Former B+L tower snags photonics spotlight

The shift in momentum was absolute.

Sibley developers woke Thursday to news that a handful of local business leaders wanted the headquarters of a $600 million photonics center to locate in the former Bausch+Lomb tower, not their historic building a block away. By mid-morning, it appeared downtown development officials had fallen in line.

Joseph Eddy, vice president of WinnDevelopment, which thus far has invested $5 million in renovating Sibley, patiently reiterated the argument that his building was uniquely positioned — one that politicians and others had echoed in recent days, only to say Thursday that having the headquarters downtown was all that really mattered.

"It's the very early stages," Eddy said in a mid-afternoon phone interview. "Nobody has even looked at buildings yet."

Eddy was unaware that, at that moment, Paul Tolley, an executive from SUNY Polytechnic Institute, was wrapping up a tour of the former B+L building's 19th and 20th floors. Sibley had yet to schedule a visit.

"There is really only one decision to make here, that is by SUNY Poly," said Robert Duffy, president and CEO of Rochester Business Alliance, who emerged at the center of the turnabout. "While we have some input and certainly can weigh in, we are not the decision makers."

The state, led by SUNY Poly, is investing $250 million into the photonics center after the U.S. Department of Defense picked Rochester and Albany for the Integrated Photonics Institute for Manufacturing Innovation. The announcement came back on July 27, from Vice President Joe Biden, and included $110 million in federal aid as well as pledges of private investment.

"The most important thing is we don't get into fighting inside Rochester where it should go," Duffy said, "or they will just take it out to (Route) 332 and start from there."

Route 332 runs through Canandaigua, home to SUNY Poly's Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center, where Tolley is the executive director. He declined to discuss matters on Thursday, saying Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office had told him these matters were confidential.

The goal is to have the headquarters up and running before the end of the year, Duffy said, which he and other business leaders, including the heads of Paychex, Wegmans and Eastman Kodak, argue supports choosing the former B+L building, renamed Legacy Tower.

Shampoo the carpets. Fresh paint on the walls. The 25,000 square feet on the top two floors is furnished — complete with a boardroom table that seats 24. Duffy called the space "stunningly beautiful," providing a showcase of the city to visiting scientists and investors. The Sibley space is an open floor plan, empty and more dated, having been finished for another tenant roughly 10 years ago. In a lengthy statement Thursday evening, Eddy insisted Winn could have 120,000 square feet ready in 60 days.

Developer Ken Glazer of Buckingham Properties pitched Duffy on Legacy Tower last week. Buckingham owns the property along with Morgan Management.

Duffy said he also heard from developer Andrew Gallina, who suggested the 26-story Chase Tower for the photonics hub headquarters.

"Nobody is trying to pit one building against another (but) if we do our homework correctly, everyone is going to benefit," Duffy said.

Mayor Lovely Warren said Duffy called her Wednesday afternoon to tell her about the discussions involving Legacy Tower.

Both Sibley and the Legacy Tower are in the city's Downtown Innovation Zone. The city and downtown development interests are trying to lure high-tech businesses there. High Tech Rochester plans to open its headquarters at Sibley, and the Rochester Institute of Technology's StartUP-NY zone and Center for Urban Entrepreneurship also will soon be across the street, the mayor said.

Warren said City Hall prefers the Sibley Building for the photonics headquarters.

"We have a kind of synergy that's going on there, and we want to build on that," she said.

However, Warren said she understands that Legacy Tower may be in better condition if photonics leaders want to move in quickly, and that the city still would be appreciative as long as the offices are downtown.

University of Rochester President Joel Seligman had been a vocal supporter of having the headquarters at Sibley's, but appeared to acquiesce this week. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, who has expressed support for considering the project at Sibley's but has not endorsed a specific location, declined comment Thursday through a spokesman, while U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who had put out a statement backing Sibley's, said Thursday that either site would work.

"Everyone needs to take a deep breath and look at the merits of the different locations, and figure out where it should be," Eddy said. "This is important for the city of Rochester. This is one of the major components that is going to help rebuild the city. Sibley is very important for the city of Rochester. It was the center of commerce for more than a century, and we believe this is where (the headquarters) should be."

The Rochester Downtown Development Corp.'s summer newsletter, emailed Thursday, identified Legacy Tower as the favored headquarters — switched from Sibley that morning.

"We're just trying to reflect what we are hearing," said Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, the group's president. "There are a number of hands in the pot here, and it's difficult to know who is making decisions for those who are outside the process."

Whatever the decision, Duffy, Zimmer-Meyer and others say both buildings could benefit, as could many others. The headquarters is one thing, officials said, but there will be labs and other workspace, not to mention spinoffs.

"There is going to be such a huge influx of business that all developers downtown are going to" benefit, Glazer said. "I don't think everybody knows what that all is, what exactly this means and how much this is going to affect the whole downtown area.

"I believe this is only the first step."

BDSHARP@DemocratandChronicle.com

Includes reporting by staff writer David Riley and Gannett Albany Bureau Chief Joseph Spector.

What is photonics?

The optics and photonics fields are closely related. Optics involves the generation, detection, direction and modulation of light. Photonics is the use of light, more specifically photons, to do many of the things that are now done with electrical circuits, or electrons.

Photonic technology already is used in sensors, lasers and other devices that depend on light to send a signal, detect information or communicate. Development of photonic circuits will make computer chips work faster with less energy. Experts say photonics will lead to dramatically increased battery life.