A development group putting together a deal to redevelop the KFC site at Elmwood and Bryant are tweaking their plans. Originally planned as a residential building with ground floor retail, new plans now call for office space on the upper floors. According to today's The Buffalo News, Coffee Culture has set its sights on taking half of the three-story building's retail space. The Canadian-based chain is entering the Buffalo market and is rumored to be close to a deal for a downtown location as well.
The previous proposal featured 4,300 of retail space and enclosed parking on the ground floor (above). Twelve, two-bedroom residential units had been planned for the upper floors. Inquiries by potential office tenants resulted in a change in the mix of uses in the building. A new design circulated in marketing material shows a similarly-scaled building without balconies and a lobby entrance fronting Elmwood.
FJF Development, the team of contractor Paul Johnson, attorney Michael Ferdman and architect Karl Frizlen, AIA of The Frizlen Group Architects, specializes in residential and mixed-use projects. Each had been involved with the Elmwood Village Association and aspired to do high-profile projects on Elmwood.
Their first development at 504 Elmwood Avenue opened in early-2007.
The $1.5 million, three-story, mixed-use project replaced an older commercial structure on the site. The contemporary building includes nine apartments and 3,500 sq.ft. of retail space occupied by Lu Modern Classics and brought new life to what was a struggling block of Elmwood.
On W. Utica Street just steps from Elmwood, the developers continue efforts to pre-selling units in their $5 million Elmwood Village Condo project. The fourteen condominiums include a one-bedroom unit with 1,096 sq.ft. of living space, two-bedroom units with 1,300 to 2,132 sq.ft., and three-bedroom, two-level units with 2,809 sq.ft. Remaining units are priced from $224,900. Work is expected to start when six units are pre-sold.
Get Connected:
448 Elmwood: Paula M. Blanchard, RealtyUSA Commercial Division, 716.856.7107
Elmwood Village Condos: Maureen Flavin, Realty USA, 716.689.8100
Tough real estate market out there, people who had money don't anymore. I am glad to see the project moving forward even if on a different direction.
I think offices on Elmwood would be a fine addition, especially to this part of the strip. A good influx of daytime spending cash could do wonders to boost this area.
Residential is more important in areas where there is very little to begin with (downtown, waterfront). Here some more money might spur residential property owners already on this street to upgrade their properties to try and draw in higher rents. Especially for the stretch just south of here from Bryant to North.