Westport Crossing Has Tenants Now. Here's What Is Still Coming to Pittsford's Canal.

"The key is you're in the center of the village. To be able to walk to the restaurants and the bars and the stores, there's really not a lot of options to rent in this area." That is how Chris DiMarzo, president of Mark IV Enterprises, explained the demand for Westport Crossing to Rochester First in early October. He spoke a week after the first tenants moved into the canal parcel everyone in town still calls 75 Monroe.

The apartments came first, and they're filling. The pieces that won the project its approval in 2022 are a different matter. Those included public canal access, a restaurant and a dock, which mattered to everyone who lives in Pittsford, not just the people moving in. They sit in the later phases of the build. The private part of Westport Crossing is open. The public part is still ahead.

The Apartments Opened First

Rochester First reported on October 6 that more than 150 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments now stand on the site, and that tenants began moving in the week before. DiMarzo said about 75 percent of the units were already spoken for. He also said the people he set out to attract, young professionals and empty nesters, are the ones signing leases. More housing and a restaurant were still under construction at that point.

The project's floor plan page lists starting rents of $2,375 for a one-bedroom, $2,895 for a two-bedroom and $3,720 for a three-bedroom. Those are the prices of the first sizable rental building inside the village, a choice Pittsford Village has had very little of. That's why the lease-up moved so fast.

How 75 Monroe Got Here

Neighbors who have followed this site know it sat empty for a long time. Here's how the fight played out in local reporting:

1. 2007: The developers first bring the project to the Village, according to the Daily Record.
2. 2012: A proposal wins special permits for 167 apartments, parking, a pool and a restaurant on the contaminated 7.4-acre canal parcel, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
3. July 10, 2013: The Village Planning and Zoning Board approves a preliminary site plan, per the Democrat and Chronicle.
4. March 2015: The Village Planning Board extends a deadline to repair storm-sewer damage caused by the environmental cleanup. That kept the site plan approvals alive, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
5. September 2018: A state judge orders the Village's preservation board to approve the application.
6. December 2018: A separate ruling finds open-meetings violations and sends the project back for reconsideration with more public input, as 13WHAM reported. In 2019, WXXI covered the follow-up after the citizen group Friends of Pittsford Village won that ruling.
7. January 2021: A court upholds the Village boards' authority to reject the 167-unit plan, which critics had called too large.
8. October 2022: The Historic Preservation Board approves a redesigned Westport Crossing.
9. 2024: A dispute over permit fees, filed April 8, ends in a settlement that sets out phased permitting for a 156-unit project.
10. April 2025: Site preparation is underway, per the Democrat and Chronicle.

The early fights were about size. The 2022 approval came after the plan was redrawn around what it would give the village.

What the 2022 Approval Promised the Rest of Pittsford

When Rochester First covered the approval in October 2022, Mark IV described the approved plan as mixed-use, with canal access, more greenspace, fewer units, a restaurant and more underground parking than the original. Then-Mayor Alysa Plummer said the project's mass and scale had shrunk by almost 35 percent from where it started. The developer also promised "a network of public sidewalks" to open up the canal, and native tree plantings were discussed for the main entrance. Former mayor Bob Corby noted that the entrance belongs to the Village.

A month earlier, the developer had described the public side in more detail to Rochester First: sidewalks, benches, gazebos and a public dock along the canal.

Those features explain why the site is called Westport Crossing and not just an apartment complex. The 2012 plan also had a restaurant. The redesign added the sidewalks, gazebos and dock, which give the rest of Pittsford a reason to walk onto a parcel that was fenced off for nearly two decades. The same Rochester First report notes that oil storage left the site contaminated, that it was designated for brownfield remediation in 2015, and that Mark IV was paid to clean it up.

Where Each Piece Sits in the Build Order

The 2024 settlement between the Village and Pittsford Canalside Properties LLC sets out the build order. Buildings 4 through 6 make up Phase 2. Phase 3 is Building 7 plus the clubhouse and restaurant. The settlement gives no dates for either phase. The project's amenities page lists the restaurant and the dock and boat launch as "Coming Soon."

The restaurant, the one feature that brings non-residents onto the property most nights, is in the last phase.

These Schedules Have Slipped Before

In September 2022, the developer hoped to start construction the next spring and have apartments ready by the beginning of 2024. Site preparation was reported in April 2025, and tenants arrived in fall 2026. That's roughly two and a half years after the hoped-for date. A restaurant tied to a third phase, with no date attached, should be measured against that record, not against a press release.

It's also why physical signs at the site, such as which buildings are framed and when the dock goes in, tell the village more about Phase 3 than any forecast would.

Where It Sits on a Village Walk

The project's own marketing pitches the location as a walk to Pittsford Village and Schoen Place, with easy access to the Erie Canalway Trail. It also advertises storage for bicycles, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and canoes, plus a dog wash station. Those features face the canal and the towpath, so the building is meant to send people out onto the water and into the village. That fits the same canal stretch that draws neighbors to Schoen Place.

Corby told Rochester First in 2022 that the architecture changes were among the biggest reasons the project finally went through. He said the redesign "does a much better job reflecting the historic quasi-agricultural industrial heritage of the canal in Pittsford."

You can see the buildings now. The public dock, the canal sidewalks and the restaurant are the pieces that will bring the rest of Pittsford onto the site, and they are scheduled for the later phases of construction.

We've watched 75 Monroe change over the years from our own Pittsford office, and we'll keep following Phase 2 and Phase 3 as they go up along the canal. If you want to know how a project like Westport Crossing could affect the homes on the streets around it, Amy Petrone and our team are happy to walk you through what we're seeing in the village. Work With Us.