CANANDAIGUA — A Rochester developer sees Canandaigua as an “up-and-coming area.”
That’s why Capstone Real Estate Development has bought the Canandaigua YMCA building at 32 N. Main St., in the heart of the city.
Capstone owner Don Lasher said the deed was transferred Aug. 26. He declined to reveal the purchase price.
Lasher said Capstone is leasing the property to the YMCA until the new Sands Family YMCA now under construction on North Street is completed.
“Once the new Y is ready and the Y moves there, we will begin to renovate the current Y for a mixed use of commercial businesses,” Lasher said. “Our marketing director, Lisa Fox, is working on finding tenants now.”
Lasher said there will not be housing units in the building, which includes the historic Post Office that was built in 1910. He said the swimming pool will be filled in and that area repurposed. The gymnasium, elevated track, and fitness areas will be gone too and renovated for new uses.
Lasher said Capstone will work within the building’s existing footprint; there are no additions planned. He said the exterior will remain largely intact, with the Post Office to be given some upgrades, but largely untouched.
“We were attracted to the property because it’s a good building in a good location in the city,” Lasher said. “We have other projects in Canandaigua and feel it is an up-and-coming area with a lot of character.”
The Y parking lot will be retained and upgraded.
Capstone purchased the long-vacant and deteriorating former Lisk Manufacturing Co. property on Gorham Street in 2016 and renovated those former manufacturing buildings into Factory 243, a housing and commercial property that includes a restaurant.
Canandaigua has had a YMCA since 1905. The current YMCA was built as an addition to the old Post Office building and opened in 1959. The Canandaigua YMCA began a management agreement with the YMCA of Greater Rochester in January and became an official branch of the Greater Rochester Y in May.
Plans for a new YMCA in Canandaigua have been in the works for years. Those efforts culminated this past summer with groundbreaking for a new, $24 million YMCA on North Street. Construction of that facility is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy in September 2023.
The new YMCA will be known as the Sands Family YMCA in honor of the major donor to the project, the Sands Family Foundation. The foundation donated $13.5 million toward the project, with $12 million earmarked for construction, $1.5 million for operational support, and a 2-to-1 match for other donations.
In addition, Constellation Brands, the company owned by the Sands family, donated the land for the new facility.
The new facility will have 75,000 square feet of space with three studios for group exercise; multiple gymnasiums, including one with a synthetic turf floor; two pools; an indoor splash playground; a creator’s space; s teaching kitchen; and outdoor day-camp space. There will be onsite medical services and a full-day, licensed daycare center.
