Since 1973, the Metropolitan Building has been a defining part of the Rochester skyline, originally built as the Lincoln First Bank headquarters. Rising 27 stories and 392 feet, it remains the city’s third-tallest building and a downtown landmark. For years, the tower functioned as commercial space, but the Gallina family of Gallina Development Corporation envisioned more. Over the past decade, they’ve transformed it into high-end residences capped by a penthouse suite now serving as an elevated venue.
When the family took ownership in 2015, there was a “literal moat” around it, says Lauren Gallina Payne, Gallina Development marketing director and a member of the Gallina family. “There was a literal recessed area around the building.” That bank-era design created distance from the street, but the Gallina family wanted to roll out the welcome mat to the Rochester community, so renovations added an entrance on Clinton Avenue directly into the lobby.
The building now houses 110 luxury apartments, 16 floors of commercial offices, and a lobby restaurant, Bar Bantam. At the top, penthouse event space Prive occupies roughly 4,000 square feet. “It has incredible sweeping views, not just the city, but well beyond,” says David Carpenter, curator of Prive. “You see Bristol Hills out one end, and you see Lake Ontario out the other end. It felt important to become a space that we could rent for short-term stays or intimate events, things that were a little more high level or curated because there's not a lot of amenities or venues that fit the bill in our community.”
With large windows and changing light and weather, views shift from day to night and from season to season. Carpenter calls it ideal for cocktail parties, corporate retreats, or strategy sessions. With three ensuite bedrooms, Prive is available for day, evening, or overnight rentals, and the team welcomes creative uses of the space.
Since Prive’s soft opening at the end of March, the penthouse has hosted a range of events. “We wanted to maintain a show piece where we could really not only show off what we accomplished in the building but show what our city can be, and it’s such a beautiful perspective up there,” says Gallina Payne. “I think people really appreciate us bringing this building to life. There’s a really interesting piece to these projects where people have memories and nostalgia around the building. Many people come in and say ‘my father worked on the 17th floor,’ and they have these memories of coming to the building when they were young. So it’s a cool piece of Rochester history, and we certainly honor that. I think we have to continue to raise the bar. Our expectations can’t be the same old if we want to progress as a city.”