State will provide over $70M for affordable apartments in downtown Rochester

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — New York State will provide $72.7 million to create affordable apartments in downtown Rochester including to shelter homeless veterans.

The funding will go to the Center City Courtyard Housing project, a five-story housing community that will take up the block around Main Street, Washington Street, Broad Street, and North Plymouth Avenue. 

The state says the 164 new apartments will be all-electric. At the development, 95 of the apartments will have services for homeless veterans, people with a substance abuse disorder, and people with justice involvement. HELP USA and CSD Housing are the co-developers.

Rochester wasn’t the only city to get funding for affordable housing on Thursday. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $236 million for bonds and subsidies to create or preserve more than 700 homes statewide. The goal is to modernize public housing, fight homelessness, and maintain environmentally sustainable homes to address climate change.

All projects must meet the energy efficiency, carbon emissions, and other sustainability standards. The homes are being finances through the state’s Homes and Community Renewal’s October 2023 bond issuance.