Buffalorising has been redesigned.

Does anybody know what they are going to do with the stone facade part of the building? Is it going to be an entrance, is it actually part of the building or is it basically just a wall in front of the glass structure?

I kind of hope they do something with it.

I would find it hard to believe they would just leave it as it currently looks. My guess is that there is still some significant "dressing up" to be done.

I believe there will be some "dressing up" done to the facade but the main entrance to the building will be in the middle of the two towers (you can barely see the entrance on the left hand side of the picture above). The employee entrance will be via a skywalk from the second floor of the ramp. I do not think there will be any entrance or really, any significant use of the facade. It does serve to extend the first floor of the building out, and the second floor of the building will have a large terrace for employees which will be set behind the facade.

Last I knew only restoration treatments (like repointing or somesuch) were planned for the Gas Works facade.

It is an extremely weak adaptation of a very bold and beautiful stone facade. It is a tremendous lost opportunity. Over all this building has lived up t all its expectations - in my oppinion

I don't quite get what you mean, Steel.

I mean, your third sentence. Thanks.

Not only is the design scheme weak, but it is entirely an auto-oriented complex, ill-situated to contribute positively to downtown foot traffic, retail sales or support of the transit system. Just think - this could have been in Trico, 1500 employees doubling the daytime population of the Theatre Distirct overnight. And right around the corner from a Metro station! Unfortunately, we won't be seeing many of these employees, that is, in any place aside from the skyways between the building and the massive parking ramp, which could have been much smaller if the building were in convenient walking distance of any kind of transit at all.

it adds youth to an aging skyline... who cares about the flaws (that, of course, would be found no matter what the circumstances. )

I find it rare to see the parking ramp behind it almost bigger than the actual office building....How dumb. ..Underground parking would have been a nice touch people.

It's far from the best it could have been but at the very least it's good that 1,300 employees are coming to downtown on a formerly contaminated site.

This is a company that, like National Fuel and many others before it, could have taken its people and its business to the suburbs. Instead they chose to build a new building on a contaminated site and bring its 1,200 employees downtown.

Can't we celebrate that instead of picking apart every detail of their building design? Ultimately, more foot traffic is generated by more feet, and HealthNow is providing a lot of them to downtown that weren't there before.

That strip of land was really never conducive to any type of foot traffic for downtown [but i bet they still get to thursdays in the square] , not to mention a contaminated site, and yet they believed in downtown enough and picked that spot and built.

Add to that a new building in a rusty skyline that is probably the only city skyline in America to have not changed in 30 or more years.

Add to that that they are moving the 1300 employees to the metro area of Buffalo instead of an "office park" in the burbs or worse yet down South to Charlotte or some other "hot" spot.

I might add, look at any city America, not all the buildings are architectural wonders, many are just attractive buildings such as this that suits that particular companies needs.

[and how many of these people may be interested in a new condo or apartment downdown and help keep their paychecks in the metro area?]

Agree with you, Martin, for the most part. I am very positive about this building and actually like it. However, it's not really true to say that the skyline has not changed in 30 years. Fountain Plaza is only half that age, and City Center (condos at Main and Chipewa) is even younger. There's also that other condo building neat the marina. Also HSBC Atruim and Arena. Probably many others too, but you get the idea. Healthnow is a major step forward because of its location. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people drive past Buffalo every year on their way to some other place. They cross the Peace Bridge, pass by us on the I-190, and go on with their lives. Sure Healthnow could have added 1300 employees to the outskirts of the Theatre District instead. But I am thrilled that when those passers-by take a quick look at our skyline (and that's what leads to our national/international reputation) they are now going to see a shining, curved glass wall and modern architecture, where they used to see a contaminated brownfield in the middle of our downtown. I think the PR value to Buffalo is unmeasurable. And when another 12-story condo tower goes up right across the Thruway from this builinding, it is going to help make Buffalo's renaissance more apparent to the people who are just passing through, and maybe don't have the time to stop off at the Elmwood Village.

As someone said before, the building holds the Gas Works facade off to the side like a pair of smelly socks. It could have been the grand entrance to a rebuilt masonry masterpiece, but instead we got another artless glass box.

who cares how they incorporated the old Gas Works facade? The most important part of this project is that it brings money and jobs downtown. No matter what people do around here someone always has to complain about something. I think its great what they are doing and agree with dak and martin.

I'm very happy to see this project happening. It's a great looking building and it will bring more people downtown on a daily basis.

2 pluses, no negatives!

well like it or not, this facility fills the gap between downtown and the expressway. While we can argue about parking ramps and how it will not add to the retail enviroment all day, we need to face the fact that 1300 people will be added to working downtown, thats a nice jump. In a Buffalo dream world we could picture all kinds of cool stuff like HealthNow workers taking metrorail from their homes in Masten to work here...then walking further into downtown for lunch and shopping...but REALITY says they will drive, and when you drive you need to park.

It might be a good idea to have that ramp there regardless, now if buildings like the Krog get built...HeathNow can park their cars as well...and surface lots go away.

Might not see it now, but this is a BIG step for downtown, and if we are lucky this in itself may spur some development.

I'm trying soooo hard not to be negative about this project.... but the location of this building demanded a far more signature like building. Instead, we are left with a building that resembles a suburban high school.

With so few development opportunities, Buffalo cannot waiste them.

Again, if YOU would just elect a leader with balls - projects like this would shine; as well as many others, including the Elmwood Hotel.

You'll learn one day Buffalo... you will.

there is the FIRST PROBLEM

you are saying that elected leaders determine architectural popularity, if its not an office building than a hotel.

elected officials are there to make sure that everything is done correctly by code...they can not push businesses in the private sector into corners over and "image" they want because it might be popular for them.

Buffalo has been doing this for years, and we can count how many new buildings have gone up in the CBD in the last 5 years on what? maybe one hand? lol

Allow the politicans to make political buildings and public space their concern...I mean if architecture is their thing...look at the Rath building.

I believe Buffalo's about to learn with the Buffalo City Tower. Its orignial, signature, tall, and modern. For now, we have to take what we get and appreciate the development.
As for the parking garage, Farnsworth is right. People drive, and we can't stop them. If downtown wants to continue its amazing renassance, it needs to give in to some of the less obtrusive demands of the overall population. People drive, live with it.

Yea yeah N.W. Farnsworth,

Go share your thoughts with Rudy Guilani and Robert Norquist!

It would be my honor to have lunch with Rudy, can you set something up? lol

Cities do have the right and the purpose to control what is built within the city, hence zoning. The attitude of desperation and take whatever we can get no matter what its effect on the city is not acceptible. So its a driving city, give businesses incentives for employees who use public transportation. Use the available federal money to expand the light rail system. Also, don't make free parking a right, reduce the affordability of parking and you'll see an increase in transit use and pedestrians. Suburban development within the city while in the short term providing jobs, does not spur complimentary development, as there is no incentive to walk anywhere but the parking garage.

Although i agree with most of the criticism of this building, it could have been much worse. If it was built on the other side of the 190,(like the recently proposed condos) there would be absolutely no incentive to walk downtown. At least here it is it is possible to walk places, with out having to walk under a scary overhead thruway.

The new HealthNow Blue Cross headquarters is definately a massive aesthetic improvement over the formerly barren, brownfield site. Yes this building could have been designed better but beggars can't be choosers, we should be very thankful that HealthNow considered downtown the best and most competitive site for their Western NY headquarters. They could have very easily ended up in some god forsaken, dysfunctional, low-rise suburban office park in Amherst or Clarence. The building built here is aesthetically pleasing and quite impressive with its modern glass facade. It would have been perfect if it had at least twelve to fourteen stories but the current eight stories is not bad at all and it is still a positive architectural addition to downtown Buffalo.

This building may be ugly but we have to pick our battles here. It is downtown development, it is replacing an ugly brown slab of land, and it is bringing lots of jobs downtown.
In addition their old building will be reused immediately by Canisius.
If we are lucky then maybe some of their 1300 employees will take residence downtown as well.

nick...if we listen to you...downtown will be in Amherst, and the CBD here would look like Bethlehem Steel.

I'm not against the expansion of metrorail or developing surface lots...but I understand why 90% of the metro no longer shops or eats downtown also.

Buffalo-downtown has to complete with Amherst and Cheektowaga and their office parks, thats reality. And the game is not public transportation for the white collar community, they drive.

And about zoning, I don't think Buffalo should fail to zone, but every project the city gets its looked over well...perhaps because of the lack of projects and the amount of importance put on these projects there is too much weight on them...too many restrictions and too much NIMPY allowed by media. This goes both ways, but Buffalo is in a position now after being practically dead for 30 years that if we can get someone to build an office building downtown...we better get it done and if we don't like the design, wait for the next (or do what Dulski is doing...rehab)

There is vacancy, Class A is in need...but waiting and being overly selective about designs, projects and how everything must be perfect using rail, state funds, federal funds...political ribbon cutting and keeping people's wallets fat...that explains Buffalo for the last few decades, and it FAILS TO WORK.

This building is not ugly at all; it is a very attractive building and is a fine addition to downtown and to the waterfront.

It is an excellent catalyst to what Buffalo needs..... large coprorations to build downtown on abandoned brownfields.

There is an enormous hurdle that has been croseed...I am suprised the project was actually completed this quickly.

The city of Buffalo needs to momentum, I believe we are getting it now.

The building is attractive, but does little for the urban fabric of downtown. As I recall, the people who built this thing were excited to be contributing to the "revival" of downtown. If they were truly concerned about downtown Buffalo, then I think they would have been open to a few suggestions, such as underground parking and a better use for that stone facade.

Nevertheless, even if only 5% of the employees choose to live somewhere nearby, thats still 65 people added to the streets of downtown. Also, I'm sure that eventually developers will see the potential of 1300 people and open up retail nearby, in an area of downtown that lacks much of anything. Ultimately, downtown will benefit from this project.

Why do people get so angry when others expect a $80mil development to do the most it can?

What s wrong to want it built in a way that leaves the door open for further development down there instead of just an island by itself? Or even a design to promote further development. Who says that the area down there can not be more than it is? Well we are sure maknig the moves to insure that it doesn't. Its there. Be Happy. Be quiet. Right?

HSBC tower pry seemed like a good idea at the time. It blocked the 190 and the old industrial waterfont from the nicer portion of main St. But look at it today. The area back there is now being rebuilt as a canal district that has a big wall blocking it from the rest of Main St and downtown. A two block fortress with no street level interaction.

Hey, Issa wants to build a new tower. Maybe we shouldn't care if he decides to build it directly over Elmwood with a raised ground level that no one can see from the street? Is something that wasn't there so it must be good right? Maybe we can build a parking garage right on Niagara square if the court house falls through. We drive here so we shouldn't care.

Why do buisnesses grow? They have buisness plans with the goal of continual growth. Making decicions that will cause more long term growth, or at the least, not prohibit it. Others do the quick-fix appease the stock holder moves only to be in trouble again the next quarter. Same with localities.

People are always talking up Younge St in Toronto. How many surface lots do you see on it? Parking ramps? How many of the office towers on it do not have street interction?

We complain about what we are not, yet fail to make the moves that could get us there. How about we start to make moves that combine to be more than the sum of thier parts. Especially when you are making $80mil moves.

Now if we could just extend Church St. to Lakefront Blvd, so as to connect downtown to the marina and its associated developments, and enhance Church Streets streetscape to make it more of a boulevard than an expressway. I'm sure some pedestrian traffic, along with new retail, would start happening, what with Healthnow, the new Ellicott Development residences, the Krog building, etc.

My primary concern with this building is not the architecture (which I agree is bland) but rather its placement and connecting infrastructure. If we want all of these new employees to have a positive effect upon Downtown Buffalo, we have to improve the street and pedestrian infrastructure between this site and Niagara Square. As beloved as the City Hall is, the building actually forms quite a barrier between the CBD and the area where Blue cross is locating. This is the reason why we have seen such little good development in this area, outside of some suburban office buildings. What exists is not a friendly environment where employees are going to walk into the CBD for lunch or shopping, as it currently stands, the building might as well be in the burbs, with its self contained cafeteria, parking ramp and other amenities.

Buffalo must draft a design plan in which this newer area can become an extension of the CBD, rather than more of a separated area. Perhaps Elmwood Avenue, running behind city hall could be narrowed a bit and returned to a two way street. The city hall parking ramp should be eliminated, allowing Genesee St. to reconnect with the water, and for some of that plan from about a decade ago to be realized. This could all be done in the context of larger downtown goals, such as the downgrading of the 190 expressway, elimination of the skyway and restoration of the radial streets.

I think people would be shocked to find out how close the blue cross area and the rest of downtown are to the water, if we could just improve our infrastructure. Thats the only way that we can truly realize the full benefit of projects such as this.

Exactly. Just like the Pearl Street Brewery- If you removed the skyway ramps (and the skyway) and made those parcels developable the Pearl Street Brewery would be percieved as the Northern Limit of the waterfront neighborhood. Espcially if the aud were demoed and the commercial slip extended to its historic meeting point with the erie canal.. The Pearl Street Brewery would be steps from water and that is how you connect downtown to the waterfront. Much of this is about fixiing the INFRASTRUCTURE! - and making sure building as built to the street with friendly facades.

N.W. for the past 30 years downtown has become Amherst and it seems parking options have continued to be available cheaply in downtown, scratch that, not cheaply but rediculous. As far as downtown competing with Amherst, a good regional plan and growth boundary would rebalance the situation, but that is entirely beyond the parochial boundaries of WNY. What you mention as political ribbing cuttings is deffenetly a problem in buffalo, but does not mean there shouldn't be good planning or urban design. Having a planning commission that actually reviews projects and isn't a political arm would go a long way to limiting the hand in the cookie jar. I just don't buy the fact that Buffalo must accept whatever is willing to come, no matter how it affects the city.

well I guess there are two ways of looking at things here...

There is the way we all wish things could be and how wonderful they all could be, and there is the way things are going to be...no matter how much we cross our fingers and hope...common sense prevails.

Why do people work office jobs and shop in Amherst and Cheektowaga? easy nagigation of city streets, LOW CRIME, free parking...and you want to FORCE people to ride the MetroRail? gimme a break, people are not pressed into doing anything, especially the business class...they will just move to a place they have their luxury in.

in other words, don't propose what you know will only leave the city gasping for air and full of socially dependent citizens riding the bus and rail...its the white collar jobs that are keeping Buffalo alive as it is.

expect automotive transit to and from work, it just happens now...and will for a long long time.

Buffalo has to be the most over-planned city I have ever seen, its like having a dozen doctors fix a broken finger, attention is needed lowering taxes and cleaning up the city with new business....NOT LOOKING FOR THE GOLDEN EGG project to save everything.

Worked in a similar building on Main St by Transit in Amherst. Had its own cafe/cafeteria. Had its own health club. Had its own terrace and gardens.

Staff had enough after about six months and started going elsewhere for lunch, walks, after hours, etc. It almost seemed to the staff that they were being "kept" or controlled.

The idea that the staff here will not go into the downtown area - this too shall pass - as long as there are destinations for them.

Atlanta and Houston are results of allowing everything thats gonna happen, to just happen, because thats the way its going to. I don't want to live in Atlanta or Houston, I much prefer Buffalo, even as it currently is. Why do I have to throw out all principle of good priority, development and design and live in Atlanta? I would just move there if thats what I wanted.

Well..there's a bunch of my friends who feel "that's just the way it is" doesn't work for them and live in other parts of the country. With the city losing half its population in only 50 years maybe its time for something new, if it succeeds the city has changed for the better, and if it fails, well the city will be in nearly the same situation. Providing ammenities in the city that are the same as the burbs is foolish, a city can never compete on the terms of the suburbs. Success will only be achieved if Buffalo acts like a city, not a cluster of nodes.

I guess N.W. thinks that the global supply of petroleum is infinite and we'll always have cheap gas to drive everywhere all the time. Take a look at http://www.peakoil.net/ to figure out why we need compact, walkable cities and public transit NOW. Just because well-off Americans are driving addicts doesn't in any way obligate the planet to cooperate.

you all wanna save the earth, you can't even save Buffalo.

come on, I drive a compact car, little Honda and it does fine...but I will allow nobody to tell me I can't drive my car and I have to take a light rail...in Buffalo, it only serves a fraction of the potential population to begin with, so in most cases its not even an option.

Atlanta and Houston may not be the design you all like, I myself just see two very wealthy and business friendly cities....with alot of jobs to offer.

Don't take me as a Buffalo trasher...I just get a little bothered by the Elmwood state of mind where everything revolves around principles that are just so unrealistic that it ruins not only the viability of your opinions, but the image of that entire group of thinking.

regardless of the liberal babble here, good looking on HealthNow and Uniland Delaware...hope to see more private sector stuff soon.

Earth to N.W. Farnsworth: I am running out of oil. Repeat: I am running out of oil.

Earth to Urbis...state a realistic alternative option!

I would love to say we are all gonna toss the keys and bike to commute, perhaps those in Hamburg can boat up to the city?

I'll be honest, when Toyota and Honda stop production on gasoline engines...I'll worry, otherwise I will let the experts who would study that for the good of the market tell me that there is still ample supply, sure not as much as we started with but thats just common sense.

I hear about electric cars, I hear about solar, all kinds of cool sounding ideas...but are they a fully revolutionized alternative? no

As long as people have the money for gas, they will buy it for whichever size auto they own...thats their right to do so and I would not waste my air talking the people away from it...better let them learn themselves.

still, how you gonna save Buffalo? please tell.

Regina,
All hype and panic aside. The automotive industry will begin to seriously explore alternative fuels when the price of oil is actually a concern. Until then, the rich will afford to drive, and the poor can go back to using the bus. This will create a need for mass transit and possibly a return to urban living. I doubt that we will see this in the next 30 years, despite all the doom and gloom that the environmentalists spew at us.

To the naysayers on this message board: if you are so fed up with the style of buildings being constructed, or their use, or their location, please become an architect or developer and put your OPINIONS into motion. Unless you can make a difference with your bitching, it only serves to anger many people that are reading your OPINIONS.

I think HealthNow is fine. I suppose that instead of this "faceless" building, with an old stone facade that is not being used to your satisfaction, you would rather see an empty, contaminated lot with an old stone facade not being used AT ALL?! That thing has been there as long as I can remember, supported by buttresses and 2X4's, but hell, that would be a tourist destination, so why change it? I know ones of people that would flock to see a 150-year old stone wall standing in the middle of an empty field in an embarassing section of "downtown".

The point is, 1,300 jobs downtown. A large office building on the city's tax roll. The potential that these employees will venture off of the campus for lunch in the downtown core (many of you don't see it happening, but it is possible, so back off with your "it won'ts").

And, if anybody noticed, I used the words "I think" and "possible", not "it is" or "will" or "won't". After all, these are my opinions - lucid and well-thought out as they may be. I don't care if you agree with them or disagree with them, because that's your opinion.

Bravo, HealthNow. I like what you've done here.

I can't get past the monsterous parking ramp visible from the 190. It reminds me of those suburban houses with the garage way in front sticking out like a snout. When I'm on the 190 I think - oh, there's a building attached to that ramp.

The ramp is way to noticeable, even when at Niagara Square, the ramp is all you see. It's like a giant building without windows. I know how great it is, blah, blah, 1300 new people downtown, a new buildings, etc. But, the design could have been more urban friendly. Built UP with undeground parking and/or a smaller parking ramp so it's no SO Noticeable and bigger than the actual building...Overall, I hope these complants are viewed by other developers thinking of building downtown and see "We don't want suburban builts here". "We want to enjoy a city scene, lifestyle, not the burbs, if we wanted to see suburban office parks, monster size ramps, and no street life, then we would work and live in the burbs". Keep it TALL, keep parking HIDDEN, ramps to a minium and incorporate street activity (retail, restaurants, entertainment venues on the first floor).

"The potential that these employees will venture off of the campus for lunch in the downtown core (many of you don't see it happening, but it is possible, so back off with your "it won'ts"

Exactly: so why not design the building and surrounding area to actually increase the potential, or even make it desireable and convienent?

Why people harp like we are against the jobs is rediculous. We want these jobs to provide the most benefit to the area and actually promote further growth, not stifle it by creating a wall, be it material or percieved.

Why not reach as far as we can with our projects? Why stop at "good enough, be thankful"?

I don't see many of these workers walking for lunch untill more is built up around it with restaurants. Right now, it's a hike to walk from this site to any place to eat. Don't belive me? Go ahead and test it for yourself, start at the HealthNow site, walk to the nearest cafe/restaurant (if you can find one) and time yourself. You most likely would have to order out in order to make it back to work on time. Till the rest of this section of town is built up, I don't see much walking around it as is.

Rick, I certainly hope you're not one of those "walkability" people. A one block walk gets you to the buffet at Adam's Mark. A two block walk gets you to a number of restaurants that the City Court and City Hall folks go to. A three block walk gets you all the way up to Main Street. Even I go that far on my worst "pain days."

The building is there. As a city planner I can notice the shortfalls of the location and the site plan, but I can also recognize opportunities to rectify the lost opportunity in the shadow of City Hall. As many of you know, the neighborhood north of Court Street was demolished and the streets (Trenton, 4th, Efner, and much of Court itself) were simply covered over with dirt and grass. Why not use the presence of HealthNow to give rebirth to that neighborhood - mixed-use development on a reconstructed and reconnected grid system. If nothing else the company's presence could provide momentum for undoing a terrible urban renewal mistake and recreating a lost Court Street neighborhood.

I think some of you fail to realize how cost prohibitive underground parking can be. We don't have real estate values like Toronto or New York, any new development will likely not have more than one or two levels of underground parking. Yes, they did build a large garage for all of their employees. They also could have built a few large surface lots in the surrounding area, but they did not. And if the building was any taller, there'd be people complaining that it blocks the view of City Hall.

If this was the suburbs, the building would be only 3 stories high, and there would be a sea of parking around it. Parking garages are non-existant in the suburbs. Enough with the suburban office park comparisons.

malooga, some of us may actually be going to school for those jobs that you mentioned in your posting!

Then get your degree before you mouth off.

I've read this debate over and over not just on BRO but on blogs in Philadelphia and Chicago as well. It's an argument between "take what they give us" and "the ideal urban environment." Since everyone is familiar with the former (I grew up in the suburbs and I'm sure we've all been there from time to time) the latter can be summarized as follows:
Multistory office, condo/apartment, townhouse, etc. on the street with hidden parking or no parking and retail on the ground floor.
This formula has been the way cities have been built for centuries. It was only after WWII that planners and architects began to experiment with large open plazas, parking garages, convention centers that come to the ground but unfortunately do not add anything to street life. After fifty years, planners and architects have come to the conclusion that this type of construction (either away from the street or blank wall) is detrimental to any downtown area. Parking is necessary and underground parking is expensive (each space costs twice the price of a new car-above-ground ramps about the price of a new car per space), the idea however is to make it as unobtrusive as possible to street life. Even on large lots in the downtown area smaller buildings could be built at the street to hide the parking in the center. Any developer who recognizes the above realizes that these steps taken (although increasing short-term costs) adds to the value of their property in the long run. It is only recently that bankers have come up with financing options that do not incentivize developers recouping their costs in the first seven years or so of the development's life. Hopefully this gains traction and more options become available in the future.
I certainly don't think this post (or most for that matter) should make you angry. Those of us focused on the ideal are merely using human history as our guide.

Take a few minutes and actually go down and see the building if you get the chance...the Gas Works does work...I like it...

Ouch, complaints about the "elmwood" state of mind, but one should shut up without having a degree...hmmm

N.W.,

The alternative is what Buffalo has in spades: acres and acres of high-quality, pre-automobile infrastructure. Compact, walkable, multi-use neighborhoods. Consider that we were the 8th largest city in the US before the advent of the automobile. Meaning: people and goods managed to get from here to there using rail, canal, lake, trolley, bicycle, wagon, and shoe leather.

Investing in automobile infrastructure in 2007 is as stupid as investing in a buggy whip factory in 1907.

Street Grid, Street Grid, Street Grid...

I've seen many people write that the street grid from days gone by needs to be re-established. Could someone please explain why this is so critical to the revelopment of downtown. The convention center cuts off Genesee St...Why is this such a problem that it needs to be corrected in order for downtown to rise from the ashes?

With all the problems that need to be addressed in downtown Buffalo, this doesn't seem like it would be at the top of the food chain. Going one step further, I'm not sure if a list was made up, that the street grid would even make the top 50 issues to be dealt with.

A couple of other things...

1. Why does there have to be non-stop digs regarding the suburbs? We get it already, the suburbs are shit from a design perspective and you don't want anything that resembles the suburbs downtown. Point taken. Now stop with the city is good, suburbs are crap nonsense.

2. Underground parking...with all the land available and the additional construction costs involved in building underground parking(I would assume this is the case), if you were footing the cost for a building, would the parking be an above ground ramp or underground ramp? Once again, spending other peoples money is very easy.

You guys are missing one important little item when you keep bringing up that underground parking should have been incorporated into the HealthNow headquarters. That important little item is known as a high water table which makes underground parking very cost prohibitive. This is a waterfront site and the water table is high at this location because of its closeness to Lake Erie and also at one time this was mostly lakeshore swampland.

About street grids: when streets form a connected network, they disperse traffic by providing a broad variety of pedestrian and vehicular routes to any destination. Contrast this with the all-too comon experience of getting on an "expressway" only to find out there's an accident a three miles ahead and no one cannot exit for ten miles. You are trapped at a crawl for how long...?

Gridded streets are also magnets for development. They provide lots of desirable corner sites, which benefit from visibility to least two streams of foot and vehicular traffic.