[ad_1]
ROCHESTER – It’s the kind of attention no resident of any building, especially a condominium, would desire. Earlier this month, when 180 residents of Rochester Towers Condominium were
forced to evacuate the 15-story building
due to structural concerns, it thrust the high rise into an unflattering public spotlight.
Whether for good or bad reasons, during its half-century existence, Rochester Towers has had a center-stage media presence. As the building
undergoes structural repairs
in the hopes that residents can return to their homes, its instructive to remember that sometimes star-crossed history.
To a degree unusual for multi-story structure (is it 14 stories, 15, 16? the number floats from story to story over the decades), drama has been part of its bricks and mortar. And perhaps the most fascinating story is the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to its conversion from “de lux” apartments into glitzy condominiums. They were born of a crisis.
The building first began appearing in news articles as an architect’s conception in the mid-1960s. As the building neared completion, a PB article described Rochester Towers as offering a “different type of apartment living,” offering “luxury touches” such as swimming pools, saunas, underground parking and elevator service to potential residents.
From today’s vantage point, the story of its construction resonates historically in different ways. Well-known Weis Builders, Inc., built it. And at nearly every stage of the way, the PB documented its rise on Second Street Southwest with pictures and stories like an excessively fawned over newborn.
It was all — or nearly all — lovingly documented. Maybe they were slow news days. Perhaps editors felt the reading public couldn’t get enough about the gleaming structure. Here’s a picture of the artist’s renderings of the building. Here’s another of a towering boom hoisting a refrigeration unit to the top. Another shows Weis workers “topping off” the building with a Christmas tree two days before the holiday. Another picture published eight months later, on Aug. 14, 1967, shows prospective dwellers touring the nearly completed 91-unit high rise.
Before his appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court and his writing of the recently overturned Roe v. Wade decision,
then-federal judge Harry Blackmun used the fifth floor of the towers for his chambers.
But the happy, expectant narrative that accompanied the building’s rise changed several years after it began taking in renters. The first sour note came in 1970 when it was reported that its owner, Roger Peters of Fond Du Lac, Wis., hadn’t paid any taxes on the three-and-a-half year-old building. Most households couldn’t get away with not paying taxes, but it is often the way of a sophisticated businessman. And in this case, Peters would later be hailed as a genius.
“In fact, taxes have never been paid on the 16-story luxury apartment house, according to Courthouse records,” the story reported.
The towers was put up for auction a year later. The buyer and only bidder was Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York, the original holder of the mortgage. Purchase by the mortgage holder is not uncommon in foreclosure sales. In addition to unpaid taxes for three consecutive years, Equitable Life reported that $1.7 million in principal and interest was due. Rochester Tower’s one-time owner could reclaim the property within a year from Equitable Life, it was reported, by paying the insurance company the bid price plus any interest accrued during the year.
Rebecca Mitchell / Post Bulletin
“Fiscal Coup Staged by ‘Tower’s Owner” ran the PB headline a year later over a story that breathlessly announced that Peters had regained control of the building. In the process, the building had metamorphosed into a condominium.
“At 10:55 a.m. Wednesday, in what literally was an 11th-hour effort — coming one year to the hour after losing the property at a mortgage foreclosure sale — Fond du Lac architect and builder Roger Peters regained possession when he wired a bank draft to cover the $1.8-million defaulted mortgage,” the article reported.
Rogers also paid the back taxes — making it a total $2.2 million deal. And key to the refinancing was $870,000 mortgage loan issued to Peters by a company called IDS Mortgage Corp., Minneapolis. But to obtain the loan, Rogers was required to sell 40 units in the building as condominiums. The tricky part is that he had to sell the condominiums even though he no longer owned the building. The deal hinged on his ability to convince buyers to pay for something he didn’t possess.
“A year ago, I’d have said his chances were almost nil,” said one unnamed authority. Few defaulted properties, he added, are ever retained.
The article went on to say that condominiums were common on both coasts but still a rarity in Rochester. A condominium is an apartment that is purchased like a home. Like a homeowner, the condominium buyer pays homestead taxes on the unit occupied, as well as a proportionate share of taxes on commonly owned facilities like a swimming pool and enclosed garage.
“It took a lot of salesmanship,” said another.
High drama is nothing new to Rochester Towers. Its temporary closure is just the latest chapter in its high-profile, drama-queen existence.
[ad_2]
Source link