Innovation Square

When Gallina Development acquired the former Xerox Tower in Downtown Rochester, they brought in SWBR to transform it into Innovation Square, a collaborative campus where students from multiple academic institutions can live, learn, and innovate in an urban environment. Portions of the building will be marketed as high-tech commercial office space for companies looking to relocate to an environment with a built-in student talent pool to draw from.

The site spans a full city block with a 580,000 SF 30-story tower, a 700-seat auditorium, a 17,000 SF free-standing office building, and a free-standing retail building. Sixteen floors of the tower will include up to 180 one, two, and three-bedroom units for 450+ upper classmen and graduate students. The commercial space will be on the top eight floors, the office building, and the retail building.

Amenities will be key to this downtown campus, offering lab spaces, break-out rooms, state-of-the-art fitness center, and sound-proof practice rooms for musicians. The auditorium will be available for a variety of events, such as lectures, concerts, e-sports tournaments, and student films.