Though both owners had opened branch stores, they were concerned about Downtown Rochester's viability amid falling retail sales and came up with the idea of an indoor shopping center.

[5] City officials and planners from around the globe came to see Gruen's solution to the mid-century urban crisis, including Walt Disney, who was then designing EPCOT.

[6] Gruen described the aerial view of Rochester as a giant parking lot with a few buildings to inconvenience traffic flow.

He incorporated art, benches, fountains, a four hundred-seat auditorium, and a sidewalk cafe into his plans hoping to encourage the sort of social intermingling that he saw as the enriching essence of urban life.

Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Gap Mangione and many other nationally known jazz artists played at the Top Of The Plaza several times, and the restaurant was a popular site for receptions, business parties, and special-occasion dinners.

[10] Midtown Plaza was placed in chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2000 by owner Peter Arnold, and sold to the city of Rochester for US$5,900,000.

Mayor Robert Duffy announced that within a few months, the site would be ready for the construction of the new PAETEC Headquarters.

The company was then purchased by Windstream, which canceled plans to construct any new space and moved into the Seneca Building, leaving the now-cleared Parcel 5 an empty lot.

[17] In 2011 the high-rise tower section of Midtown Plaza was stripped to a skeletal state in preparation for its conversion to a mixed-use residential and commercial building.

[22] After the cancellation of PAETEC's proposed building, the city government sought developers to fill in the vacant Parcel 5.

The plan, made in partnership with Morgan Development, included a Performing Arts Center to be called the Golisano Center for the Performing Arts in honor of a major donation made to the project funding by Tom Golisano, and a residential tower including approximately 150 rental units with retail and restaurant space at street level.

[29] In 2021, it was decided to make the site a smaller entertainment and gathering place inspired by the Kansas City Power & Light District and Canalside in Buffalo, a plan which was supported by local activists.

[31] Buckingham Properties constructed a five-story building on the former Wegmans site at the corner of Broad Street and Clinton Avenue.

[32] Media services company Butler/Till moved its headquarters from Henrietta to occupy the first three floors in addition to co-owing the building.