Binghamton Blight: The Historic Kenmore Is No More

The most prominent eyesore in downtown Binghamton now is history.

Demolition crews have completely cleared the site at 263 Washington Street where the Kenmore Building stood for the past 135 years.

The work to tear down the imposing three-story apartment house began April 23. The brick building was demolished after about a day.

Knocking down the structure was only one part of the project. After that, workers from LCP Group of Vestal filled large trailers with tons of demolition debris.

Large piles of construction materials and other items that were behind the building also had to be loaded onto trucks. The debris was hauled to a landfill near Jamestown.

The abandoned building became a symbol of Binghamton's blighted property problem. Bricks and other pieces of the structure had been falling to the ground for the past decade, posing a major public safety hazard.

A limited liability company that uses a New Paltz address acquired the building for $57,500 in 2009.

Kevin Findlay of Binghamton and Philip Costa of Wallkill were found guilty of 50 code violation charges late last year.

At one point, the owners submitted detailed plans for a $2.5 million project to restore the Kenmore and create 26 modern apartments in the structure.

An Empire State Development official described the location as a "well-known eyesore." The state approved $500,000 to boost the redevelopment effort which never became a reality.

WNBF NEWS VIDEO: A tour of the Kenmore Building site on May 1, 2026.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or call (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @bobjoseph.bsky.social on Bluesky or @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.