ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Six months after Rochester Regional Health purchased the former Carlson Metro Center YMCA building on East Main Street, the future of the prime piece of downtown real estate remains a mystery.
The YMCA of Greater Rochester sold the 65,000-square-foot building on 1.2 acres to RRH in April for $2.4 million, saying it was imperative to find someone who could make an immediate impact on center city. At the time, RRH said it planned to assess the needs of the community as it determined how to use the space.
That assessment appears to be ongoing. A spokesperson for the health care system tells News10NBC there’s no update to release quite yet. Mayor Malik Evans said he had heard about the plans but deferred to RRH.
“I look forward to announcing what they’re going to do at the appropriate time. I don’t want to speculate or get out ahead of our partners at Rochester Regional Health to talk about what those plans are going to be,” Evans said.
News10NBC checked the city’s website and nothing has been submitted yet to the planning commission.
News10NBC’s Brett Davidsen also reached out to people at the Chamber of Commerce, Empire State Development, local developers, even folks at their competitor, URMC. No one he spoke with was familiar with what RRH is planning.
The Metro Center YMCA stopped operating as a fitness center in 2021. In an interview with News10NBC in March 2021, then CEO George Romell said memberships had dropped dramatically, made worse by the COVID pandemic.
“When you average 500 people a day with 65,000 sq ft, it becomes unsustainable after having losses on the membership side of over a million dollars a year pre-pandemic,” said Romell.
It discontinued childcare operations in 2024.
The sale of the building brings hope for a continued revival of the city’s Main Street. The question is, when?
Mayor Malik Evans: “I think it’s important to know the building is going to be occupied there and they will have a very robust plan that they will be rolling out to the broader community and I am fully supportive.”
About the only thing we do know about the former “Y” is what it won’t become. As part of the sale, RRH signed a restrictive covenant, which says no owner or tenant will use the building for a gym or fitness facility that competes with the YMCA.
Six months later, future of former downtown YMCA building remains unknown WHEC.com.
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