City eyes parking in Rochester's old subway tunnel

Brian Sharp | Democrat and Chronicle

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City officials want to turn most of the remaining old Rochester segment of the Erie Canal and subway bed into a downtown parking garage.

The plan, if realized, would spare the aqueduct that spans the Genesee River. But it would take the remainder of the underground space — running beneath West Broad Street, between Exchange and West Main streets — and license it to a private developer for 20 years or more.

A request for proposals issued Friday sets a Sept. 7 deadline for developers to submit plans. Alternative uses also will be considered.

"It is the city’s intention to receive development proposals that will lead to the long-term license of the site to a developer who presents the best plan for this site as a public parking facility," the city offering reads, projecting the license fee at $140,000 a year.

West Broad Street was built as a bridge, a 4,000-foot-long expanse running the length of the abandoned canal-turned-subway bed. The canal ran through downtown from 1823 until 1920, and the subway from the mid-1920s to 1956.

What to do with the underground space has been debated ever since.

A $17.5 million, two-year project back in 2010-12 filled part of the channel north of West Main and repaired the space now being eyed for parking. Again, the old aqueduct is not included in the parking plan, and there are instead plans to remove Broad Street and reuse the canal/subway bed as a pedestrian space.

Turning the underground space into a parking structure would require developing multiple points of vehicle and pedestrian access. The tunnel runs about 20 feet below street level.

Developer Tom Masaschi with DHD Ventures has expressed interest in the past, and is involved in the redevelopment of the Gannett and Terminal buildings along that stretch of West Broad Street. DHD has partnered with Morgan Communities, which is building a mixed-use apartment complex atop a canal and subway remnant on the east side of the aqueduct. Though envisioned as a public parking garage, that could include designated private space much like in other downtown garages, a city spokesman said.

A study of downtown parking supply and demand back in 2008 concluded that the west end of the center city presented the greatest concern. Supply was expected to remain adequate for at least five years. Development since has reduced supply — and there is more on the way.

BDSHARP@Gannett.com