Park Point at RIT - Rochester Wiki

Location

Jefferson Rd & John St, Rochester, NY 14623

Website

Park Point at RIT is a development project (now finished) on a 60-acre parcel of land on the northeast corner of the RIT campus at Jefferson Road and John Street. Developer Wilmorite has built a $72.7 million complex consisting of housing and retail space. The 636,000-square-foot development features 300 apartment units (with 918 beds), a 40,000-square-foot Barnes & Noble bookstore and 40,000 square feet for restaurants, pubs and retail shops. The first shops began opening on August 15th, 2008, and the official opening ceremony was held on September 27th.

The complex has been a cherished project of past-president RIT President Albert J. Simone.

"We're doing this to increase a sense of community on RIT's campus," said Simone. "That way, students can have a place to release their energies after a hard day on campus and still be together with their classmates and see faculty and staff in a social setting."

In the middle of the triangular-shaped project is an area designated as Simone Square in honor of Simone, who retired in June of 2007 after 15 years as president. There will also be a statue erected in his honor. Shopping and retail will surround Simone Square with two four-story buildings. Shopping and retail will be on the first floors and housing on the upper levels.

As of 12/8/07, the FAQ page for Park Point (linked below) listed the price of apartment units as ranging from $800-$1,100 per bed per month. An informal survey of other apartments in Henrietta would show that these prices are generally above average for the area.

The expected demolition of some of RIT's other on campus housing (Riverknoll and Colony Manor, which is alleged to start summer 2008) will mean some students will need to pay higher prices to stay on campus than they have been paying. For comparison, see the 2007-2008 RIT Housing Rates; the only comparable prices from Riverknoll and Colony Manor are 1 bedrooms, which are few and far between. Further, housing at Park Point will not be guaranteed to RIT students, but be open to the public; this has also generally upset the student body.

This commercial venture has created some disdain among RIT students, both because of the increase in housing prices and because the Barnes & Noble bookstore will take the place of the campus bookstore. The campus bookstore currently resides in a central location in the Student Alumni Union, which is close to the academic side of campus and very convenient.

Current tenants include:

Barnes & Noble Academic Superstore, which also doubles as the RIT's campus bookstore
Lovin' Cup, a coffee café, wine bar and music bistro
Gallery Salon Too
Abbott's Frozen Custard, an ice cream parlor
Wok With You, an Asian fusion restaurant
Paradiso Pizza, a New York style pizza parlor
King David's Restaurant, a Mediterranean restaurant
TC Riley's, a sports pub
A fitness center, free for tenants
7 Days Convenience Store (not yet opened for business)

RIT's page about the project

Willmorite's FAQ page about Park Point

Democrat and Chronicle: RIT wins breaks for housing, retail plan

Park Point at RIT on Wikipedia

6/22/07: Formal groundbreaking. New Name announced as Park Point at RIT

Comments:

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2007-05-02 10:35:05 it's this the same as Rivers Run development? IF so, we should merge the two. I like the images and content on this page. —FarMcKon

2007-05-02 10:38:00 I looked at the Rivers Run website, and I'm pretty sure these are two different things (and both very cool!) —RachelBlumenthal

2007-05-02 11:30:30 Rivers Run is a separate project, the RIT college town land was sold (not leased) to the builder, so it actually has nothing to do with RIT, despite the name. —TravisOwens

2007-05-02 19:16:26 RIT students have to be bored for another 10 years until this is done. Oh well, I guess they're used to it. —RedDress

2007-05-02 21:36:32 RIT students can busy themselves with LAN parties, anime, and Vampire LARP until it's finished. —EastSideStephen

2007-12-06 18:21:41 Or, I suppose they can just busy themselves by vandalizing this wiki entry :) —NathanHenderson

2007-12-07 01:30:59 Hmm, lotsa' vandalism, all along the same lines, from "different" users with different IP addresses. Do you think it was a bunch of different people near each other at different computers (like in a dorm) or one person using proxies? One user even had 2 edits from different IPs even though the edits were 3 minutes apart so I say the latter. —BadFish

2009-02-28 21:32:43 a huge eyesore, but then again so is henrietta, sad this development took up so much of RIT's marshland, my friends and I used to wade in it during our time at perkins apartment. O well. —WindyPig

2009-04-17 18:01:53 The Barnes and Noble seems to be, from an outsiders perspective, a great choice for this area. I'm sure it will be a nice hangout for the students. I wouldn't visit the restaurants, though.. My guess is that they serve up hyper-cafeteria food for visiting parents and poor college students. But, then again, it's just a guess. Still, any restaurant in close proximity to a college campus probably isn't going to whip up top notch fare. —BatGuano

2009-04-17 20:19:37 @BatGuano, the restaurants are just as the name implies— restaurants. They are not part of RIT. Also, who would want to hang out in the Barnes and Noble? Take a look inside, just because it's a big, shiny new building doesn't mean it's a great place for students. —ToniStark

2009-08-05 21:30:08 This company is sitting pretty and taking advantage of college students. Read the lease if your thinking about it. Ive had a terrible experience, and it only makes it worse since the land was sold and not leased. They dont have to keep a good rep with the students because it has nothing to do with RIT. its borderline infuriating. —AliviaRuiz