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GreenSpark helps Power Tailor Square Affordable Housing with Solar
Updated October 2025:
GreenSpark partnered with Home Leasing to bring clean, renewable energy to a major redevelopment project at the historic Hickey Freeman building in Rochester, NY. This project—a blend of industrial preservation and new construction—transformed a former garment manufacturing site into a modern affordable housing development with deep community roots and forward-thinking energy goals.
Electricity-powered affordable housing in the heart of Rochester
Home Leasing’s new Tailor Square community consists of 134 affordable apartments for low-income adults 55 and over, as well as 77,000 square feet of manufacturing space for Hickey Freeman to remain on site, an employer of more than 200 people.
The redevelopment also includes 44 supportive housing units for seniors under the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI), is 100% electricity-powered and heated using geothermal technology.
To support the dual-purpose infrastructure—powering both modern housing and industrial equipment—GreenSpark’s commercial and industrial solar designers and engineers collaborated closely with Home Leasing’s design team to identify viable roof surfaces and engineer a solar solution that worked for both sides of the building.
The result: a 288 kW rooftop commercial solar array that offsets a significant portion of the building’s energy needs, delivering long-term savings and clean energy to one of Rochester’s most impactful housing projects.
This collaboration between two locally-owned and headquartered companies, GreenSpark and Home Leasing, is a testament to their shared commitment to community improvement and sustainable development in the Rochester region.
"We are thrilled to support Home Leasing in bringing clean energy to their affordable housing project. Working with a partner who shares our values of improving our communities is truly an honor. Both GreenSpark Solar and Home Leasing are family-owned, B Corp-certified businesses dedicated to using our work as a force for good. This project is the epitome of that dedication."
This partnership builds on the two companies’ successful completion of a previous 2MW affordable housing solar project, reinforcing their ongoing commitment to renewable energy and community development.
"Home Leasing is very excited for the solar installation to begin at Tailor Square in support of our efforts to create affordable housing in a manner that will also be a demonstration of sustainable development. We are also thrilled to be partnering with GreenSpark Solar, a fellow B-Corp."
The solar installation was funded through a combination of NYSERDA’s NY-Sun Program, Affordable Housing Incentives through NYSERDA’S Multifamily Building Program, and a 30% federal tax credit.
Additional project partners:
- SWBR: Providing design plans for the redevelopment of the six-acre site
- LaBella Associates: Managing the civil engineering work
- Sustainable Comfort, Inc.: Green building and energy consultants
