ROCHESTER, N.Y. – When you drive past the intersection of Main and Clinton, three of the corners look brand new – and one is a total eyesore.

That corner is part of a big redevelopment effort in Rochester announced on Dec. 5, 2022.

The project is focused on fixing the blight at one of the city’s most visible and important intersections – and getting more people to live, work, and shop downtown.

When Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $10 million as part of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, a key focus was the northwest corner of Main and Clinton.

Local developer Home Leasing is getting $4 million from the state to rehab four buildings dating to 1910. They have been renovated several times but have been vacant for 40 years.

The buildings will house middle income housing units and stores.

Today, the corner looks far from flourishing. News10NBC went to the city’s head of neighborhood and business development, Dana Miller, to ask when work would start.

He says the project has been advancing behind the scenes.

One of the first steps was getting all four buildings under Home Leasing’s ownership.

The plans are to turn the buildings into 100 apartments and four new storefronts.

“Well, this this corner is – I don’t think with any argument from anyone -is the worst corner that we have in our downtown,” Miller said. “It is just a historic corner that unfortunately has been let go for many years and it is a complete eyesore. We’ve had great success on the other three corners with the Metropolitan, with the [Democrat & Chronicle] building and with the Sibley Building.”

The Department of State runs the Downtown Revitalization Initiative program and sent this statement:

“There is always ground work that needs to be done before any major project gets off the ground,” said Michelle Rosales. “Once the projects are announced, there are a lot of moving parts that have to happen before shovels get in the ground including funding, logistics planning and coordination between multiple entities. However, these projects are moving along. For example, the city is working towards readying their Main Street Commons project and this past August, a major milestone was met for the Alta Vista at St. Joseph’s Park housing project after the Housing Trust Fund Corporation authorized over $11 million in housing program funds to the Ibero-American Development Corporation. Construction for this project is expected to begin by Q1 2024.”

The project will cost $13 million. Construction is expected to start in February.

For more information on the rest of the projects in Rochester, click here.