Renovations are starting at two distressed properties in Rochester: 447 Thurston Road and the The Apartments at Thurston Village on Chili Ave.
The state is financing the renovations with $10 million dollars designated for preservation of affordable housing.
The project will overhaul badly deteriorated apartments for 63 residents, including 20 units of supportive housing for former convicts working to get back into the community.
Both buildings are in Rochester's 19th Ward and have a history of code and public health violations that the former landlord neglected to fix. The city took legal action to force the properties into receivership, which led to a change in ownership and new management without evicting the tenants.
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren thanked Home Leasing corporation for stepping in as the management, and said safe, decent and affordable housing is a basic human right that the City of Rochester strives to protect.