General Description
The Community Access Project will provide infrastructure and public investments needed to support the redevelopment of a large industrial/office complex on the edge of the Village’s downtown into a new mixed-use neighborhood. Core components include roadway rehabilitation and/or reconstruction and pedestrian accessibility upgrades, including new sidewalks and a multimodal trail to connect the redevelopment site and adjacent recreation center with existing trails. Additional project components include new street lighting, and placemaking and beautification activities at key gateway intersections.
The Project Area includes a mostly vacant 88-acre industrial campus within an EPA Brownfield and is currently an impediment that separates the community’s largest affordable housing community (Phillips Village) from the Webster Recreation Center. The Project is the initial phase of the Village’s larger Economic Access Project, and is aligned with the region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy as well as the community’s ongoing Reimagine Webster Initiative - a brownfield master planning effort for a surrounding 800-acre study area funded in part by New York State.
The Village has been coordinating the redevelopment of this area with Xerox Corporation and the Town of Webster, and has been awarded $2,041,000 in total State assistance towards the Master Plan and partial implementation.
In 2024, the Village was also awarded $500,000 in federal Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding, secured via the steadfast efforts of Senator Chuck Schumer and Congressman Joseph Morelle.
Project Benefits
The Project Area is a focus of the community’s ongoing Reimagine Webster Initiative to master plan the future of 800-acres of vacant and/or underutilized commercial and industrial land that includes the largest remaining redevelopment site within the Village of Webster.
The 88-acre site at the center of the Project Area is uniquely positioned to become a new mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhood within the Village, and would foster the development of diversified housing and new employment opportunities. The Site is capable of supporting over 500 new mixed-income housing units and 200,000 sf of market-driven commercial space in a community with a poverty rate exceeding 16 percent. The Project is anticipated to have the following benefits:
1. Maintain and enhance vehicular connectivity between community resources.
2. Expand pedestrian/bicycle access across the community.
3. Facilitate brownfield redevelopment and reuse of underutilized assets to stimulate private investment and job creation.
4. Provide an opportunity for new affordable and market-rate housing.
Next Steps
In Spring/Summer 2024, the Alliance, in cooperation with the Village of Webster and Xerox Corporation, will seek to identify a Master Developer and task them with creating a preliminary development proposal for public review.
Also in 2024, the Village will begin coordination efforts with Monroe County, Town of Webster and Xerox on much needed roadway and pedestrian/bicycle improvements along Phillips Road, Orchard Street, Panama Road and Chiyoda Drive.
All questions may be directed to Matt Chatfield at matt.chatfield@WebsterEDA.org or 585.315.0216.