Irondequoit Mall was seen by many as one of the most beautiful enclosed shopping centers in greater Rochester and beyond.
Among its biggest fans was legendary actress Audrey Hepburn.
The film star and fashion icon often visited Irondequoit toward the end of her life because her partner, Robert Wolders, was a onetime resident and had family in town. Hepburn would walk the mall’s corridors and called the space enchanting.
It’s easy to see why. It was the only two-story suburban mall in the area, it featured a soaring center court with a fountain and reflecting pool that sparkled beneath a glass roof, and it was home to a double-decker, Iroquois-themed carousel custom-made in Italy.
The $80 million mall’s arrival was such a big deal that to celebrate, owner Wilmorite flew in Marvin Hamlisch — the Emmy-, Grammy-, Oscar- and Tony-winning composer, conductor and pianist — to entertain 1,200 people, including tenants and politicians, at a private dinner party.
On opening day, March 1, 1990, Rudolph Giuliani, then a former federal prosecutor, was there to speak.
So, it’s shocking to recall that by April 2000, Wilmorite chairman Thomas C. Wilmot described the 800,000-square-foot development, bounded by East Ridge Road and Route 104, as “barely profitable.” And by November 2001, Wilmorite sold it to an insurance company.
Early on, the 110-store mall faced challenges. There were rumors — none substantiated — that it was going to collapse, or that it was sinking, or that thieves with razors were hiding under cars in the parking lot, just waiting for the chance to slash the ankles of unsuspecting passers-by.
There were other issues. Native Americans protested what they called the misuse of ceremonial masks on the merry-go-round. Other residents complained about a sign on Route 104 that read “Welcome to Irondequoit/Home of the Irondequoit Mall” as crass commercialization.
In January 2003, anchor tenant JCPenney closed because, the company said, it was not meeting “targets for profitability.” Long before then, there was disruption. Local department store McCurdy’s went out of business and was replaced by York, Pennsylvania, chain The Bon-Ton. Sibley’s, for generations Rochester’s most prestigious department store, was planned for the mall. However, prior to opening, it was absorbed by Pittsburgh-based Kaufmann’s.
In September 2004, the insurance company that bought the mall put it up for sale amid tenant defections.
In February 2005, developer Adam Bersin bought it for $5.4 million and renamed it Medley Centre. By that point, it was 85% vacant. Bersin brought in Steve & Barry’s and a freestanding Target store. But his efforts to reboot the mall on a large scale failed, and in 2007, he sold his company to Scott Congel of Syracuse-based The Pyramid Cos.
In 2008, Congel promised a $260 million investment calling for condominiums, a 421-room hotel, retail, restaurants, office space and an underground parking garage.
Those plans never materialized. Years of legal battles ensued over a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, agreement that gave Congel millions in tax breaks.
In 2014, the PILOT was terminated, and the property entered foreclosure. Macy’s (which replaced Kaufmann’s) closed in 2014, and another original anchor, Sears, followed in 2016.
That same year, developer Angelo Ingrassia, the former owner of Irondequoit Dodge, bought the mall and some adjacent parcels at a tax foreclosure sale for $100,000 and assumed more than $44 million of outstanding debt on the property, which he renamed Skyview on the Ridge. His plan was to turn it into a mixed-use development.
Nine years later, it is home to the Irondequoit Community Center. Skyview Park Apartments, a 157-unit senior-housing complex, sits on the site of the old Sears store. And the former Macy’s houses the Rochester Regional Health’s Isabella Graham Hart School of Practical Nursing.
As for that custom-made carousel, in 2019, it was sold to a private collector in Shanghai, China, for an undisclosed sum.
Rick Sky of Collector Concierge International, which brokered the merry-go-round’s sale and orchestrated its disassembly and shipment, told the Democrat and Chronicle in June of that year that in addition to being in great shape, the carousel’s workmanship and materials (including solid brass fittings) were far superior to most of what is produced these days.
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Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments and has an interest in retail news. Send story tips to [email protected]. Follow her on X @MarciaGreenwood.
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