Officials hope PAETEC's move will open the floodgates

“PAETEC's decision just explodes the chances to do different things down here and make different choices,” said Rochester Downtown Development Corporation President Heidi Zimmer-Mayer.
 
After years of stagnation and broken promises Zimmer-Mayer can finally see the future of Midtown Rochester. “I do think that the PAETEC decision may sway companies that could be looking for space in the next three to five years differently than they would've.  Their decision trees are going to be different than it would’ve been,” said Zimmer-Mayer.
 
On Tuesday PAETEC CEO Arunas Chesonis announced he's moving his new world headquarters and about a thousand employees to Midtown Plaza. Governor Eliot Spitzer announced a major economic development program that will give Rochester 50 million dollars to demolish the plaza to make way for development. 

Zimmer-Mayer and Mayor Bob Duffy hope the move will encourage other businesses to consider Midtown as a place to do business. “I think a lot of other business leaders and other growth will start from this but it's just one of those events that  I think is going to spark a whole new “see change” in Rochester,” said Mayor Duffy.
 
Zimmer-Mayer says so far no other businesses have come on board but she thinks once PAETEC breaks ground it's just a matter of time before others follow. “I think when the project starts to move forward it's going to shake loose a lot of other opportunities for redevelopment on the rest of the site and that buildings around the Midtown block that had potential for either commercial re-use or some other conversion like housing are going to all of the sudden become a lot more interesting to investors,” added Zimmer-Mayer.