Old Bausch and Lomb building chosen as headquarters for Rochester photonics hub

The business headquarters for Rochester's high-tech photonics hub will be a downtown office building once owned by Bausch and Lomb.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday announced that the Legacy Tower will serve as headquarters and the location for a technology accelerator. The governor also said the city building that housed Sibley's department store will include a workforce development center and that Eastman Business Park will be the site of the project's manufacturing operations.

Rochester was chosen in July as the national headquarters for a photonics hub that will be launched with more than $600 million in federal, state, university and industry investment. Officials say it will create thousands of advanced research and manufacturing jobs.

Some local leaders had argued over where to locate the hub's headquarters and other components.