Good Question: What’s the holdup on The Reserve in Brighton?

BRIGHTON, N.Y. — For more than a decade, there’s been discussion about an upscale housing development in Brighton called The Reserve.

It’s located off of South Clinton Avenue along the Erie Canal. Construction started in 2009 and continues today. Several viewers have asked about the status of the project and the reason for the hold-up. One of the project leaders on site gave an update on the long-awaited development.

Crews are hard at work building new homes in Brighton. Cindy writes: “Can someone find out what is going on at The Reserve in Brighton? How can that development still be stalled?”

The original developer, Anthony Costello, passed away in 2016. At that time, roughly 52 homes were already completed.

Mike Donoghue is one of the partners with Reserve Interest LLC. He said the project went bankrupt.

“Unfortunately, the project went dormant,” Donoghue said. “The clubhouse was shuttered and the association which manages the facilities and the grounds failed. Basically went bankrupt.”

At that point, Donoghue says the Attorney General’s Office rescinded the reserve’s approval to sell. There were also some legal issues holding up progress.

Donoghue: “There were hundreds of creditors that were owed money when the previous developer passed away and so that had to make its way through the court system and that took a long time”

Emily Putnam: “For the last 8 years, more than a dozen units, like the one here behind me have sat finished but empty but you’ll start seeing them on the market in the next couple of weeks.”

According to public records from the Monroe County Clerk’s Office, the property was sold to Reserve Interests LCC late last summer.

“Part of our job was to get the hoa back in good standing, which happened about two weeks ago,” Donoghue said. “We’re happy to have been able to get it re-approved by the attorney general so that now it’s marketable again”

Today, about 51 high-end units are occupied. In addition, 13 will hit the market soon and 28 single-family homes and 63 patio homes are next up to be built.

One of the first condos to sell at the reserve before the project went dormant went for $550,000. The empty condo next store to that one will start at about $700,000.

Heads up if you’re in the market. Donoghue described the interest in the condos as “relentless” and says there’s a waitlist for new homes.

If you have a good question, send it to us at goodquestion@whec.com