There’s a huge hole in the ground at the corner of Platt and State Streets in Rochester. It the future site of The Mills at High Falls “It’s going to be putting together 67 beautiful units mixed income mixed use, It is the most successful of all of the housing project that anyone can put together and it would not happen unless we had a team effort,” said Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy. Today Mayor Duffy joined city and state officials in marking the official groundbreaking for the new development. Duffy ands others are hoping the new residential property will help turn High Falls Into a economically thriving neighborhood. Over the years the city made several failed attempts at revitalizing the neighborhood. An effort to transform the area into an entertainment district ended with several businesses closing and leaving the city wondering how to turn things around. Last January the Rochester Urban League and Kodak announced the 17-million dollar project to bring mixed housing to the area. Kodak donated the land for the project. Both city and state officials say the groundbreaking marks a new beginning. “The folks here in High Falls have said to us businesses have come in and not been able to support themselves because there's not enough people living around here so we need the residential investments at the same time we're doing economic development,” said State Housing Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen. Rachel Rosen works with the High Falls Development Corporation. She says this is just what the area needs. “We’ve been very excited about development in high falls. The commercial office market is very strong an has continued to exceed everyone's expectations. It's just a terrific area for businesses and the missing link has been residential which I really believe anchors neighborhoods,” said Rosen. So why will this project succeed where previous efforts have failed? Officials say this time the focus won't be on entertainment as in previous years. They say if you build the mixed use housing then the businesses will follow. What we have seen here as opposed to trying to force an issue we've got to let this area evolve. You see a lot more commercial and office space going into High Falls you have a great housing project right here these are the kind of seeds I think that really makes a big difference,” said Mayor Duffy. Construction is expected to last at least another year.
