Buy the Block – Phase I

Organization Name: Greater Rochester Housing Partnership

Project Title: Buy the Block - Phase I

Project Location: Northeast Rochester, NY

Project Description:
Buy the Block (BTB) transforms Rochester neighborhoods through infill affordable homeownership development. BTB builds new, energy-efficient homes on vacant lots in targeted neighborhoods & empowers first-time homebuyers earning ≤80%AMI to build generational wealth while stabilizing & “greenlining” areas impacted by historic redlining and disinvestment. BTB’s success is powered by strong partnerships. The City of Rochester provides funding, lot assembly & buyer approval, while the Greater Rochester Housing Partnership (GRHP/GRPHDFC) leads financing, development & the development team including builder Atlas Contractors, architect Randy Peacock, & community engagement/marketing partner Ibero American Development Corporation (IADC). Between 2022-2025 this partnership led to the creation and sale of 24 BTB Phase I homes in Northeast Rochester. Other key partners to BTB Phase I’s success include: NYS Housing Finance Agency (funder), ESL Charitable Foundation (funder), CPC, mortgage lenders, local housing counseling agencies, RHA, CONEA, Underberg & Kessler, CMC, & Stantec. BTB’s collective effort creates equitable, thriving neighborhoods, & quality homeownership opportunities for first-time homebuyers.

Community Impact:
BTB I:
•Transformed a neighborhood & created life-changing homeownership opportunities for 24 families.
•Turned vacant lots, once harming the neighborhood, into tax-producing homes with proud, responsible owners.
•Created clustered, contiguous infill housing (see map https://grhp.org/home-ownership-programs/)– e.g., 9 homeowners added on 1 block of Thomas St.–shifting neighborhood tenure from predominately rental to owner occupied.
•Made homeownership attainable during a period of historically low housing inventory & rising prices in Rochester. Funding partners enabled BTB homes to be affordably priced ($89K–$139K) & sold to LMI buyers (36–75% AMI), including HUD Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Program participants.
•Served under-represented buyers including those with accessibility needs/aging in place.
•Enabled immediate equity & a path to generational wealth; homes appraised above sale price.
•Enhanced the look and feel of the neighborhood with attractive, context-sensitive, energy-efficient designs.
•Built community connections among new owners & long-term residents.
•Inspired existing owners to invest in their own properties.
•Complemented other neighborhood development projects.

Organization Description:
Greater Rochester Housing Partnership (GRHP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the creation and preservation of affordable housing in the Rochester, NY region. GRHP provides short-term loan capital to developers of affordable housing & has lent over $110,000,000 to support the development of more than 3,260 units of affordable housing. GRHP’s in-depth experience includes all phases of affordable single-family homeownership development (creating >900 single-family homeownership units in Rochester). Buy the Block homes are developed by GRPHDFC.

Team Members:

GRHP/GRPHDFC
Atlas Contractors
Randy Peacock
IADC
Underberg & Kessler
Stantec
City of Rochester
NYS HFA
ESL Charitable Foundation
CPC
RHA
CONEA
CMC
Mortgage Lender Partners