Bull’s Head prepares for a transformative year as new streets a workforce center and newly constructed homes move closer to reality

Rochester, New York – After decades of stalled plans, neighborhood frustration, and a long history of disinvestment, the Bull’s Head area on Rochester’s west side is finally preparing for a turning point. What is now a wide stretch of mostly empty land—roughly 12 acres where West Main Street branches into Chili and West Avenues—is expected to see some of the most visible progress it has had in years. If all continues on schedule, 2025 may mark the beginning of a transformation that residents have been hearing about since the 1990s.

City officials and development partners say several pieces of the long-talked-about redevelopment are now lining up at the same time. New streets, new homes, and a workforce hub are all part of the growing plan to rebuild what many have long called “the western gateway” to the city. The effort is meant not just to change the landscape but to revive a neighborhood that has lived with neglect for generations.

One of the most noticeable elements will be a major realignment of side streets around the district. The city expects construction on these road changes to begin this spring, with the goal of finishing by fall 2027. This work is designed to make the area easier to navigate, open new parcels for development, and set the stage for a broader rebuild of the entire district.

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At the same time, crews are preparing to launch construction on the Bull’s Head Empowerment Center. The building is meant to serve as a kind of anchor—part workforce training hub, part home for organizations that want to reach residents with services and support. USC Builds, the local development firm that has been involved in the Bull’s Head effort for the past four years, expects to house its own offices in the center. A childcare facility and job-training program are also planned for the building, making it a place where people can get workforce support without needing to travel across the city.

Developers say the center has taken careful planning and more than a few revisions. Escalating construction costs forced a rethink of the original four-story design, and the project may ultimately land at two stories—or even one—to make the space affordable for predominantly nonprofit tenants. Even with adjustments, the mission remains the same. As USC Builds President Melissa Suchodolski explained, “What we’re trying to do is create a construction workforce development ecosystem that (is) industry driven, and has job outcomes as the priority.”

Housing is also taking shape in the early stages of planning. Rochester Cornerstone Group, another partner now taking on a larger role, is working with the city on developing 16 for-sale single-family houses. These future homes are expected to rise along newly aligned streets on the north side of West Main. While the layout is still being finalized, developers say they are trying to approach the housing piece in a way that forms a small but meaningful residential cluster—something that gives the area an actual neighborhood feel rather than isolated redevelopment.

Cornerstone recently began preparing a similar project in the JOSANA neighborhood, where it is getting ready to break ground on 14 single-family and townhouse units. That project will be the company’s biggest homeownership effort to date—unless Bull’s Head moves forward at the same time. During a recent interview on WXXI’s Connections, Cornerstone CEO Roger Brandt described the new project as a chance to build something cohesive from scratch. Bull’s Head, he said, feels like “a little bit more of a clean palette, where you’re kind of creating a neighborhood center right in the middle of a traditional neighborhood.”

Beyond the initial 16 planned houses, there is also discussion of a much larger apartment development. Suchodolski says conversations are well underway, and the project could include more than 100 mixed-income and affordable rental units. If approvals and financing line up quickly, the apartments could begin construction at the same time as the for-sale homes, giving the overall redevelopment a sudden burst of activity that Bull’s Head hasn’t seen in decades.

Not every piece of the puzzle involves new buildings. Some of the work focuses on long-standing environmental issues, including the cleanup of a former dry-cleaner property. The city is preparing for additional environmental investigation and remediation at 42 York Street and 845-855 West Main Street. City Council may vote later this month on $78,000 in new funding, which would bring the total cleanup authorization to $838,000. The cleanup is an important step, both for public safety and for unlocking land that could become another development parcel.

Signs of progress have already appeared in smaller ways. A new ESL Federal Credit Union branch recently opened in the district, signaling that commercial investment is beginning to return. But for residents who have watched plans rise and collapse for years, skepticism has remained part of the conversation. Many remember community meetings from the 1990s, when early visions of Bull’s Head redevelopment were shown on display boards but never materialized.

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Suchodolski is familiar with that history—both as a developer and as someone who grew up in the neighborhood. She recalls spending much of her childhood at her father’s ice cream shop on Thurston Road. That personal connection, she believes, has helped her understand community concerns in a way that goes beyond the usual developer-neighborhood relationship. “For me, it’s returning home,” she said. “I will not make a promise I cannot keep. I may not give you all the answers, because I’m working on it, because I really want to hold that integrity to heart and make sure that I’m not misleading or, you know, being incorrect in a way that would break trust.”

Trust, she says, is something that has to be earned slowly—especially when the timeline of large-scale redevelopment can shift without warning. The real estate market is unpredictable, construction costs climb unexpectedly, and plans often need revision. Yet after years of stops and starts, the combination of new streets, new housing, and a workforce center finally gives residents something more solid to look toward.

For now, the empty land at Bull’s Head still tells the story of gaps left by decades of economic struggle. But if next year unfolds the way planners expect, the long-open space will start to fill in. With the coming street realignments, the Empowerment Center, and newly built homes, the neighborhood could begin reshaping itself into a true gateway—one that reflects both its history and its potential.