- Project
- Northeast
- Town/City/Village
- Real Estate Development and Housing
The Challenge
The City of Rochester has been revitalizing its historic downtown and successfully promoting itself to technology-centered businesses and laboratories. Like many communities in the region, Rochester has lost population and industry to nearby suburbs and has only recently been enjoying some new growth. Rochester’s Plymouth-Exchange neighborhood, located a few miles from downtown along the Genesee River, is poised to take advantage of the city’s resurgence. It is also the home of the abandoned Vacuum Oil Company factory, which has been designated as a Brownfield Opportunity Area (“BOA”) by the New York State Department of State.
The Solution
The factory’s designation as a BOA provided the City with funds to develop a Master Plan to revitalize the neighborhood. Camoin Associates collaborated with Bergmann Associates, a nationally-known engineering, architecture, and planning firm, to conduct public engagement activities, study the demographics and economics of the area, and make strategic recommendations about how the neighborhood can attract more investments and residents.
The Impact
The Vacuum Oil BOA has entered the implementation stage, beginning with the publication of a Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS), which includes the study components prepared by Camoin Associates to help guide future development in addition to an analysis of environmental issues.
