Hoeltzer and Sullivan Streets are short and narrow one-ways with a mix of modest homes and duplexes, some of which are deteriorated, vacant, and boarded up. Similar to many streets in this northeast section of the city near Joseph and North Clinton Avenues, they’ve become enveloped in a sprawling patchwork of vacant lots that meanders through the area’s residential and commercial blocks.
But Hoeltzer and Sullivan may be about to undergo a major change. The Ibero-American Development Corporation is planning on building Pueblo Nuevo, a $35 million affordable housing project consisting of 104-units spanning multiple dwellings in some of North Clinton’s neighborhoods. Many of the vacant lots on Hoeltzer Street, Sullivan Street, and Kappel Place will be in-filled with new construction, which will dramatically alter their appearance.
The city’s Planning Commission last month voted 7-to-0 in favor of the project, all but assuring that Pueblo Nuevo will move forward. Previously, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved a zoning change that’ll allow the construction of two- and three-family residences.
The project is a result of the El Camino Revitalization Area Community Charrette, which took place in August 2016, and its one part of a larger and long-term plan to uplift the North Clinton area, widely recognized as the heart of Rochester’s Latino community. The area has also struggled to rid itself of drug trafficking.
Pueblo Nuevo will consist of a combination of single-family homes, duplexes, and triplexes on Hoeltzer, Sullivan, and Kappel Place, and a two-story, 22,000-square foot, 16-unit multifamily dwelling on Sullivan. Also, the old school building at 938 Clifford Avenue will be converted to an 18-unit multifamily dwelling.
All of the units will be rentals consisting of one, two, and three-bedrooms.And some units will be designated for intellectually disabled tenants. The units are available to everyone, subject to income verification, Marlin says. He declined to provide rent rates, but he says all of the rents will meet state guidelines for affordable housing.
“We have enough units here to make a transformative change to the area,” says Eugenio Marlin, IADC’s executive vice president. “There will be more eyes on the street with that many people and some of the issues that have plagued the area will be greatly reduced.”
However, not everyone in the neighborhood is as enthusiastic as Marlin. Some residents have complained to city officials about the size of the proposed buildings and a parking shortage, they say, is sure to develop with such a sharp increase of residents.
IADC met with neighbors several times and developed a design plan that reflects the history and culture of the area, Marlin says.
But Andrew Cehelsky, a long-time resident on Hoeltzer Street, says it’s too much new housing for streets like his. The triplexes are out of scale with most of the other buildings on the street, he says. IADC held meetings, but they were sparsely attended, and most people don’t understand the consequences of increasing density in a neighborhood, Cehelsky says.
“There’s going to be one of these big box buildings next to me,” Cehelsky says. “They block out the sun. You’re looking at a wall.”
Cehelsky was one of more than 30 area residents who signed a petition asking the Planning Commission not to approve the project.
But the Planning Commission had to consider several things in making its decision to approve the project, says Zina Lagonegro, the city’s zoning manager.
“We have a lot of vacant land there and there’s not a lot of people lining up to buy vacant land,” Lagonegro says. “And Ibero will be managing the properties and they have a good track record.”
This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2019.
Apparently the decision makers are hearing but not listening to what neighbors are saying. The development as planned will make our street unattractive and congested. Our forty-signature Hoeltzer Street petition did not oppose the project, but rather stated that the development should be limited to one and two-family dwellings with driveways (not three-family dwellings with mini-parking lots); and building proportions in sync with existing houses on the street, especially height (instead of the massive apartment houses that are planned). These changes could easily be implemented with a little design development and some good will.
Regarding boarded-up properties — the only such house on Hoeltzer Street is owned by Ibero and waiting for rehabilitation.
A. Cehelsky, Architect and long-time resident of Hoeltzer Street.
Why does affordable housing cost so much? Doing the math, the price comes out to $336,538 per unit. How many people can afford to pay even half that price for a single family house, no less an apartment? After that, rents will be subsidized at about $500 per month. Nothing against providing nice clean housing, but the taxpayer really takes a bath on these projects. Couldn’t some of this money go towards creating jobs, instead?
There is nothing worse than coming home and not having a place to park. There were less cars in the past and who knows about the future, but we live in the present. Not enough parking. That’s a problem.
Why no studios? Must not be cost effective. Too bad the government is bending over backwards for these developers. The lure of big tax revenue is widening the eyes of those in city government. Revenue, revenue, revenue, money, money, money. I guess it’s ok to slide the best interests of the community to the back burner.
Not being honest and upfront about how much renters would have to pay per month is, I guarantee, because this is the type of affordable that should be in quotation marks. For each additional bedroom, no matter how small, you’re going to see a big, ridiculous, what the heck?, rent hike. That’s how they make their money. Why use that money to subsidize a studio when you can stick it in your pocket? Right now the business of housing is more about making money than it is about helping people. That’s something that needs to change.