Reenergized West Main St. to connect Rochester’s downtown with a revitalized Bulls Head

Efforts are underway to energize an oft-ignored portion of West Main Street that serves as an important gateway into the city of Rochester.

Under the guidance of OneROC and the Regional Revitalization Partnership (RRP), the West Main Gateway project will transform a half mile stretch the neighborhood from Broad Street and the Interstate 490 overpass to around Jefferson Avenue.

In doing so, the connecting transportation artery between multi-million-dollar development on either side will look the part.

“That stretch of West Main can be such an important convener and facilitator of all types of activities,” said Erik Frisch, deputy commissioner of neighborhood and business development for the city of Rochester.

“You think of hundreds of millions of dollars of investment taking place downtown, and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment taking place at Bull’s Head over the coming years. That area between the two is going to be the primary corridor for folks to travel, so it should also see a significant investment and benefits that accrue to those that live and work in that area.”

OneROC is an economic development alliance that aims to accelerate investment, collaboration and growth across the Greater Rochester region. The organization serves as the intermediary for the RRP, ensuring investments are strategically aligned, collaborative and impactful.

“There’s a really diverse mix of small businesses, there’s a lot of great ethnic restaurants, a lot of beauty businesses,” said Shannon Ealy, director of programs and partnerships for OneROC. “And then you have some historic landmarks like (Wm. B.) Morse Lumber and Nick Tahou (Hots) and obviously the Susan B. House, so it’s a very diverse area and we’re hoping to bring more attention to it.”

Funding will be provided by the RRP, a public-private partnership working in Rochester, Buffalo and Niagara Falls that was created by Empire State Development. Property improvement grants of up to $250,000 will be available for individual projects. Grant uses include façade improvements, maintenance, site acquisitions, demolition and streetscape.

“We want to create more of a sense of place,” Ealy said. “There’s a very diverse mix of properties and buildings on that street but there also is a historic aspect. The West Main/Madison Historic District encompasses 102 buildings right off Main Street.”

Just off West Main is the Susan B. Anthony Museum & House at 17 Madison St. Enhancing visibility of the museum will be a goal.

“We have identified the Susan B. Anthony House as a strong heart of that corridor,” Ealy said. “We’re hoping to connect the museum and park experience to West Main.

“We really want to elevate that sense of place and also connect that tourism and visitor experience of the Susan B. house with the businesses on West Main, so when folks are there to visit the museum, they’re stopping at multiple locations throughout the neighborhood.”

In all, about thirty projects will be part of the transformation effort, from adaptive re-use of buildings to streetscape and wayfinding.

LaBella Associates will head the group chosen as the Local Project Administrator (LPA). LaBella will team with the Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood Association, In.Site Architecture, Community Design Center of Rochester and Tipping Point Communications.

The LPA will be tasked with performing a commercial real estate study, determining urban design standards, facilitating community engagement and administering the grant program.

“We’ve had some proposals that suggest renovating buildings, putting in new businesses on ground floors and turning upper floors into apartments, so we’re really looking forward to increasing the mixed-use potential of that area,” Ealy said.

The RRP is supported by a host of private entities, including the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, ESL Federal Credit Union, Evans Bank, Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation, Five Star Bank, JohnR. Oishei Foundation, Key Bank/First Niagara Foundation, William & Sheila Konar Foundation and M&T Bank.

“We’re getting calls regularly, ‘When do the grants open? What are the requirements?’ ” Ealy said. “We’re still working to determine those, but we want to get the whole city and region excited about what we’re doing over there.”

A public meeting very likely will take place in May. The grant application period will open this summer, probably in July or August, and review of the applications will take place throughout the fall and winter. Groundbreaking on the project is expected to coincide with the 2026 construction season, Ealy said.

This is the first project in Rochester to receive RRP support.

“West Main is an incredibly important corridor,” Frisch said, “for not only the communities around it but the entire region — historically, commercially, for transportation and now for revitalization.”

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