There is a new proposal for an old hotel at the edge of Rochester’s historic Corn Hill neighborhood.
But plans to convert the vacant, nondescript building into emergency housing for the homeless are shrouded in unanswered questions.
Who will operate it? Who will stay there? For how long? Those are some of the things neighbors and the city’s Planning Commission want to know.
The three-story building sits adjacent to offices and apartments just over Interstate 490 from downtown. Years ago, the city OK’d Catholic Charities using 21 rooms in the building for sleeping quarters, and the rest as offices. The current proposal could raise that to 76 rooms, with kitchen and dining facilities, making it one of the largest homeless facilities in the city.
“There’s been no community engagement, they haven’t reached out,” said neighborhood association president Jeff Holdsworth. “As you know this is a very engaged community, a very active community association. Lots of avenues for outreach and conversation, none of which have been taken advantage of.
“And that's despite a lot of trying.”
Neighbors only learned of the plan because converting the hotel to a residential facility requires what’s called a special use permit from the city. That triggered notifications to nearby property owners, setting off what Holdsworth described as a fruitless search for information.
Building owner James Philippone’s name is on the special use permit application before the city. But he says Monroe County “is in control of the project.”
"We spent several weeks trying to navigate and learn more about what was being proposed there,” Holdsworth said. “And all of the avenues that we approached with the county — through the Legislature, through the executive’s office — have been left unanswered.”
The administration was similarly unresponsive to media requests.
According to the city, Monroe County sought proposals for a “centralized emergency housing facility,” which relates to the Corn Hill proposal. There is a county Request for Proposals issued in May for a “secured emergency shelter” that, in later answers to questions from potential respondents, states the county has selected a three-story building it intends to lease, and that the selected operator would run the program.
The county’s Request for Proposals states:
“As Monroe County moves forward with the goal of ending homelessness, we have reached a point where we are serving a more chronic population suffering from serious mental illness and/or signification addictions that are more difficult to serve in a traditional shelter setting. The complex needs of this population require staff that are trained and experienced in managing serious mental health and addiction behaviors. An atmosphere conducive to the needs of this population, e.g., non-congregate sleeping quarters, extended curfew, peer support, etc., is a necessity to encourage individuals to come in off the streets and remain in shelter while permanent housing plans are established. A longer length of stay and flexibility to achieve goals to secure the appropriate level of permanent housing will be necessary. MCDSS intends to lease a suitable site that the selected Respondent will operate.”
The county referred to temporary placements, most of those being the result of evictions or release from an institution, including a hospital or correctional facility. Today these people typically are placed in shelters or hotels with little or no case management and follow-up.
A city spokesperson, responding to a media inquiry, said the county planned to house new immigrants or people who, because of some event, found themselves with no place to go.
Given the uncertainty, the city’s Planning Commission put matters on hold last week.
The commission meets again at the end of July.
In emails and letters to the commission, residents raised alarm over the lack of detail and asked what would be done to provide services (an array of which are sought by the county), ensure security, and maintain the facility.
“The lack of transparency is very troubling,” reads one letter.
“Our limited neighborhood is already doing our fair share of heavy lifting of good works,” reads another, noting the area already has a halfway house, a shelter and the jail just over neighborhood border in downtown
"There's a lot of varied concerns from folks,” Holdsworth said, “most of which stems today from not knowing what's truly being proposed. I think one of the overwhelming things is the scale of the facility.”
