May 21, 2026
Driving Urban Transformation: How CJS Architects Master-Planned Rochester’s Neighborhood of Play
Instead of waiting for opportunities to come to them, CJS Architects proactively united stakeholders, secured funding, and transformed a divided highway into a thriving, community-focused downtown district.
In a recently featured article by Stacey Freed, CJS Architects’ principals Craig Jensen and Dirk Schneider pull back the curtain on the firm’s pivotal role in developing Rochester, N.Y.’s vibrant new Neighborhood of Play.
Built over the footprint of the Inner Loop East—a 1950s-era sunken highway that historically severed downtown Rochester from its surrounding neighborhoods—the project stands as a national model for highway removal and urban reconnection. The transformation features a 90,000-square-foot expansion of the Strong National Museum of Play, 250 residential units (a mix of market-rate and affordable housing), 17,000 square feet of retail space, and a boutique Hampton Inn & Suites. Today, the residential units are fully leased with a waiting list, and the district thrives with local breweries, galleries, and restaurants.
The secret to this massive success? Proactive collaboration. Rather than waiting for the city to issue a standard RFP, CJS Architects recognized the potential of the site early on. By nurturing an existing relationship with the Strong National Museum of Play, the team helped shift leadership's vision from a standard museum expansion to becoming an active agent of urban change. CJS connected the museum with development partners Konar Properties and Indus Hospitality Group to fund a comprehensive master plan. By the time the city officially released the RFP for the Inner Loop parcels, CJS and its partners already had a fully realized concept and funding proposal ready to deploy.
As principal Dirk Schneider notes, this project perfectly reflects CJS’s core toolkit: building deep trust with local communities, listening with empathy, and conducting the ground-level research necessary to design spaces that serve real human needs. While proactive planning carries upfront risks, the thriving Neighborhood of Play proves that community-based, practical design pays off—setting a powerful precedent as Rochester prepares for its next major infrastructure phase, the Inner Loop North redevelopment in 2029.
