ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The northwest corner of East Main Street and North Clinton Avenue, long considered among the biggest eyesore in downtown Rochester, is finally due to undergo a transformation. Home Leasing, a local developer, has started work to restore the corner to its former glory from the late 1940s.

“We thought we were uniquely qualified to take on something like this,” said Bret Garwood, CEO of Home Leasing.

There’s plywood boarding up some of the windows, and the inside of the building is in disrepair.

“It smells like pigeon poop,” Garwood said. “A lot of it is deteriorated and there’s debris left there.”

The corner is the only one at the intersection that hasn’t been fixed. Andy Gallina, a developer who owns the Metropolitan Tower next door, believes the work will make a difference in the neighborhood. “This is a long time coming,” Gallina said.

When the project is completed by late next summer, there will be 11 affordable housing units and roughly 4,000 square feet of commercial space. The corner is made up of four different buildings, each with multiple owners, which took years for the city and Home Leasing to gain control of.

“This is arguably the most visible corner in all of our downtown,” said Dana Miller, Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development. “So this is critical. It’s critical to see this building and these buildings re-developed.”

The restoration of the corner of East Main Street and North Clinton Avenue is one of the major changes happening in downtown Rochester, along with the new headquarters of Constellation Brands, which sits on the Genesee River near the Blue Cross Arena. Employees are set to start moving into the building in the first week of June.

A.I. assisted with the formatting of this story. Click here to see how WHEC News 10 uses A.I.