This will be a tremendous addition to the Arena/ Cobblestone District. Good to see this block come back to life!!! Just gotta get the population in the region to strt heading positive again and shake the negative image that runs rampant throughout this country about Buffalo. Positive perceptions will make these developments happen sooner and on a larger scale.
No surprise with this change of plans. Good news for the cobblestone parking district.
If the offices are a success I imagine that a demand for living space will increase and the condominiums will follow. I am happy that this story doesnt say "condo's out-building up for sale" In ten years the cobblestone district is going to be alive like never before. I can't wait.
I love the cobblestone streets, but I wish there was more than just parking lots in between them. It would be really awesome to see a shopping district here. Freestanding anchor stores built to look old, large windows, high ceilings, like the NYC stores in SOHO, I believe. This would be the icing on the cake and bring some more life down there. With everything else going on, why not.
This area is getting a real eclectic mix of uses. It will have everything. Industry, residential, block buster sports, major new retail. office, water, major entertainment and public housing.
Neighborhoods that have everything are usually pretty good places. The trick will be to get all the elements to work together rather than being isolated islands. We know the casino by nature will be an island.
This area will become more attractive with the opening of the Bass Pro and waterfront projects, and the building of the Casino / hotel complex. We need to be patient.
yeah people are people. and the more downtown the better. Living working or otherwise. Also glad it isn't a dead project but shifting to real demands.
just to comment on STEEL's post about getting "all the elements to work together rather than being isolated islands", I think good urban design and land use planning will play a large part in how effective that is. As someone aptly named this the Cobblestone Parking District, it will be difficult to transform this area into a vibrant neighborhood without addressing the impact that the masive parking lots have on the vibrancy of the area.
I am absolutely amazed that nobody has thought of this “significant interest from office tenants” to rather mean "insignificant" interest from people willing to pay $250K+ for a sub 1,000 sq foot condo in an area that boasts nothing more than an Irish Pub or a Barn with Slots in it within walking distance at the present time... not to mention my assumed hold ups in permits and less govt assistance for construction being that they were originally to be condos.
This sounds like a great development in the ongoing revitalization of the Cobblestone District. I'm sure Savarino did their homework before making this change - they have some of Buffalo's sharpest folks on their team. Also some of the most decent - when I told them I was considering graduate school in historic preservation, they had their project site manager give me a tour of the buildings and work in progress at their Mississippi Street site.
In recent years I've worked on several projects for another company in the Cobblestone District, and really love it there - so will Savarino's new tenants. The dilemma is what to do at lunchtime with some great options within walking distance: Chef's, DiTondo's (haven't seen Giambra there much lately), the Swannie House, the HSBC dining center (not bad), and now Morrissey's. And recently discovered Sharkey's in the Larkin District just a short drive away.
Background on Cobblestone: not so long ago, many of the parking lots there were just urban prairie of weeds overgrowing razed remains of Buffalo waterfront industry. When the HSBC Arena came along, the plan was to bulldoze smooth multiple blocks with billiard smooth pavement over all - an uninterrupted sea of asphalt. The historic streets would vanish, including one that was built on the bed of a former industrial canal. That alarmed preservationists like Tim Tielman who - in a turn of smart preservation marketing - developed the "Cobblestone District" theme. The resulting plan led to the current streetscapes, including historic-themed lighting and exposed-aggregate sidewalks. So even though now those blocks are all parking, the streetscape suggests buildings could appear there again - and with folks like Savarino and Avalon on the scene, it wouldn't surprise me.
But the best feature - in my view, the coolest - is the relaid stone pavers which couldn't more clearly delineate and declare the historic street alignments in the district. And I've been told - still have trouble wrapping my mind around this - that *volunteer teams* took up and relaid all the stone pavers. They even included neat features like blocks set at an angle to show where a railroad spur formerly ran. I bet the volunteers kept Buffalo's chiropractors busy...
My suggestion to Savarino: give each new tenant a copy of the Preservation Coalition's "Buffalo's Waterfront, A Guidebook" edited by Tim Tielman. My copy is worn ragged from hours of exploration I've enjoyed during many lunchhours in the Cobblestone District.
What?!! The residential component is being reduced and this is seen as positive by the commentators above?
pgf1948; you mean demand won out and office space is going in there. Can't we dictate the terms to the developer who took the risk of buying and now developing the building so the government can move in there. Of course its seen as a positive. If you don't like it call Carl and buy him out.
A building of this style and sophistication needed terrace duplexes and nothing else. It's such a shame that commercialism has seeped into so grand an edifice. Evidence again that Buffalo teeters on the brink of possible decline.
pdf1948: chain yourself to the building and block it from happening.
I really had my hopes up to live in one of these condos...I suppose I can still hope for the Statler, but it wont be the industrial loft that i'm looking for
I think its rather bizarre that Savarino is finding clients to fill a 5story building in the cobblestone district BUT THEY DONT HAVE ANY CONFIDENCE IN BUILDING ANYTHING HIGHER THAN 2 STORIES IN MIDTOWN!
after a while the only comment that comes to mind is "what the f---k"
I ,and I'm sure you all, would think with all the demand for downtown living that more buildings would be remodeled faster and faster. I wouldn't think that there would be any problems here. I don't think that there a surplus by any means of apartments in Downtown. Downtown needs more apartments.
I'm still sticking to my original comment that the cobblestone district should be built up to be an exclusive shopping district for anchor stores. I think that this would be very attractive.
downtown buildings....has anyone been in the ticky tacky 1950s homes that are so prevalent in the older parts of tonawanda, west seneca, cheektowaga, etc. In todays world these homes are obsolete....they dont have the square footage....that people demand today...nor do they have the capability to expand..and yet they have all the same maintenance issues as larger homes....
more and more downtown underground parking and elevators with big window views.. are the preference
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