Key properties along Ohio Street will have a residential and office space future under plans by Ellicott Development Company. Carl Paladino, Ellicott’s chairman, told The Buffalo News his company is planning apartments along the Buffalo River and an office building on a brownfield site at the corner of Ohio and Chicago streets. The projects will join other nearby developments including Buffalo RiverWorks, RiverFest Park, and the planned Buffalo River Lofts project at the site of the Erie Freight House.
From The Buffalo News:
Carl Paladino said he expects to begin building three or four apartment buildings, each three or four stories high, next year.
The developer said boat docks and window views would make his apartments, on six acres of land, something special.
“We want to get the buildings in the air as much as possible to gain the nice visuals down there, and we are creating boat docks for tenants who want to have their boats parked outside their apartments,” Paladino said. “This will be a significant improvement for the river and the neighborhood.”
Paladino also plans a two- or three-story office building on five acres of land across the street, with construction beginning when he finds a tenant.
Last year Ellicott Development received approvals to demolish three buildings located at 11 Chicago Street, 53 Mackinaw Street and 300 Ohio Street where the office building would be located. All three sites are undergoing environmental remediation through the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s Brownfield Cleanup Program. The parcels, purchased in 2011, surround the historic and crumbling Cooperage building and are adjacent to Father Conway Playground.
Across the street, the Carl Paladino Revocable Trust owns 399 Ohio Street, a 7.26-acre parcel of land stretching over 1200 feet along the Buffalo River. Carl tells The News that the market for residential development is “fairly good”:
“The market has improved for residential development. It’s fairly good right now for apartments,” Paladino said. “Young people – and it’s just a trend thing – they’ve had it with … mowing lawns and all that. They want the urban life they see on TV, and to live approximate to things.”
A southern portion of the parcel is the site of Buffalo Scholastic Rowing Association’s planned Patrick Paladino Memorial Boathouse. The $1.8 million, 16,000 sq.ft. facility will boast a five bay, two-story boathouse that will accommodate 65 shells, with additional space for training, locker rooms and boat repair facilities.