Finger Lakes projects to receive $11.2M in state funds

New York State has awarded $11.2 million has been awarded to 10 Finger Lakes municipalities through Round 5 of the Restore New York Communities Initiative. Nearly $81 million was awarded to 71 municipalities statewide.

“Downtown communities are vital to keeping our economies thriving and to attracting businesses and families to put down their roots in New York,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said. “The Restore New York Communities Initiative recognizes communities teeming with potential and invests in their transformation and their future, and turns them into neighborhoods New Yorkers are proud to call home.”

Round 5 of the Restore New York Communities Initiative was enacted in the FY 2017 State Budget, and Empire State Development was designated to implement the program. Cities, towns and villages were all eligible to apply for support for projects that include demolition, deconstruction, rehabilitation or reconstruction of vacant, abandoned, condemned and surplus properties. Projects located in economically distressed communities were emphasized and encouraged, the state said.

Here is a closer look at projects in the Finger Lakes region that are slated to receive funds:

• City of Rochester – $5 million- The rehabilitation of eight vacant privately-owned properties, located in Center City on State Street and East Main Street. The plan includes interior and exterior building restoration and, when completed, approximately 145 new housing units will be created and approximately 64,572 square feet of commercial space will be renovated
• City of Canandaigua – $1 million- Rehabilitation of the abandoned former Labelon manufacturing facility at 10 Chapin Street into a mixed-use development with 52 residential units.
• Village of Holley – $1 million – The restoration and conversion of the former Holley High School at 1 Wright Street into Holley Gardens: a mixed residential/commercial facility to provide seniors with new, safe housing featuring senior focused amenities and updated, accessible office/meeting space for the community.
• Town of Irondequoit – $1 million – The redevelopment of a former mall, the largest vacant property in Monroe County with nearly one million square feet of former retail space, into SkyView on the Ridge, a mixed-use multi-tenant space that will include office space, a community center, fitness facility and shared common area for tenants and customers.
• Village of Warsaw – $1 million – The demolition of a former nursing home on North Main Street. Once the building is demolished, it will be combined with a neighboring parcel to create a two-story hotel.
• Village of Geneseo – $700,000 – The conversion of the former Livingston County Home into a multi-tenant commercial building.
• Village of Penn Yan – $500,000 – The rehabilitation of two buildings: the first will renovate the vacant top two floors of a multi-use building into market rate housing. The second building will be renovated into a mixed-use facility.
• Village of Webster – $500,000 – The rehabilitation of 22-42 East Main Street to create commercial and residential properties along a contiguous stretch of six storefronts.
• Village of Avon – $400,000 – Renovation of the Park Theater into mixed-use facility, including a community theater.
• Village of Newark – $100,000 – The rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the former St. Michael’s Parish Elementary School into 28 affordable apartments for seniors age 62 and over.

Restore New York supports municipal revitalization efforts by awarding funding for projects that will reinvigorate downtowns and generate new economic opportunity in communities from Western New York to Long Island.