Rochester City Council Rejects Proposed Changes to Stretch of 19th-Century Broadway Buildings
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Rochester City Council sided with the city’s Heritage Preservation Commission after hearing from a local developer during a public hearing Monday night.
Hal Henderson asked the elected officials to overturn a 5-2 decision by the Rochester Heritage Preservation Commission to deny his request to remove five properties on the west side of the 300 block of South Broadway from the city's historic property inventory.
The council voted 6-1 to reject the proposal that would have planned for an eight-story structure behind a two-story building that would match the height of other buildings on the west side of South Broadway between 3rd and 4th Streets SW.
The plans also included a skyway connection across Broadway. The properties are among dozens that have been deemed potentially historically significant but have yet to be evaluated for a possible historic landmark designation under Rochester's Unified Development Code.
The affected properties are identified as 309, 311, 313, 315, and 317 South Broadway from just south of Kathy's Pub through the building that houses Cafe Steam and an art business. The former Paine Furniture Store site is on the list.
In his presentation to the Heritage Commission in October, Henderson, who owns a stake in the properties through the GH Holdings Partnership, argued that updating the existing buildings is no longer financially feasible.
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