ROCHESTER, N.Y. – There is finally a plan to restore the old Riverside Hotel along the river downtown. Renderings released by the state show what it could look like in three years.

Since it closed four years ago, the Riverside Hotel has been ravaged by people breaking in and trashing it.

Earlier this year, two urban explorers took a camera into the building. They made their way to the top floors and their video exposes the damage people have done to the hotel since it was locked up. Aiden Bross was holding the camera and News10NBC’s Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean caught up with him in the summer.

Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “What’s it like to be in there?”

Aiden Bross, urban explorer: “Well it’s definitely sad to see what’s happened to the place now, how many people have gone in there and just destroyed it.”

In August, Brean showed Bross’ video to Deputy Mayor Michael Burns. And I showed him the damage you can see from the outside.

Michael Burns, deputy mayor: “But make no mistake, there is no better way to secure a building and have a property well managed than to have people inside.”

And that’s what we’re on the brink of. Thursday morning, in an office four blocks from the hotel, the county’s Industrial Development Agency read the application of the hotel owners to renovate the building. Floors 1, 2, 3, and 4 would be a restaurant, retail, and 123 hotel rooms. Floors 6 to 14 would be 171 apartments, with subsidized and market-rate rent.

The application asks for breaks on sales tax, mortgage tax, and property tax. Without the breaks, the owners say the renovation is “infeasible” and the property “will continue to be a blight in the heart of downtown Rochester.”

At the meeting, the lawyer for the county agency, COMIDA, said the renovation is expected to be done by December 2027.

“Given the volume of work, it’s a pretty quick construction schedule, but we don’t expect things to start necessarily right away,” attorney Rachel Baranello said.

The final approval meeting for the tax breaks is Tuesday, Nov. 19.

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