2022—brought in The Architectural Team of Chelsea, Massachusetts, to restore the historic shell and reconfigure the interiors for contemporary uses.
The building houses NextCorps, a high-tech research and development incubator; a grocery store; a food hall with its own incubator space for local food companies; office space for multiple businesses; child-care facilities; workforce apartments; market-rate apartments; and affordable apartments for seniors. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the project included historic tax credits and low-income housing tax credits in the financing.
View the full list of projects here.
