Sibley Building likely photonics headquarters

The headquarters for the new photonics center announced Monday will likely be in downtown Rochester, not at the Canal Ponds location in Greece, as had been previously discussed.

That’s according to the projects’ leaders, who met with the Democrat and Chronicle’s editorial board Monday afternoon.

Alain Kaloyeros, president of the SUNY Polytechnic Institute, and Joel Seligman, president of the University of Rochester, said they will begin looking at a number of locations downtown, and the Sibley Building was the most likely candidate.

“There’s a high likelihood that the business headquarters will be located in Sibley,” Seligman said. “They’ve got the space, and if we’re going to revitalize Rochester, it starts on Main Street. Literally, it starts with the Sibley Building.”

Seligman pointed to major commitments from both UR and the Rochester Institute of Technology to make the Sibley Building an incubator and center for start-up businesses. It’s part of the innovation zone project being spearheaded by the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council, which he co-chairs.

The Sibley Building opened in 1904 and was for many years the center of commerce in downtown Rochester. Roughly 70 percent of the million-square-foot complex was vacant before a $200 million renovation project launched a few years ago.

“There is poetic justice in looking at these old majestic facilities and integrating high tech into them,” Kaloyeros said. “Bringing all of these high-tech companies into a signature historic building and reviving it does so much for a downtown.”

Kaloyeros said the photonics project would have technical headquarters in Albany at the SUNY Polytechnic Institute, providing oversight and coordination with federal agencies like the Department of Defense. But the bulk of the project would be based in the Rochester area.

“The business headquarters, the incubators, the tech transfer will be located in Rochester,” he said. “All of the job creation and economic investment will be in Rochester.”

As for precisely where those facilities will be located, those are details that have not yet been decided.

“Manufacturing and clean rooms will be distributed throughout several locations,” Seligman said. “I have no question that Canal Ponds, a great facility in Greece, will be part of our efforts going forward.”

Kaloyeros said that putting the headquarters at Canal Ponds would have been logistically impossible, because the facility is essentially full.

There is not yet a timetable for when the various components of the project would be rolled out.

“Many of the decisions have not been made yet,” Seligman said. “You can’t start to implement a project until you win. But over the next few months you are going to see a tremendous amount of activity, a tremendous amount of progress.”

The development of a hub for photonics research and development is expected to draw companies, small and large, to establish a presence in the region.

“Already we have 55 corporate partners, some of them major companies, who have expressed interest in locating jobs and investments in Rochester,” Kaloyeros said.

And of course, all of this synergy would lead to the creation of new jobs.

“Based on the level of investment and the experience we’ve had with prior programs, we predict five to seven thousand direct jobs in the Rochester area within 5 to 10 years,” Kaloyeros said.

This will be the third high-tech project in the Rochester area under the SUNY Polytechnic umbrella. A photovoltaic research center opened in 2013, and last year a power electronics manufacturing consortium was launched, both based at Canal Ponds.

But the scope of the photonics project is much greater than anything the region has seen in a long time, with the potential to make a dramatic impact.

“This is a project that will light up Rochester,” Seligman said. “This is a project that will be part of the revitalization of Rochester.”

SLAHMAN@Gannett.com

Where is the money coming from?

The American Institute of Manufacturing (AIM) Photonics is anticipating funding of $610 million. Where that money is coming from:

$110 million in federal funding

$250 million from the state of New York

$250 million from private-sector partners