Beechwood Family Apartments

Beechwood Family Apartments will comprise 54 new homes across 21 buildings on vacant sites scattered throughout Rochester’s Beechwood neighborhood. Twelve apartments will be set aside as supportive housing for families in need of services. The lead developer is Home Leasing, LLC, and Connected Communities is the nonprofit development. We are so excited to bring this project to fruition for our community!

NYS awarded $8.4 million for Beechwood Family Apartments

Building Type 1

Four-bedroom, single-family dwelling

150 Ackerman Street

156 Ackerman Street

Building Type 2

Three-bedroom duplex

9-21 Chamberlain Street

25 Chamberlain Street

107-109 Chamberlain Street

435-437 Garson Avenue

1500 E Main Street

1506 E Main Street

1604 E Main Street

421 Garson Avenue

425 Garson Avenue

263 Grand Avenue (east)

263 Grand Avenue (west)

378 Hayward Avenue

366 Parsells Avenue

264-268 Webster Avenue

276 Webster Avenue

Building Type 3

4-unit, multifamily townhouse building

639 Bay Street

Building Type 4

Six-family townhouses-over-flat building

430 Garson Avenue

57 Garson

263 Garson

12 Lampson Street

16 Lampson

299-303 Webster Avenue

305 Webster

FAQ

BFA Engagement History

By the Numbers:

6 Beechwood Neighborhood Coalition meetings (4 were on schedule and spent at least 30-45 minutes on the project, 1 update, 1 upcoming public meeting)
3 Beechwood Neighborhood Coalition Board presentations (1 included zoning)
15,929 positive or neutral social media impressions
2 postcards (one for zoning, one to announce the March BNC project design and review meeting) mailed to all residents, both owners and renters
Over 450 doors knocked
Over 5 social media posts to the Beechwood Neighborhood Coalition Facebook Group
Over 5 social media posts on Connected Communities Facebook page reaching over 645 people
3 emails to over 600 people promoting the Home Leasing presentation
8 community events with tabling (Town Hall at East High School, Fall Extravaganza at Grand Avenue Park, Fall Health Fair at School #33, 4 Pop Up Sessions)
2 YouTube Videos
1 Project Website

2018

Studies of housing in the neighborhood find that Beechwood has double the eviction rate of Rochester’s overall average, most of which are filed as nonpayment evictions due to housing cost burdens.
13% of Beechwood properties have “disinvestment” code violations, compared to the Rochester average of 6%
October/November: Strategy to rehab and create new and existing multi-family homes and limit the power of “milker” investors presented to and endorsed by the neighborhood

2020

Vacant Structure Parcel-by-Parcel analysis of 111 vacant structures completed through similar process as vacant lots, allowing us to develop opportunity areas through resident feedback to create targeted investment areas.
February: Draft Housing Plan with sites allocated for multi-family development presented to Beechwood Neighborhood Coalition
April-July: Comprehensive Neighborhood Plan completed and adopted by the Beechwood Neighborhood Coalition
September: BNC update on Draft Zoning Update and specific types of developments it would allow for.

2019

An eviction study with Dr. Stu Jordan’s undergraduate class and Resident Ambassadors found that housing quality, lack of affordability, and aging housing stock contributed significantly to residents' displacement.
Parcel-by-Parcel analysis of 141 vacant lots throughout Beechwood and EMMA. Lots were evaluated by resident input, current use, context of the surrounding block, size, and housing partner capacity, presented to BNC in Q4 2019

2021

Postcard sent out to all residents, both homeowners and renters, to explain the proposal to up-zone from R1 to R2
April: BNC sent in letter of support for rezoning 767 properties from R1 to R2
June: BNC spoke in favor of the rezoning application, unanimously passed by City Planning Commission
July: City Council passes rezoning application unanimously
August: Preliminary site plans with building unit mixes presented at Connected Communities’ Town Hall
September 20th: BNC Board Meeting Presentation
Tabled and shared designs and collected feedback from over 50 individual residents at the Fall Extravaganza (Grand Ave Park) and Fall Wellness/Resources Fair (Ryan Center)
November: Beechwood Family Apartments project overview video premiered on Facebook and YouTube (notifications went out to our mailing list, CLT, BNC, in the Beechwood Neighborhood Coalition Facebook group)

2022

January 6th: Beechwood Neighborhood Coalition Meeting (initially scheduled for November 2021, but BNC canceled and rescheduled the meeting)
February: postcard sent out alerting residents to the March community design input session
March 3rd: Beechwood Neighborhood Coalition Meeting (recording available)
May 5th: BNC Pop In/Status Update with Home Leasing and LaShunda, project website shared
Canvassing around the four zoning variance sites (door hangers and comment cards to be available)
3 Neighborhood Pop-Up Sessions
Another postcard to all renters and homeowners with a link to the project website and instructions to connect non-tech-savvy residents to the Sully Library to view the project
Public presentation (advertised on postcards mailed to every home)
Emails to BNC, Connected Communities, and City Roots Community Land Trust contact lists
Timeline of Engagement, Project Description, and Neighborhood Housing Plan documents available to all residents at pop ups, community events, emails, and more

2023

February: Attended BNC community and BNC board meetings to present updated project configuration and request continuation of support.
March 30th: Connected Communities held a community event to hear from community members if the Comprehensive Neighborhood Plan was still in alignment with what the community wants to see. After this gathering and the feedback received from our Housing Pillar CNP survey, we feel strongly that residents in the Beechwood community are still supportive of this project and the redesign.