Construction Watch: Genesee Gateway

Nothing like a beautiful gateway into downtown Buffalo that dead ends in front of a 1970s travesty atrium at the Hyatt that has managed to be in business for 35 years and never make a profit.

Amazing!

Then if we get rid of the atrium we get another dead end travesty at the Convention Center.

This has got to re-open the discussion of the Hyatt and the Convention Center! It has too!

very, VERY cool

We need one of those downstate real estate developers to buy it and pretend they know nothing about the copper plumbing being stripped out...but shhh...cant say anything about downstaters...it could be mis-interpreted...and there are politically correct police searching for violators.

After all politically correct speech is really meant to deflect criticism from sanctified groups...can you think about what group is to powerful to criticize?

This is a great development for a wonderful location.

It's great to see this. Think of the number of decrepit buildings in Buffalo that have been rehabbed since the mid 90's. The boarded up for 20 years University Club, the pathetic state of the former Victor Hugo before it was transformed into the Mansion, the burned out shell of 591 Delaware, the Main/Virginia block, the Squirer Mansion, the rehabbed buildings on Ellicott St and many others. Let's hope that the AM&A's store can finally be rehabbed next.

Great news! Hope the crosswalk facilities are beefed up and nicey tied into this project. Perhaps nice brick crosswalks? Call me crazy but I think this project is going to need good crossings as its somewhat an island amongst large vehicular thoroughfares.

Does anybody think anything will ever be built in the the giant parking lot where the Washington market once stood? Seems like prime space once this project is complete.

If you're going to continue with your anti-semitic nonsense, at least do so in a story that has something to do with Jewish people. Cityview (Petrella and Jones), the Hyatt (Snyder) and the Convention Center (public) are not Jewish. The least you can do is keep your bigotry on topic.

The Genesee Gateeway shows that it's nonsense to say that some buildings are "too far gone" to repair.

These projects aren't easy, but they can get done, and have been done many times in Buffalo. Keep it going.

I think that A,M & A's will be next.

Can't wait to see the final product and hopefully a vibrant block once more. Nice to see the Wendt Foundation applying their resources to this project instead of paying lawyers...

This block provides the bones to a solid pedestrian oriented development, nowhere else in the city is a traditional 19th century urban streetscape so intact.

Why is the Wendt Foundation working with a for-profit group? What about the non-profits looking and waiting for funding?

I share the same enthusiasm as most of the posts here though I caution that this project will only truly be a success when tenants have signed leases to fill the wonderful new space.

If you imagine that this project is happening without the help of lawyers, you're crazy.

Why is Wendt funding this instead of non-profits? Probably because they felt that this project is more central to their mission than helping the 29th or 30th (or whatever) best non-profit that applied.

O'Brien is absolutely right, relocate the Ball Park further to the eastside or further to the First Ward Cobblestone District.

Furthermore, all the money spent on this to be a gateway for Genessee to dead end at the Hyatt Atrium and another dead end at the convention center....these obstructions must be removed so that Genessee can atleast connect to McKinely Circle.

Lastly, thoughts need to be considered about moving the Elm/Oak Arteriole further away from downtown. My suggestion is expanding Jefferson into an Arteriole connector between the Kensington and I-190.

yeah move the baseball stadium, while you're at it move lake erie and niagara falls too

why so negative. This is a great project. There has been talk for years of re-connecting Genesse St. This can only help that cause. In fact in the next ten years it might be a real possibility. Once we have the waterfront up and running in the next couple of years a convention center in the Cobblestone district will make sense. We then can open up that block. Which if we do would will reveal the front of the old YMCA building, which is magnificent. Right now it fronts a newer addition to the convention center. Literally about 5 feet away from it. This building was made to front the angles of Genesse as was the "Genesse" building aka the Hyatt. Those buildings were built to scale with the street, and to reveal them would be so spectacularly urban. And then why stop there, we could go down to the other side of Mckinely square and reconnect to the water front- although I think the reconection of Erie st. would be a higher priority. Buffalo is so beautiful. It is so wonderful that it has been moving in the direction of restoring and revealing that beauty. I can't wait to see what the future brings.