ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The City Council voted Tuesday to sell a downtown plot fo ESL FCU where the $3 billion credit union plans to build a six-story headquarters, one of two projects this once-thriving Upstate city hopes will aid a revitalization.
The city sold the credit union three adjacent properties on downtown Clinton Ave. for $2.2 million.
The $50 million project will house the credit union’s 300 employees and a new branch and include a 500-car parking garage. The project is scheduled for completion in 2010.
The move to the downtown comes as the lease on the credit union’s offices in nearby Irondequoit is expiring.
ESL is the second major employer to announce plans for downtown, joining local telecommunications provider PAETEC, which will build its worldwide headquarters here.
ESL was chartered in 1920 as Eastman Savings and Loan Association by George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Company and in 1996 it became one of the few S&Ls to successfully convert to a credit union, growing since then into the largest credit union in New York.
Cutbacks at Eastman Kodak and Xerox, the city’s two largest employers, as well difficult times in the Upstate New York economy have led to major vacancies in this once-thriving city. City fathers hope the two projects will encourage other downtown development and help lead a resurgence.
