Bob Lucchese of Pyramid Brokerage and Bob Anderson of Trammel Crow brokered on behalf of building owner Corning Inc., while Angelo Nole and Michael Frame of CB Richard Ellis handled the transaction on behalf of Rochester-based Paychex. The deal is expected to close within 60 days and the firm has a tentative Nov. 1 date for the relocation to 1175 John St.
"Our market [in Rochester] right now is still strong," Nole tells GlobeSt.com. "A tenant like Paychex brings a welcome presence to the area."
Located eight miles south of Rochester, the building, which sits on 38 acres, will supplant 160,000 sf of Paychex office space currently scattered across four locations. Most of the employees are currently housed at 72 Perinton Pkwy. in Fairport and 100 Kings Hwy. in Irondequoit.
The John Street purchase is the second phase of a consolidation initiative set forth by Paychex chairman, president and CEO B. Thomas Golisano. Earlier this year the company acquired a 135,000-sf building at 675 Baskett Road in Webster, NY to house its datacenter staff. The unit's 500 employees will occupy the space in August. The purchase price has not been disclosed. Golisano predicts the effort to house similar jobs under one roof will provide "better leverage" for the company.
Paychex originally planned to build a 300,000-sf complex for both the HR and data teams at the firm's Rochester headquarters site, but interest began to wane as the approval process dragged on. "That option wasn't progressing as expeditiously as possible, and thus we went shopping for these two recent purchases," a source close to the deal tells GlobeSt.com.
Ironically, Paychex officials recently approved the original construction plan, although there is no longer a need for the space. "You never want to say never, but at this point we're not looking to complete that option," says the source.
The Henrietta facility offers a full-service cafeteria, 400-seat lecture hall and currently houses an estimated 60,000 sf of office space. The building's previous owner, Corning Inc., used the space for optics, laser imaging and fiber optic research. Paychex was founded in 1971 and currently serves more than 375,000 payroll clients worldwide.
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