A public meeting was held on Tuesday at the Falconer Volunteer Fire Department to discuss the proposal. The meeting was attended by Falconer residents, members of the Greater Falconer Area Economic Development Advisory Committee, property and business owners and Falconer Mayor James Rensel.

“We interviewed a number of companies that were looking to invest in us,” Rensel said. “And through committee recommendations, we went with Home Leasing.”

Home Leasing is a family owned company based in Rochester and owns properties in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The company owns more than 23 properties and services in the business include development, construction and property management.

“We really put our residents at the core of everything that we do,” said Jennifer Higgins, Development Manager of Home Leasing. “Every aspect of our business is driven towards improving the lives of our residents and the communities where we work.”

Higgins said that the company put a lot of time in surveying local residents and businesses so the company could get a better understanding of what the community wants put in the lot. The general consensus seemed to be in favor of smaller units for housing, less senior housing, general occupancy, and commercial space for Main Street. A type of green space or meeting space was also added to the proposal. Work space housing was also asked to be considered.

“We spent the summer talking to several local employers,” Higgins said. “And they were very supportive of us. New York State and their Economic Development was also supportive of us.”

Home Leasing hired a design firm called CJS Architect to tour the community and survey the property to know the boundaries. They also got a sense of what the buildings in Falconer were like, so that the new buildings would fit in with the rest of the village.

The proposal included two buildings and a green space. One of the buildings would front on Main Street as a three-story property with businesses on the first floor and residential areas on the top two floors. On the parking lot side of the building would also have housing units on the ground floor. The other building would front on Davis Street and would be more townhouse style homes.

“All those folks (in the Davis Building) would have front porches, and the second story residents would have private balconies,” Higgins said. “Home Leasing is a big fan of people having outdoor space that’s their own.”

The two buildings would have 50 residential units and between 4,000 to 5,000 square feet of commercial space.

The buildings would include a community room for meetings and other events, a fitness room, on site laundry rooms, a leasing office, and a bike storage room. The buildings would also have 24 hour emergency maintenance and a garden space.

Three different floor plans for the greenspace was shown at the meeting, and most of the meeting involved questions and answers. One question raised what would happen to the neighboring properties. Higgins answered that they would get site control for the five lots and parking lot to help build and finance the project.

The meeting concluded with attendees posting suggestions and opinions on the project.

To find out more about Home Leasing, go to the official site homeleasing.net or check the Facebook page.