City Council Approves $20M to Demolish the Terrence Building on Elmwood

The Terrence Building has been the most visible wound on Elmwood Avenue since 1995. On October 20, 2026, Rochester City Council voted unanimously to give that wound a deadline: $20 million in grant funding, approved without a dissenting vote, to begin demolishing the 17-story former state psychiatric center that has sat at the Rochester-Brighton town line for three decades.

The Rochester Psychiatric Center closed in 1995. For 31 years after that, the Terrence Building stood as one of the city's longest-abandoned structures — visible, deteriorating, and impossible to ignore from Elmwood Avenue. It became a hotspot for vandalism over those decades, a marker of what stays broken when the costs of fixing it are too high.

The costs were real. Asbestos in the structure meant any developer taking on the site had to fund an expensive remediation before a single new beam went in. That killed every prior redevelopment attempt. No private developer could make the math work.

The $20 Million Vote and What It Unlocks

The $20 Million Vote and What It Unlocks

Governor Kathy Hochul announced the $20 million state allocation in June 2026. The money is grant funding — it flows directly to project developer Whitestone Development Partners and is earmarked for demolition and asbestos remediation, the work that makes all subsequent construction possible.

The City Council vote on October 20 converts that budget line into a binding contract. Mayor Malik Evans called the funding "the key component" that allows the project to "move from paper to reality." Rochester has seen plans for this site before. What broke every prior attempt was the demolition barrier. Now the state is funding the clearance directly.

"I want this to happen. This is critically important."

— Governor Kathy Hochul, June 2026

What Whitestone Plans to Build

What Whitestone Plans to Build

The plan Whitestone Development Partners submitted calls for 522 total housing units — one-story duplex rentals alongside three apartment buildings ranging from 80 to 320 units each. The site also includes two commercial buildings, a community building with an outdoor pool, and a three-story hotel.

That scope makes this a neighborhood block, not just a housing development. The Elmwood Avenue corridor would get a functioning mixed-use district where a hollow 17-story tower currently stands.

Demolition comes first, and new construction follows after that. The housing won't arrive soon — but the path from here to there is now funded and approved.

What This Means for Southeast Rochester

What This Means for Southeast Rochester

Mayor Malik Evans has called this project "transformational for the southeast section of Rochester," and the framing holds. Five hundred and twenty-two new housing units on the Rochester-Brighton town line addresses a regional shortage that crosses municipal boundaries. The gain belongs to southeast Rochester and to Brighton equally.

For the neighbors who live on and around Elmwood Avenue right now, the more immediate change is simpler. A 17-story building that has accumulated three decades of blight will come down. The vote is done. The money is committed. The Terrence Building's last chapter is demolition.