Jewish Worship Complex Planned for Binghamton Office Building

The Binghamton planning commission has approved a project to convert part of a downtown office site into a place of worship primarily for university students.

The Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life of Vestal intends to develop the satellite facility on the first floor of a building at Wall and Henry streets.

The building now is used by Exela Technologies, which provides a range of business services.

Exela Technologies, which now includes what had been Sourcecorp, operates a site on Wall Street in Binghamton. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

Rabbi Levi Slonim of the Chabad Center said there's been an increased interest in providing worship and other opportunities downtown as the number of Binghamton University students living there has grown.

Slonim said the organization offers services, classes and social events for students and others in the community.

The Chabad Center about four years ago started leasing space at 60 Henry Street to provide a location for downtown programs. Slonim said that site doesn't meet current needs.

Vestal-based Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life plans to develop a site in this downtown Binghamton building. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

The new site has parking for about 60 vehicles. The building is located north of the Boscov's department store. It's adjacent to the future Water Street parking garage which is expected to eventually include an apartment complex.

Ben Franks, site manager for Exela Technologies, said 50 to 60 people now work for the company at the building. On Tuesday he said it was unclear whether the business will continue to operate at the site with the development of the Chabad Center project or if it may move to another Binghamton-area location.

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

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Filed Under: Binghamton, Chabad House, Downtown

Categories: Articles, Business, Local News