Prior to the pandemic, many of the retail spaces in the downtown area had been filled with bustling small businesses — the kinds that are vital for a thriving destination area.

But downtown Rochester, like many other city centers, has seen its restaurant and retail industries decimated by shutdowns and slow foot traffic, as previous trends, including the shift to online commerce and problems in the labor market, accelerated due to Covid-19. The result has been fewer small businesses seeking out space downtown, at a time when new development has made commercial space abundant.