Anthony Costello says the Rochester Broadway Theater League should choose his company's Brighton site for a new performing arts center because it'll have a built-in audience.

Anthony J. Costello and Son proposes locating the new theater in its planned Clinton Crossings expansion. But when he pitched it, Costello tied the performing arts center in with his CityGate and the Reserve residential developments. All three are located next to each other along the canal in Brighton and the City of Rochester.

There will be a new hotel adjacent to the proposed theater. And on top of that, RBTL sells a lot of tickets to Brighton residents.

When the pitch was done, it looked like Costello has a lot of what RBTL's looking for. His site is located along Winton Road and Route 590 and is close to other major roads, so it's very accessible, he said. There's also ample parking, room for trucks to load and unload, and Costello says he's got lots in other parts of the county where those trucks could park during the show runs.

"The site is shovel-ready, waiting on approval from the Town of Brighton," Costello said.

But town officials have indicated that they are open to the idea.

Costello's presentation was the first of five that RBTL will hear about possible theater sites. A site-selection committee has invited detailed proposals from Costello; SRC Development Group for the Medley Centre project in Irondequoit; Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack in Farmington; J. Fiorie & Co. for Canal Ponds in Greece and Gates; and an unnamed site in the Town of Webster.

The question hanging over all of these sites is money. Who will pay to build the theater? Who will own it? If the developer doesn't finance it, where will RBTL get the money? Costello didn't present those details, and the session where he and the board discussed it was conducted privately.