Ron Washington credits Rochester for acknowledging its housing problem. The housing director at the Urban League of Rochester Economic Development Corp. believes it’s the first step toward a solution, much like dealing with substance use disorders.
“If you don’t acknowledge it, you’re going to continue going down a path of self-destruction,” says Washington, also the manager of the Home Store at ULREDC.
In recent years, the area has seen an influx of affordable housing developments, including some ULREDC projects. While most are in the city, some projects are underway in the surrounding suburbs. Experts warn that it will take a combination of factors, however, before affordable housing developments can be sustainable. In addition to a mental shift toward accepting all kinds of housing options, these developments need access to transportation and services for residents.
“This is going to be something that the need for is not going to go away. It’s needed all over the country, all over the East Coast, and it’s going to require a lot of different forms to be achieved,” says Peter Wehner, director of architecture at Passero Associates and vice president of its board. “We see it with the mid-sized buildings in our area; as soon as they’re built, they’re filled up.”
It has been said before. The housing problem is complex and requires intervention from various stakeholders. It has drawn national attention, and states are working on ways to increase supply and affordability.
In the 2025 adopted budget, Gov. Kathy Hochul called her housing agreement historic. While most of the major policies affect New York City, $500 million in funding was secured to develop up to 15,000 units of housing on state-owned sites across New York. Opt-in tax incentive programs for mixed-income and 100 percent affordable new construction or conversion multifamily rental projects also were implemented for municipalities outside New York City.
In Monroe County, there is a 2-to-1 split in the 314,000 housing units between owner- and renter-occupied homes. Although the matter is important for all economic strata, experts say low-income households are particularly needy when it comes to affordability. The National Low Income Housing Coalition finds that no state has enough affordable rentals for the lowest-income group.
The number of cost-burdened households—who spend 30 percent or more of their monthly income on housing—appears to be decreasing for owners but increasing for renters. Cost-burdened owner-occupied households numbered 37,500 in 2022, down from 51,000 in 2010. By contrast, the number of renter-occupied households in that category increased from 50,000 to 56,000.
Rochester’s efforts
Rochester has made strides in increasing the housing supply. The latest endeavor is Center City Courtyard, a 164-unit project that began construction this year. A multifamily apartment building, it sits in the heart of center city, adjacent to the Rochester City School District offices on West Broad Street.
These units will be set for households earning at or below 80 percent of the area median income. The Rochester, NY HUD Metro Fair Market Rent area (which covers Monroe, Livingston, Ontario, Orleans and Wayne County) lists the median family income at $97,000 in 2024, with low-income limits (80 percent AMI) starting at $77,600 for a four-person family.
Interestingly, while gross median rent costs have been rising ($1,100 to $1,400 from 2020 to 2022 across all renter-occupied units), rent-burdened households in the western part of Center City have been declining (from 36 percent of all households to 27 percent in that same time period). The majority (44 percent) in the area still pay $1,000 to $1,499 in monthly rent, but the proportion of households paying higher than that has begun to rise over the past three years. One and two-bedroom apartments in this area had a gross median rent of $1,396 and $1,453, respectively, in 2022, the year with the most recently available data.
However, according to the initial announcement, the building’s studio apartments (over half of the total units) will be designated as supportive housing, meaning services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including veterans and individuals reentering the community following incarceration.
“Center City Courtyard represents not only a new housing development for our community, it represents the strengthening of our neighborhoods,” Rochester Mayor Malik Evans said in May, adding that the project is “another step forward in our commitment to building a stronger, hope-filled Rochester that delivers opportunity for everyone.”
Center City is located near public transportation and the highway, and city attractions are within walking distance. CSD Housing, the joint developer of Center City Courtyard with HELPDevCo, lists the project cost at $57 million. Applications will be accepted next spring.
Touted by many in business as a model with options for different income levels is Charlotte Square on the Loop. In place for five years, the 50-unit building was the final phase of the Charlotte Street development project that began in 2015. The development included two initial stages of constructing market-rate housing. All three sites are along Charlotte Street, off North Union Street on land reclaimed from the former Inner Loop East.
Charlotte Square offers a wide range of rents for households earning 30 percent to 90 percent of the area median income. For the Rochester area, that range is an annual income of $21,900 to $87,300 for a family of four.
Rent-burdened households in the southeastern section of the former Inner Loop area have remained at around 45 percent, in line with the 47 percent overall rate across the city. Gross median rent costs have been growing but at a slower rate compared to other areas downtown ($970 to $1,190 from 2020 to 2022 across all renter-occupied units).
In contrast to the other side of the Genesee River, the Inner Loop East also has much more available housing (1,100 compared to 240 in 2022) and greater varied costs. For example, the monthly housing costs of 24 percent of all renter households in this census tract were low in 2022 (between $500 and $700). However, 21 percent, another significant portion, paid high costs (between $2,000 and $2,499).
This census tract also had comparatively high gross median rents per bedroom, with rates for studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments of $884, $1,019, and $2,376 in 2022.
Like Center City, Charlotte Square on the Loop is within walking distance of downtown. It represents an attempt to create an economically diverse neighborhood.
An even older example of affordable housing is ULREDC’s Mills at High Falls. It originally opened in 2008, and additional spaces were added through 2015. The 69-unit apartment building is in the High Falls neighborhood, right off the major thoroughfare of State Street.
The building has disability access, Energy Star appliances, clubhouses and community rooms with on-site management, which Washington says is key to any project’s success.
“We have great buildings, but the Mills is our trophy property, so to speak,” he says. “The Mills complex is a great example of success on that level, with that longevity.”
The building, which has an AMI requirement, is consistently at full capacity, with long waiting lists for new applicants, Washington observes.
The Mills’ census tract has improved over the past decade in terms of rent-burdened households (83 to 60 percent from 2010 to 2022) but remains high even compared to the city’s already high average of 47 percent.
Average housing costs are much lower than other areas, with over half (55 percent) of all renter households still paying under $1,000 a month. However, that proportion is down significantly from the 81 percent of all renters paying under $1,000 in 2017. Gross median rents have increased by 31 percent from 2010 to 2022 ($700 to $930), which aligns with the rest of the city.
Gross median rent rates for studio apartments in the Mills’ neighborhood were $682 in 2022, while one, two and three-bedroom apartments were at $731, $955 and $1,146, respectively.
ULREDC has 13 other properties, with a total of 330 units, in its portfolio. Some, such as the Butterfly Fields Apartments or Brown’s Memorial Manor, are affordable properties for adults ages 62 or above. Others, such as the Blossom Village apartments, are for individuals or families with developmental or physical disabilities with services on site.
Factors for success
These examples share common factors for success, including access to resources.
Center City Courtyard, where Passero served as architect, has partnering organizations that include Helio Health, Eagle Star Housing and the Urban League of Rochester. The effort was made possible in large part due to the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative, which started in 2016 to fund supportive housing projects.
“When you deal with a population with ESSHI, which is a funding source for affected populations, you really need things on site all the time because people need these services at various times in a day to help them get going and on their feet,” Wehner says. “The most successful projects are the ones with effective insight management of the population they are serving.”
That could require providing furnishing or other equipment for families, especially for populations that were formerly homeless. Wehner recalls when one housing project was completed near the former Medley Center and how it impacted the Irondequoit Community Cupboard.
“It was a catch-22 because they needed food, but didn’t have any pots or pans to cook. I can give them foodstuff, but what are they going to do with it when they have it? It’s not like you can eat raw oatmeal,” he remarks. “It’s fine to have four walls and roof, but if you can’t feed yourself or sleep or even have a place to sit down, how is that person expected to live and function? What is that doing for you?”
Other programs support the Center City Courtyard, including the Clean Energy Initiative, which funds a rooftop solar array and efficient heat pumps. Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the New York State Homes and Community Renewal, the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, the New York State Office of Mental Health, and HOME funds from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development also are part of the project.
Similarly, eight of the units at Charlotte Square are set aside for Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach, which provides supportive housing for homeless ex-offenders who are in recovery and are graduating from transitional housing.
ULREDC also recently changed the management of its residential properties to better align with providing services. This year, it entered a new partnership with Christopher Community Inc., which specializes in promoting housing facilities for older adults in Upstate New York. Washington says their model also offers greater efficiency when completing requests.
“We want to make sure we have a great staff on the ground—property managers who are responsive and have a system in place, not just putting a Band-Aid on things and work backwards. Especially when you have the number of properties we have,” he says.
“With your (residential) portfolio, it’s all about performance. Unfortunately, with our previous property managers, it wasn’t performing as well as we expected them to. They did the best they could, but mistakes were made and, at the end of the day, tenants suffered for it,” Washington continues. “During this transition, there have been some bumps and bruises, but we’re getting there. I used to get 25 to 30 calls a day from tenants. Now, I might get one or two a week.”
Access to reliable public transit is another important element of a project’s success. In the Rochester area, this would limit affordable housing’s reach to routes covered by Regional Transit Service buses in Monroe County.
“It has to be about transit if your goal is (to) create better, more affordable housing opportunities for people who are otherwise priced out of the market,” observes Stuart Jordan, associate professor of political science and associate director of the Democracy Center at the University of Rochester. “(Transportation) is not a problem for a family that can afford to have two cars and a 45-minute commute to work. You need a total package beyond making it legal to build an apartment building to make things work successfully.”
While this isn’t a challenge for Center City Courtyard, Charlotte Square or the Mills, it could impact affordable housing in the suburbs. For instance, two complexes in ULREDC’s residential portfolio, Akeley Landing and Goose Landing senior apartments, are located in Holley and West Henrietta, respectively. RTS Monroe has less frequent service to these areas than the city.
Moving forward
Improving housing affordability will require different solutions, from policy to construction. In a post for the Urban Institute, Yonah Freemark urges collaboration between policymakers to increase housing subsidies and fund construction.
Freemark contends that more flexible zoning is only part of the affordable housing challenge. While it is a step toward increasing housing density, location plays a key role.
“Zoning reform, just by itself, is not a silver bullet,” Jordan says. “With it, you have to consider where do you get the biggest bang for your buck, so to speak?”
The increasing cost of both construction and labor has also impacted development.
“Material costs have a tendency to go up and stay there. They’re not coming back down on their own,” says Wehner.
Since 2020, the price of steel, aluminum, ready-mix concrete, brick and structural clay tile, and other imported materials has surged, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Wages have increased as much as 6 percent by some estimates—and labor is in short supply. NAHB estimated the industry needed 723,000 new construction workers each year to meet demand in 2023.
NAHB warns that these factors could increase housing project costs, reduce the margin for profit, create fluctuations in home valuations and negatively impact affordability.
Other housing experts say that Rochester’s situation, as a Northeastern city with some of the oldest housing stock, does not call for building new construction but instead improving housing that already exists.
This is happening, with programs such as Buy the Block and the Bull’s Head revitalization program renovating existing structures or using vacant land for housing.
ULREDC also helps with affordable home ownership through systems outside its residential programs, including Home Store, which provides families with credit counseling, financial literacy counseling, and pre- and post-purchase homebuyer education classes.
In addition, the L2P (Lease to Purchase) Westside program consists of 41 single-family homes offered to tenants earning 60 percent AMI based on family size. After a 15-year rental compliance period, families get help purchasing the home for themselves.
“Now we’re in the third year of that project,” says Washington. “We have a few that we’re getting ready to turn out for new tenants, but for the most part, they’re all occupied and working toward that home ownership.”
Experts also acknowledge that an undeniable factor challenging the expansion of affordable housing is purely internal attitudes. And those attitudes are strong. “Neighborhood Defenders,” a book published in 2019 about participatory institutions like planning boards, used the Boston area as a case study. Researchers found that individuals participating in these meetings hold
overwhelmingly negative views of new housing, often leading to lengthy delays, high costs and smaller projects. The proportion of public comments against housing projects compared to neutral or positive statements was as high as 50 to 1 in some cases, the authors found.
“There are people who don’t want it because of personal bias or stigma attached to affordable housing. When you go out (to the suburbs) and mention affordable housing, a bunch of red flags go up, and all they can think about is crime and looking at people as an undesirable element,” Washington says.
Wehner points out that people who seek affordable housing often work hard and contribute to their communities.
“Wages are low. People have to work, a lot of times, multiple jobs to make ends meet. Rents are high; construction costs and homeownership costs are high,” he says. “There’s always this prejudice that these people should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
“But I had to go through college with a number of student loans. I had a job with $16,000 a year and ended up living in my parents’ basement. I would have been the recipient of affordable housing if there was such a thing back in the day.”
This Community Chronicles article was made possible by a grant from the ESL Charitable Foundation. All Community Chronicles articles are collected here.
Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist. The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. Submissions to the Letters page should be sent to [email protected].
Josh Porte’s comments while relevant make the mistake of singling out one issue that contributes to perennial poverty. There is at least another low wages. In our community there are many hard working people who are not paid enough to meet the cost of housing in this market. S0 let us address both education and wages. But then the housing crisis will not be solved because there are many on fixed incomes either as senior citizens, or on SSI etc who cannot afford to rent in this market, or there are no units available they could afford. And beyond these factors are men and women who are returning from incarceration and who find it difficult to obtain meaningful work etc. And what of people who are fighting addictive needs and who need both supportive and affordable housing? Where will the market meet their needs? In short we need multiple layers of development to meet the housing needs of the growing numbers of unhoused. It can be done – Singapore, Vienna, even Austin Texas are making strides in meeting the needs of people for safe and affordable shelter. It just takes political will.
With all due respect, while all of your points are valid, at its foundation….foundation, education is a major item that contributes to child poverty, poverty in general and generational poverty. We can address those NOW. But we have the RCSD who cannot seem to complete that mission. We have a feckless RCSB. That board ought to be dissolved and replaced with volunteers from our institutions of higher learning. We have a teachers union under the “leadership” of Adam Urbanski. That has resulted in DECADES of educational failure. But hose within that failure just keep getting a check. The educational failure boils down to three items. 1) The RCSD cannot teach the way kids learn. 2) The teachers will not teach the way kids learn. 3) the kids are uneducable. Let me tell you that urban youth, every single one, has a gift, an innate skill. That needs to be discovered in their K-12 journey. While all your point are valid, you have to begin someplace. You can’t attack it all at once. As far as political will is concerned, there aint none in the City of Rochester. They refuse to even look at the education issue. Their response has been, it isn’t my responsibility. That’s an attitude problem. As once said in a movie, “what we have here is a failure to communicate.” Strange how charter school can meet the challenge, but the public system fails our kids. Anytime you want to attack this education issue, i’ll drive up from SC to do so. It’s been my mission for 17 years. While I’m living far from Rochester, I am still willing to address the numero uno issue that has plagued that city. You’re correct, it can be done. 585-410-0131 Semper Fi.
To ad to my reply: You mentioned three places where they have this housing issue under control. Where they do things right and do the right thing. Interesting. There is Austin, Texas, one of thee most educated cities in these United States of America. Then there is Singapore, which has a literacy rate of 97.6%. And last but not least, Vienna. They have thee highest tertiary attainment in Austria. That said, it appears that education may just have an impact on your advocacy. We have more opportunity in the US, which is a proven fact considering the millions that have entered of recent. You know Reverent, there is such a thing as responsibility. That responsibility is educating oneself. That needs a school system that can accomplish that, which we do not appear to have. Unless you want to agree with me that our urban kids are uneducable. I HAPPEN TO BELIEVE THAT ALL KIDS HAVE INNATE SKILLS AND GIFT….ALL KIDS. So let’s see if we can motivate the educational experts who get paid a bunch and live in housing most of us can only wish for. Semper Fi. (I’m listening)
Why do people think about crime in association with affordable housing? That association is not dreamed up. That association is not emagined. But lets dial it back to the K-12 educational journey. If you don’t get a high school diploma you are more likely to need affordable housing. If you get a relevant K-12 education and follow that up with a certificate program, college or university, you will most likely be able to attain a good job. One that allows you to live where you want to live. Rochester doesn’t really understand that. To the educational experts and the all knowing politicians, it’s an unknown. The educational experts in the RCSD/RCSB and teachers union don’t see the connection. Consequently we have individuals with zero skills. Also keep in mind that you don’t need 4, 6 or a PHD. A welder can earn six figures. Vocational schools ought to be encouraged. You know like the OLD EDISON TECH. The one the RCSD destroyed. You wonder why all the affordable housing is needed? It’s an educational journey that is denied to our K-12 youth. That simple. But I know…..that’s too hard. So keep failing kids and increase the demand for affordable housing and all the associated problems. Poor educational outcome will increase the demand for affordable housing. You can eliminate generational poverty with a sound education. That fact is starring yourself in the face Rochester. Semper Fi.