Buckingham Properties is pleased to announce the recent hire of Paul W. Schroeder II, who joins the Buckingham team with over seven years of experience. Schroeder will be responsible for oversight of tenant construction and build-outs.

Schroeder earned a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Technology from Alfred State College. He resides in Livonia with his wife, Nicole and son

Buckingham Properties is pleased to announce the recent hire of Adam Borrell, who joins the Buckingham Leasing team with over five years of experience. He will be responsible for leasing and tenant relations for Buckingham’s commercial office properties.

Adam is a graduate of Butler University and is a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson. He resides in Pittsford with his wife, Karlie and three children.

Mayor Thomas Richards announced today at Rochester Downtown Development Corporation’s Vision Future luncheon that Buckingham Properties will partner with Morgan Management on the redevelopment of Midtown Tower. The original design has been modified to reflect a more contemporary look. Construction of the 17-story, 357,000 square foot structure is projected to begin next year with completion expected in 2014. Construction will begin with the bottom and top of the building, working into the middle, to allow phased move-ins. The estimated development cost is $57 million.

Midtown Tower will become a modern, mixed-use building with five floors of office and commercial space, and over 160 trendy apartments featuring polished concrete floors, open floor plans, and roof decks with stunning city views. Apartments will be pet-friendly, with plans for a dog park and wash station. There will be plentiful common areas for social gatherings and underground parking with direct access into the building.

“This project is a major milestone in the revival of downtown Rochester, a key part of our city,” said CEO Larry Glazer. “We believe Buckingham Properties and Morgan Management bring a unique partnership and we are excited to begin.”

Buckingham plans to pursue LEED certification on the Midtown Tower project. “We recently completed our new corporate office in Alexander Park to meet LEED Silver standards, and firmly believe in the importance of sustainable construction as we plan for future development projects,” said CEO Larry Glazer.

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Rochester Dental Care has updated and expanded their office located in Elmwood Professional Center, 1580 Elmwood Avenue in Brighton.  The practice, owned by William L. Hurtt DMD, emphasizes cosmetic dentistry along with restorative, family and sedation dentistry.  Dr. Hurtt has trained with some of the world’s most prominent cosmetic dental specialists, and is rapidly becoming known as the Rochester area’s leading expert for cosmetic dentistry.

Since 1992, Rochester Dental Care has leased office space from Buckingham Properties. Their expansion at Elmwood Professional Center adds an additional 993 square feet to accommodate their growth.  “Our updated facility allows us to care for our patients’ dental health with the latest in innovative technology,” said Dr. Hurtt.  “By remodeling and expanding at Elmwood Professional Center, we are able to provide our patients with cutting-edge quality care.”

“We are very excited that Dr. Hurtt chose to expand at Elmwood Professional Center,” said Joseph Rowley, Director of Leasing and Marketing for Buckingham Properties. “Elmwood Professional Center offers a visible central location to serve the needs of patients in the Brighton/Rochester community.”

Buckingham Properties is pleased to announce the recent hire of Courtney Wilson, who joins the Buckingham Leasing team with over four years of experience. Wilson will be responsible for leasing and tenant relations for Buckingham’s mixed-use properties.

Wilson is a graduate of SUNY Oneonta and is an Accredited Residential Manager and Member of the Institute of Real Estate Management. She resides in Rochester.

Buckingham Properties is pleased to welcome East House and 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East to their new homes at 259 Monroe Avenue. Rick Glazer of Buckingham Properties represented the Landlord in both transactions, and John Manilla, Managing Broker at Pyramid Brokerage Company, represented SEIU in lease negotiations. The entire 150,000 square foot office building is now fully leased. Additional tenants include Compeer, AIDS Care, Junior Achievement, Rochester Primary Care Network and multiple New York State offices.

East House’s new 22,000 square foot location brings together five previous offices. “Even with five separate spaces, we were running out of room,” explains Greg Soehner, President and CEO of East House. “The separate spaces necessitated staff travel during the day for meetings and supply pick up.  And, of course, client services were also affected by the separate spaces.”  East House now has the space to add and expand program areas as needed to allow for growth in the years ahead.

East House’s new space features a training room, a training kitchen for clients, an expanded computer lab, a larger classroom, a central and secure reception area and additional storage space. Additional amenities at Monroe Square include free on-site parking, as well as security.

Joining East House on the second floor of Monroe Square is 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. Their 10,000 square foot office is one of eleven SEIU Healthcare Locals located throughout New York State.

Laurence Glazer’s love of challenge has helped revitalize decaying urban areas

Developer Laurence Glazer did not exactly start out on a shoestring.

But the considerable real estate empire he oversees today as CEO and managing partner of Buckingham Properties LLC began as a few apartment properties in the Park Avenue area.

Glazer’s holdings now include more than 2 million square feet of industrial and warehouse space in the Rochester area and in Florida, several shopping centers in Pittsford, a couple of historic Victorian mansions and trendy lofts in painstakingly renovated former Rochester factories.

At Alexander Park, an eight-acre site connecting the city’s Park Avenue, Upper Monroe and East End neighborhoods, Glazer is midstream in a massive project that he hopes will transform what was the largely empty and now mostly demolished Genesee Hospital, replacing it with a mixed-use development that includes housing, retail and office space.

Glazer’s portfolio also includes 290 acres of developable land. Through his Buckingham Construction LLC subsidiary, he is ready to build or modify structures to suit commercial tenants of various stripes.

He oversees his expanding empire from 1 S. Washington St., onetime headquarters of a railroad, which he lovingly restored, uncovering decorative plaster, marble and brass features.

Glazer got his start in real estate in 1970. Local attorney Harold Samloff, an acquaintance and sometime tennis partner, approached him with a deal to buy into a five-unit apartment property on Buckingham Street. Samloff, who already had a partner in a Buckingham Street rental property, wanted to buy a second building. His partner was not interested, so he called Glazer, who was game and sank $1,000 into the deal.

Neither Samloff, who retired from Buckingham and relocated to Arizona some 10 years ago, nor Glazer initially saw the real estate venture as anything more than a sideline that might provide some retirement income.

Asked what spurred him to move beyond the role of small-time landlord to one of developer, Glazer said: “I don’t know. I enjoyed it. It was a mental challenge.”

Glazer, 66, grew up in modest circumstances in an elm-shaded North Buffalo neighborhood of unassuming two-family homes. He earned an MBA from Columbia University and worked for a while in finance in Manhattan before marrying Jane Lovenheim, a Brighton girl whose family owned the commercial printing firm Great Lakes Press.

In 1970, Glazer went to work for the printing company. He ended up as CEO, a position he held until 1983, when the printing business was sold to the area’s biggest commercial printer at that time, Case Hoyt Corp., for some $46 million.

Glazer’s and Samloff’s first move beyond residential real estate came with the purchase of properties on the city’s Monroe Avenue commercial strip, an area that had seen better days. Though many might have seen such purchases as foolhardy, Glazer said he never considered them risky, regarding them only as a challenge.

As the partners improved and leased properties, the Monroe Avenue strip evolved into a mecca of trendy shops and restaurants. Though Buckingham no longer owns the properties and Monroe Avenue never quite achieved the gentrified sheen of Park Avenue, the strip is still one of the city’s livelier areas.

The Monroe Avenue success led to more ambitious adaptive reuse projects, turning the city’s disused factories and warehouses into office and light industrial space. In the final years before Great Lakes Press was sold, Glazer said, “I was essentially working two full-time jobs.”

As Buckingham expanded, Glazer taught himself skills as a project planner, general contractor, estimator and leasing agent. He also learned the art of distinguishing a doable project from a heartbreaker.

The firm’s initial choice of projects was driven partly by necessity, Glazer said. Building new on virgin suburban land might have been a surer and more conventional way to make it as a developer, but “no one would give us the money to buy land. We had to beg, borrow, steal and use credit cards.”

That limitation for Glazer and Samloff was a boon for the city of Rochester, Mayor Thomas Richards said.

“Most of what Buckingham has done is in the city,” Richards said, citing a dozen abandoned factories and empty warehouses that Glazer has turned into business centers and upscale apartments. “We’re very grateful for Larry Glazer.”

Few would have been willing or able to take on the monumental task of leveling Genesee Hospital and redeveloping the site, Richards said. Glazer’s plan for the project goes far beyond replacing the hospital building, promising to transform the site and surrounding blocks from a nondescript tract on the verge of urban blight into a vital city neighborhood.

When he and Samloff started out as developers, Glazer said, “we had no game plan, no predetermined idea. I looked around and thought that if somebody didn’t do something like what we did, the area’s economy would go down the tubes. I never saw what we did as risky. I saw it as hard work.”

By WILL ASTOR
RBJ 25th Anniversary Edition
Rochester Business Journal
October 12, 2012

Artistic Designs Hair Salon Finds New Home at Alexander Park
Local salon to host “Cut-a-Thon for Breast Cancer” at new location

Buckingham Properties is pleased to announce the opening of Artistic Designs Hair Salon at Alexander Park. Located at 275 Alexander Street, the salon is co-owned and operated by Brian Angold and Jodi Beutel. “We first opened the salon on Park Avenue over ten years ago,” said Brian Angold. “At our new location on Alexander Street, the salon really stands out. And we have our own parking lot, which is a huge convenience for our clients.”

Artistic Designs joins several new Buckingham Properties tenants in the Alexander Park neighborhood. Buckingham has been busy revitalizing the area, currently home to MVP Health Care, multiple Rochester General Hospital facilities, Canandaigua National Bank and Earthlink’s new offices. Several additional properties along Alexander Street continue to be developed. “We are excited to be a part of Alexander Park, a neighborhood that is growing in such a positive way,” said Brian Angold.

The team at Artistic Designs consists of six stylists, each with more than five years of experience. “Each stylist has their own clientele, and we also accept walk-ins,” said Jodi Beutel. “Our motto is, ‘Appointments aren’t always necessary.’ Over the last decade, we have really focused on hair as our specialty. We offer a boutique-style experience with a personal touch.”

Artistic Designs will host a “Cut-a-Thon for Breast Cancer” on Sunday, October 14, 2012. Haircuts will be offered for just $15 and all proceeds, including stylist tips, will be directly donated to the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester. Appointments are not being taken – first come, first served. Artistic Designs has held the “Cut-a-Thon” for eight years. “During the event you hear such interesting stories,” said Jodi Beutel. “People come because of a family member, because of a friend – it’s a heartwarming day here at the salon. At our last Cut-a-Thon, we raised over $1,000 in just four hours!” The salon will also be holding a Christmas Open House later this year.

Artistic Designs is open Tuesday and Thursday from 12:00pm to 8:00pm, Wednesday from 10:00am to 8:00pm, Friday from 10:00am to 6:00pm, and Saturday from 10:00am to 4:00pm. For more information, find Artistic Designs Hair Salon on Facebook.

New Wine Bar Offers Extensive Wine List, Educational Classes and ‘Nerd Nite’

Buckingham Properties is pleased to announce the opening of Veritas Wine Bar at Alexander Park. Located at 217 Alexander Street, the wine bar is co-owned and operated by Paul and Amy Powers. “We began exploring wine in the late 90s when we were living in New York City,” said Amy Powers. “After returning to Rochester in 2001, we both worked at Wine Sense on Park Avenue where our education began in earnest. It was during this time that we began to dream of opening a wine bar. To further our knowledge in wine and the industry, we took jobs in wine sales and distribution. We have always shared a great passion for learning about wine, and are thrilled to finally realize our dream of opening a wine bar to share that passion with our customers.” A grand opening will be held on Friday, August 17th, and a ribbon-cutting will take place on Friday, August 24th at 4:00pm.

Veritas is one of several new Buckingham Properties tenants in the Alexander Park neighborhood. Buckingham has been busy revitalizing the area, currently home to MVP Health Care, multiple Rochester General Hospital facilities, Canandaigua National Bank and Earthlink’s new offices. Several additional properties along Alexander Street continue to be developed. “We have tremendous faith in the Alexander Park neighborhood and are excited to be a tenant on the ‘ground floor’ as the area continues to develop.” said Amy Powers.

Veritas Wine Bar serves wine by the glass and bottle from all around the world as well as bottled craft beers. “Our current list includes over twenty wines by the glass and over 100 by the bottle, and will continually change,” said Paul Powers. In addition to standard full glass pours, Veritas offers ½ glass pours, giving customers the opportunity to explore through their wide variety of wines. Additionally, Veritas has teamed up with local specialty shops to offer edibles from Gifted Foods, Pittsford Dairy and Bakery Street Bakery.

Completely unique to the area, Veritas has been selected to host ‘Nerd Nite,’ an internationally recognized event where self-declared nerds gather to meet, drink and learn something new. Hosted in over 36 cities all over the world, Veritas is the only venue in the Rochester-area to have been selected ‘Nerd Boss,’ and will host its first ‘Nerd Nite’ on Wednesday, September 12th. Guest speakers will include Chris Hartman, the lead organizer behind The Good Food Collective, a multi-farm community supported agriculture project in the South Wedge. For non-nerd wine connoisseurs, Veritas will also hold monthly wine education classes, with guest speakers and specialty wine tastings.

Veritas Wine Bar is open Tuesday through Saturday from 4:00pm to 11:00pm. For more information visit http://www.facebook.com/VeritasRochester.

Several tidbits at Thursday’s annual Downtown Rising presentation at the Hyatt were news to me: a new postal substation at West Main and North Plymouth; a restaurant — open to the public — planned for The College at Brockport’s new educational center on Chestnut Street; the city’s imminent move to seek a developer to overhaul the 12-story building at 88 Elm St., next to Midtown.

But most of all, my jaw dropped over all the progress Larry Glazer is making at Alexander Park, his massive redevelopment of the former Genesee Hospital site.

Even Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, president of the Rochester Downtown Development Corp., heard some things she didn’t know.

“Much of what Larry shared was very surprising,” she told me Friday, especially his success at attracting Rochester General Hospital as a tenant. RGH already has an imaging clinic at Alexander Park and “will be a major player” at the site with a dialysis facility and other services, Glazer said.

“They’re destined to become a major downtown medical center … a hospital without beds,” he said.

Zimmer-Meyer said Glazer’s savvy about the local commercial real estate market is unmatched. “He’s the only guy I know who can build speculative office space in this current market and fill it,” she said.

Glazer did that by getting EarthLink, the Atlanta-based telecom that has a major Rochester presence through a string of acquisitions, to move into an 80,000-square-foot spec building he put up on the Monroe Avenue side of Alexander Park.

Now he’s doing the same with RGH, which occupies part of a 20,000-square-foot building on Alexander Street.

Zimmer-Meyer eagerly anticipates what Glazer will do with eight vacant acres on the north side of Alexander Park. He suggested Thursday that a combination of residential, retail and offices is possible as he seeks to make the complex “a place where everybody wants to live and work.”

Glazer has worked wonders on the west side of downtown, in the Cascade District, where he has rehabbed old buildings for loft apartments and office space. But Alexander Park figures to be his crowning achievement.

“He’s rebranding the whole neighborhood,” Zimmer-Meyer said. “He’s really kind of brilliant about this.”

Sink, Steve. (2012, June 9). Larry Glazer is working wonders at Alexander Park.
Democrat and Chronicle

Retrieved June 11, 2012, from http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120609/BUSINESS0107/306090025/Larry-Glazer-working-wonders-Alexander-Park?nclick_check=1

ROCHESTER, NY – Buckingham Properties LLC, Rochester, New York’s most diverse real estate development and property management company announces the recent hire of Richard I. Finley III, CPA who joins the Buckingham team as Corporate Controller. With over eight years of experience, Finley will be responsible for budget development, preparation of financial statements and reports, and oversight of monthly closings for a real estate portfolio in excess of 8.5 million square feet.

“We are delighted to welcome Rich to the Buckingham team,” said CEO and Managing Partner Larry Glazer. “With his experience and background, Rich will help us further improve our financial processes as we continue to capitalize on long-term growth opportunities.”

Finley is a SUNY Brockport graduate and Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He resides in Walworth with his wife and daughter.

About Buckingham Properties
Buckingham Properties LLC is the largest and most diverse real estate development and property management company in the Rochester, NY area. Buckingham focuses on opportunistic development projects in the Greater Rochester region and takes pride in its combination of resourcefulness and significant experience to adapt to the needs of its diverse real estate portfolio. The company currently owns and manages more than 40 properties comprising over 8.5 million square feet of rental space in the Greater Rochester region.

In addition to his duties as Property Manager, Leistman will now maintain the health and safety program for Buckingham, including oversight of life safety inspections for a portfolio of over 40 properties. He will be responsible for the maintenance and compliance of fire alarm systems, sprinkler systems, emergency power and lighting systems and overall safety.

Leistman resides in Webster with his wife, Gayla and their two daughters.

The Daily Record Building, located at 11 Centre Park in the Cascade District.

Westminster Financial provides comprehensive financial plans for wealth building and management, retirement planning, education funding, estate and survivor needs, and other investment and financial planning issues. The company occupies 2,859 square feet in the building.

Quantum Loop Solutions, who has moved into a 1,900 square foot space, is a Rochester-based company that has developed a mobile commerce (mCommerce) solution called NuSale. NuSale provides a one-stop solution for small merchants including customer management, inventory control, point of sale, mobile payment processing, online selling and back-office accounting.

Barton & Loguidice, a Syracuse-based professional engineering firm, held an open house on March 22 to unveil their new office.

Barton & Loguidice, a Syracuse-based professional engineering firm, held an open house on March 22 to unveil their new office. Attendees included County Executive Maggie Brooks, City of Rochester Neighborhood & Business Development Commissioner Carlos Carballada, and state Sen. Joseph Robach.

The Daily Record Building, built in 1904, was purchased several years ago by Buckingham Properties and redeveloped to offer office and live/work lofts in the 36,000 square foot building.

ROCHESTER, NY – Buckingham Properties is pleased to announce the opening of Billone Mechanical Contractors/ABJ Fire Protection at 3543 Winton Place in Brighton. The new space provides 6,100 square feet of flex/office space with two docks for Billone’s growing business of providing mechanical services to the greater Rochester area for over 30 years.

Billone Mechanical Contractors/ABJ Fire Protection joins several other tenants at 35-43Winton Place, including VP Supply, Clerisy Corporation, Zenith Academy of Gymnastics and Flower City CrossFit. “Buckingham is very pleased to provide Billone/ABJ with flex/office space at Winton Place,” said Ken Glazer, Property Development Manager for Buckingham. “Their new office at Winton Place has easy access to all expressways, making it a great location to continue serving the Rochester community.”

About Buckingham Properties
Buckingham Properties LLC is the largest and most diverse real estate development and property management company in the Rochester, NY area. Buckingham focuses on opportunistic development projects in the Greater Rochester region and takes pride in its combination of resourcefulness and significant experience to adapt to the needs of its diverse real estate portfolio. The company currently owns and manages more than 40 properties comprising over 7 million square feet of rental space in the Greater Rochester region.

Past Nick Tahou’s Hots, the landmark home of the Garbage Plate, there are signs of the progress under way. The new Voters Block apartment complex is nearing completion on the south side of the street a few blocks west, and directly across the street from the new construction is the restoration of a historic block of buildings in what will become the Frederick Douglass Apartments.

But to see the full scale of potential for this neighborhood — the home of famed suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony — you have to explore the side streets off West Main, such as Canal and Litchfield streets, where several century-old factories stand in waiting for restoration and reuse.

These massive, weary brick buildings with boarded-up windows, padlocked doors, leaky roofs and signs of deterioration don’t look like much now, but for each there is a new owner with plans to restore and redevelop for housing, office space or whatever the market will bear.

For the first time in perhaps decades, there is reason for positive buzz on West Main Street.

Listen to Larry Glazer, chief executive and managing partner of Buckingham Properties:

“The old Cunningham Factory has been purchased by DePaul and will be a major redevelopment for housing. The city records building is a very stabilized building. The old office furniture manufacturing building has been purchased by a developer and that is ready to be redeveloped, and (Nelson) Leenhouts has purchased the buildings on Main Street for housing, plus the new housing project across the street.

“What we have here is critical mass.”

Larry Mastrella, a manager with RealtyUSA in Pittsford, grew up in the 1950s on King Street across the square from Susan B. Anthony’s home. He said his childhood memories of the neighborhood are very different from what it has become.

“It’s great to know that you can drive down those streets and in that area now and that it is coming back,” Mastrella said. “There was a time not long ago that it just was not the place to be, and now to see it coming back is really refreshing for all the people who grew up around there.”

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