Work should begin this fall renovating the former Hotel Cadillac in downtown Rochester.
Gov. Kathy Hochul last week announced $6 million in state assistance for the project, providing the final funding needed to start construction.
“We've really got to sit down with the timeline, with the state and the city, all the funding partners, and just work towards closing. But it'll be this year,” said Robert Cain, director of real estate development with Victor-based developer CSD Housing.
Planning has been ongoing the past three years, and the building has been vacant since 2018.
The six-story, century-old structure sits on the east edge of the Midtown block. CSD’s envisioned $21 million overhaul would convert the building into 42 mixed-income apartments. Thirteen units would be set aside for recently homeless young adults, with the YWCA providing support services. Artists would be given preference on 14 of the remaining units, with referrals from Flower City Arts Center, which also would operate a first-floor gallery and artist-in-residence program.
The building should re-open in mid-2027.
“Pretty much everything will be brand new in the property finishes,” Cain said. “The roof will be all done. It's all new up there. The cornices will all be repaired. The exterior facade will be all repointed, power-washed and cleaned up, so it'll be a brand-new looking building by the time construction is complete.”
The city on Friday reopened Elm Street running between the Cadillac building and the Richford building, which also sits empty. The street had been closed for the past year because of falling debris from both buildings.
