Crews are busy this week raising and setting the steel framework for developer Faisal Merani’s 7,000 sq. ft. addition to the 196-room Holiday Inn on Rainbow Boulevard. The new addition will be built out to Rainbow Boulevard and will feature overhead retractable windows overlooking the sidewalk. This project, like Frank Strangio’s Wingate by Wyndham, will fill a void in the urban fabric adding to an overall more walkable environment on the thoroughfare.
Responding to the demand spelled out in a market study completed in 2010 by HVS Consulting & Valuation Services, Tony Roma’s Steakhouse adds another unique but recognizable offering to a downtown restaurant inventory that is few and far in between. According to the study there is approximately a 46.7 surplus/leakage factor for full-service restaurants. However this isn’t the only market that has been overlooked; drinking establishments serving alcoholic beverages show a 32.8 surplus/leakage factor according to the HVS study. Merani is not alone in recognizing this demand; Michael Dizienzo, owner of the Sheraton Hotel on Third Street is in the process of adding a Rainforest Cafe to his facility.
Hesitancy over downtown Niagara Falls market’s viability has hindered its growth for many years but with the continuous influx of seasonal tourists from May through September, faith in the market has increased as evident by the recent developments. Many more opportunities exist for retail and restaurant development in the downtown core including along Rainbow Boulevard at the Wingate by Wyndham hotel, inside former Niagara Club which stands at the foot of the Goat Island Bridge, and along Third Street where newly redeveloped space awaits a future tenant.