Webster to begin plan for industrial areas, including part of Xerox campus (2024)

The Xerox campus sprawls across the north end of the village of Webster, anchoring the village’s industrial district. But like its “Big 3” peers — Kodak and Bausch & Lomb — the company has gone through big changes and has consolidated its operations into the core of its campus.

As a result, more than 1 million square feet of building space within the Xerox campus north of Route 104 sits unused, according to the company. That’s roughly twice the floor space of Innovation Square, the brutalist concrete skyscraper in downtown Rochester that Xerox once occupied. A company spokesperson said some individual buildings are empty.

Webster’s future is linked to these buildings. If they are left vacant, the town loses out on tax revenue and business opportunities.

Generating revenue through reuse and redevelopment of the Xerox campus is the impetus for the North End Business District Sustainable Development Plan. That plan, in short, will analyze a 387-acre section of the village’s industrial district and outline ways for reanimating dormant space.

“There hasn’t been an organized plan in terms of looking at what the area could become,” said Webster Mayor Darrell Byert. “So I think that’s our focus on this opportunity.”

The village and town of Webster, along with the Webster Economic Development Alliance, are developing the plan through the state’s Brownfield Opportunity Area planning program. They’ve received a $203,130 grant from the New York Department of State for the undertaking.

The state’s Brownfield Opportunity Areas program is intended to help local governments address areas with a high concentration of sites where contamination, or perceived contamination, present obstacles to development or reuse.

“We're trying to do this as a vision, and what's the vision of the future knowing that we have industrial uses that are legacy uses from the past,” said Matt Chatfield, executive director of the Webster Economic Development Alliance and project manager for the plan. “We want to overcome any obstacles that are there. We have to identify what those obstacles may be first, then we need to identify a plan to overcome them."

The plan will cover acreage on the western portion of the Xerox campus along with industrial areas on Orchard Street and Chiyoda Drive. It will identify problems with sites that would hinder their reuse or redevelopment, including contamination or other environmental issues. Any developer that cleans up and reuses a brownfield can apply for state tax credits to help them recoup some of the cost, and the tax credits for cleaning up a Brownfield Opportunity Area are even larger.

As the partners develop the plan, they want to build consensus around possible uses for key industrial sites, future land use and development, transportation-related improvements, and differentiating the district, according to a request for proposals released recently.

The partners also want the plan to catalog parklands and contain a land ownership map delineating which properties are privately owned and which are municipally controlled, according to the RFP. An analysis of transportation infrastructure will be conducted to help officials determine how to retain necessary industrial roadways and tying them in with village streets and trails.

Xerox spokesperson Justin Capella said the company finalized the sale of three buildings on the Webster campus.

“The campus is an attractive location for growth within the Webster community, and we continuously look for opportunities that can bring positive change to the site,” Capella said in an email. “Our relationship with the village and town of Webster is strong, and we remain committed to the community and our operations there. The Xerox Webster campus will continue to be our primary manufacturing facility.”

William Horeth, who also sits on the board of the Webster Economic Development Agency and owns Kittelberger Florist in the village, said the future of the Xerox campus is “a big unknown right now,” but that planning for it is important. Done right, the plan could lead to improvements in the business district and draw new businesses to the heart of Webster.

“If you have good business it draws people, it keeps people here in Webster,” said Horeth, who also sits on the board of the Webster Economic Development Agency.

Jeremy Moule is CITY's news editor. He can be reached at [emailprotected].