Rochester City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to advance a $20 million funding arrangement aimed at finally demolishing the long-vacant Terrence Building on Elmwood Avenue, clearing a major hurdle for a site that has sat empty since 1995. The former psychiatric hospital has become known to neighbors as a hotspot for vandalism, and council members approved the city's role in funneling state money toward the project's demolition and eventual redevelopment.
The council agreed to act as a pass-through for the $20 million in state funding, which will reimburse the project's developer, Whitestone Development Partners, for eligible demolition-related costs, according to 13WHAM-TV. The arrangement follows Gov. Kathy Hochul's announcement in June that the state would commit the funding, with Hochul saying at the time that the work would clear the way for almost 500 affordable homes, according to WXXI News. The building sits on Elmwood Avenue at the border of the city of Rochester and the town of Brighton, per the same report.
Decades of Decay Behind an Asbestos-Riddled Shell
The Terrence Building has long been considered an eyesore, a former psychiatric hospital now riddled with asbestos, with broken windows and graffiti visible from the street, 13WHAM-TV reports. Rochester police have responded to the building 17 times in 2026 alone for suspicious alarm-type calls, the station notes, underscoring the kind of nuisance activity neighbors have described at the site for years.
Accounts of the building's size vary. 13WHAM-TV has described it as a 17-story, 500,000-square-foot structure, while RochesterFirst has referred to it as a 16-story high-rise. Either way, it's a hulking presence that has loomed over the neighborhood for roughly three decades.
No Firm Date for the Wrecking Ball
Despite the council's vote, officials have not laid out a firm schedule for when demolition will actually begin. A timeline is unclear, 13WHAM-TV reports, and the pace of the project will depend on when the dollars come in, according to the earlier WXXI News report on Hochul's funding announcement. Asbestos abatement and demolition could each take about a year, 13WHAM-TV notes, meaning the site could remain a construction zone well into the future even once work starts.
A source familiar with the project told 13WHAM-TV that demolition was slated to begin before the end of the year, though that timeline remains uncertain. Whitestone Development Partners was not able to provide a date for demolition or other details about the plans or timeline, according to WHEC-TV.
What Could Eventually Replace the Hospital
City officials have said the developer plans to create a mixed-use development, with more than 500 housing units eventually taking the building's place, per 13WHAM-TV's reporting. That figure echoes an earlier, more detailed concept: Whitestone Development Partners previously proposed a 522-unit, multi-phase redevelopment in 2023-24 that also included two commercial buildings, a community building with an outdoor pool and a three-story hotel project, according to WXXI News. That earlier plan had estimated demolition costs of $15 million to $20 million and a two-year timeline, the same report shows.
Separately, plans now under city review propose a 134-room Hyatt House extended-stay hotel, along with 132 parking spaces and two future commercial spaces, RochesterFirst reports. Developers also included a pedestrian connection to the Elmwood sidewalk in that submission, according to the outlet. It remains unclear how, or whether, that hotel proposal fits into the broader mixed-use vision city leaders have described for the site once the old hospital finally comes down.
