13 Rochester projects will receive funds according to Governor Hochul

Rochester, New York – On Wednesday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that 13 projects in the City of Rochester will receive funds totaling more than $25 million.

The Regional Revitalization Partnership, which unites local municipalities and New York State, provides the financing.

“Serving as a model for cities across the nation, this public-private partnership is catalyzing economic development,” Hochul said in a statement issued Wednesday. “By targeting the most underserved neighborhoods in these cities, New York State is lifting up and transforming these disadvantaged communities and building a more equitable future for all New Yorkers.”

The projects selected in Rochester include:

• West Main Commercial Corridor Program — The goal of the West Main Street Commercial Corridor Program is to develop a West Main Street district marketing and governance plan and design guidelines and invest in commercial and residential properties in the West Main corridor. This three-year program is expected to be complete in 2027. The targeted area will be West Main Street from State Street to Chili Avenue/Genesee Street. (RRP funding award-$10 million. Total project cost placed at $13.725 million.)

• Falls Street Remediation at High Falls State Park — This project will remediate two contaminated parcels at 52 and 96 Falls Street, which are critical to the development and ultimate success of the planned New York State Park at High Falls. (RRP funding award-$4 million. Total project cost placed at $4 million)

• Aqueduct Park District — The historic Aqueduct Campus is at the epicenter of the Roc the Riverway and Aqueduct Reimagined projects and is located on the Genesee River directly adjacent to the Erie Canal aqueduct. While the park is privately owned, an agreement between the property owner and City of Rochester will serve to allow public access and outline a shared maintenance plan. (RRP funding award-$2 million. Total project cost placed at $5 million.)

• 151 Mt. Hope Riverfront — The “Riverview” development is a high-priority, City owned, 1.5-acre site on the Genesee River in the City’s South Wedge neighborhood. The proposed project will fully remediate the site and prepare it for shovel-ready development. (RRP funding award- $2 million. Total project cost placed at $4 million.)

• The Revitalization Fund for Main Street — The initiative will offer highly flexible gap financing, similar to Restore NY, to property owners and developers seeking to make major investments in mixed-use redevelopment along Main Street in blighted and underutilized buildings. Initiative will create a funding program tailored to the needs of Rochester’s Main Street, focused on West Main and the section of Main in close proximity to the Genesee River. (RRP funding award-$2 million. Total project cost placed at $4 million.)

• Harper’s Corner — This economic development project will reimagine and revitalize the distressed but vital corner of East Main Street and North Clinton Avenue in downtown Rochester. The four vacant buildings at the northwest corner of this prominent intersection will be adaptively reused and carefully rehabilitated into a beautiful, mixed-use asset. (RRP funding award- $1million. Total project cost placed at $13 million.)

• NextCorps- Regional Startup Incubator — NextCorps’ startup incubator in the Sibley Building in downtown Rochester is the largest incubator in the region, supporting high-growth, tech-oriented entrepreneurs. Organization plans to use funding to create more room for additional start-up companies and potential partners and provide additional incubation staff support. (RRP funding award-$1.675 million. Total project cost placed at $9.65 million.)

• Main Street Activation Program — The City of Rochester and the Rochester Downtown Development Corporation (RDDC) will launch the Vacant Storefront Activation Program (VSAP) to provide funding to subsidize rents and/or buildout costs for new, start-up, and/or pop-up retailers, maker spaces, and food/drink establishments. (RRP funding award – $325,000 and total project cost is $1.095 million)

• YAMTEP — YAMTEP is an anti-poverty, workforce development and employment initiative leveraging the manufacturing industry “know how” to provide training with a goal of matching trainees with employers, filling gaps, providing jobs and career pathways. YAMTEP is aimed at providing the chronically unemployed and unskilled with the training needed to secure and maintain employment. (RRP funding award – $830,000 and total project cost is $2.2 million)

• RochesterWorks — RochesterWorks will create a School-to-Work Navigator program in City of Rochester high schools to build career readiness skills, provide more focused and extensive career exploration, and help students and families navigate the many resources in the community that exist to connect youth to career pathways, especially those from marginalized communities that are historically underrepresented in the workforce. (RRP award – $620,000 and total project cost is $700,000)

• Connected Communities- Greenwood Project — Connected Communities has acquired and will renovate essential community spaces for the benefit of the community, including workforce and economic development classes, health and wellness services, after-school support, and a co-working space for neighborhood nonprofits, organized groups, and small businesses. (RRP award – $750,000 and total project cost is $1.7 million.)

• Training Rochester Adults in Construction Skills or TRACS — a new pre-apprenticeship program developed through a partnership between Rochester Career in Construction, Inc. (RCCI) and Young Adult Manufacturer Training Employment Program (YAMTEP). The four-week program uses the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) Apprenticeship Training Program curriculum. (RRP award – $750,000 and total project cost is $1.305 million)

• EMBARK — EMBARK is aNo-Code Bootcamp and Startup Accelerator Program, developed and run by NextCorps that will train Rochester-area residents on how to become software developers using new “no-code” tools to increase their value to current employers, find new, higher paying employment, and ‘side gig’ consulting opportunities, or start their own businesses. (RRP award – $400,000 and total project cost is $400,000)