SCHUMER JOINS WITH ROCHESTER COMMUNITY LEADERS TO CUT RIBBON ON $100 MILLION COLLEGE TOWN REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT SET TO REVITALIZE MT. HOPE & CREATE 1200+ JOBS – SCHUMER HAS PLAYED MAJOR ROLE IN PROJECT, SECURING $20M IN FED FUNDING FOR OVERALL DEVELOPMENT & KEY LOAN TO BRING GROCER TO NEIGHBORHOOD FOR FIRST TIME IN A DECADE

Schumer Has Been Actively Involved In The Project From The Early Stages, Discussing Fed Funding Opportunities With U of R President Seligman and then-Mayor Richards Over Classic Garbage Plate Lunch – Schumer Helped Secure Critical $20M Loan From HUD That Was Key To Getting Development To Where It Is Today; Schumer Also Fought For & Secured Fed Loan To Open Constantino’s Market As Part Of The Development

Schumer: College Town Will Help Breathe New Life Into Mt. Hope Neighborhood

College Town Development Is One of Rochester’s Most Important Revitalization Projects; Mixed-Use Development Will Bring New Stores, Apartments, Offices, Restaurants Into Community – Development Creating 900 Construction Jobs and 320 Permanent Jobs In Rochester & Serves As A Model For Future Neighborhood Development Efforts

Schumer Has Been Actively Involved In The Project From The Early Stages, Discussing Fed Funding Opportunities With U of R President Seligman and then-Mayor Richards Over Classic Garbage Plate Lunch – Schumer Helped Secure Critical $20M Loan From HUD That Was Key To Getting Development To Where It Is Today; Schumer Also Fought For & Secured Fed Loan To Open Constantino’s Market As Part Of The Development

Schumer: College Town Will Help Breathe New Life Into Mt. Hope Neighborhood

Today, at Rochester’s College Town development, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer joined with leaders from the University of Rochester and the Mt. Hope community for a ribbon-cutting to commemorate the opening of College Town. The College Town development is bringing new apartments, office space, shops, and restaurants to the city and Schumer said that it will be a major force in helping to revitalize the Mt. Hope corridor back into a bustling residential and shopping district for city residents as well as the University’s 9,000 students, 20,000 workers, and thousands of patients and visitors at the nearby Strong Memorial Hospital campus. Schumer has long supported this development, including helping to secure a $20 million loan for the project from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that allowed the developers to begin construction on schedule. Recently, Schumer also helped secure a loan for Constantino’s Market to open up in the College Town development, which is a federally-designated food desert. This market will be the first in the Mt. Hope neighborhood since Wegman’s closed over a decade ago. Schumer said that altogether College Town is creating 900 construction jobs and 320 permanent jobs, which is excellent for the Rochester economy.

“Today we move the tassel and graduate College Town as the latest University of Rochester alum to go forth into the world as a force of good to revitalize the Mt. Hope neighborhood, the City of Rochester, and beyond. With College Town, we are harnessing the economic development might of Rochester’s largest employer to turn 14 acres of dilapidated land into a showcase of shops, restaurants, offices, apartments, and at long last a new neighborhood grocery store, Constantino’s Market,” said Schumer. “Over the years, I have worked with Rochester officials and the local community to secure over $20 million in federal funding and loans to rebuild this site. Now, as we celebrate the opening of College Town and the many businesses and residents that will make it their home, I could not be more proud to have been a partner in the endeavor.”

Schumer explained that this $100 million job-creating infrastructure project will transform the Mt. Hope community. Now that the ribbon has been cut, Schumer said, College Town will be bringing new office space, shops, restaurants, and more to the city. The 14-acre mixed-use development consists of 500,000-square-feet of commercial and residential space. The space is also adjacent to the University of Rochester Medical Center. A two-level Barnes & Noble University of Rochester and community bookstore is one of the many shops and businesses opening its doors. Additional tenants will include a Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. branch, the Beer Market, Breathe Yoga and Juice Bar Inc., the Corner Bakery Cafe, Insomnia Cookies, Saxby’s Coffee, and more. Schumer said that the first 40 residential tenants have already leased and moved into the housing portion of the project as well. These 40 units are located in College Town’s new Mount Hope Lofts, which consists of residential units that line Mt. Hope and Elmwood Avenues.

Schumer highlighted that, as part of the College Town development, a new grocer, Constantino’s Market, will open in the Mt. Hope neighborhood for the first time in over a decade. Just last month Schumer secured $748,436 in federal Community Economic Development Healthy Food Financing Initiative funds through the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make the planned 20,000 square foot grocery store a reality. The majority of the grant was used to create a business loan fund managed by the Action for a Better Community, Inc. (ABC), which is a private nonprofit community development corporation, to provide a low-interest loan to the grocery store operator, Constantino’s Market. This loan helped Constantino’s finance the necessary start-up costs so that it could open. ABC now plans to use the rest of the grant to create a job-training and placement program to fill the majority of the grocery’s 46 new jobs, including 30 new full-time jobs, with local low-income individuals. Currently, the College Town area along Mt. Hope Avenue is labeled a ‘food desert’ by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the establishment of a new grocery store has been a major community goal since the Mt. Hope Wegmans store closed over a decade ago. With these funds committed, Schumer explained, the grocery store will now be able to open in April of 2015.

Schumer was joined at the ribbon-cutting by University of Rochester officials and local leaders.

Schumer has long supported the development of Rochester’s College Town. Schumer secured a $20 million loan for Rochester’s College Town project through HUD in September of 2012. This loan allowed College Town developers to break ground on schedule and create an estimated 900 construction jobs and 320 permanent jobs. The $20 million represented a significant piece of College Town's $100 million phase-one work to redevelop the then largely dilapidated 14-acre area that surrounds the University of Rochester and Mt. Hope Avenue. The low interest loan will be repaid at a 1 percent rate or lower, and will be paid back in full. Therefore, it is not a burden to taxpayers.  The HUD 108 loan is required to be repaid over a 20-year period using various property tax revenues generated by the new developments, businesses, hotels, and residents at College Town. In addition to personally calling HUD Secretary Donovan to secure this loan, Schumer met with then-Rochester City Mayor Tom Richards and University of Rochester President Joel Seligman over a garbage plate lunch to pledge his support for the project and to push HUD to grant timely approval of this loan.

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