One of downtown’s most visible restoration projects is moving closer to construction. With bids in, work on CityView Properties' Genesee Gateway located at 99-125 Genesee Street is expected to be underway in August. The $12 million project will see the decrepit Genesee Block at the corner of Genesee and Oak Streets turned into a mix of retail and office space. CityView is teaming with the Wendt Foundation to revitalize the properties. For now, the buildings between Eddie Brady’s and Ellicott Street are not part of the development.
This is not the first time the Wendt Foundation has been involved in a historic preservation project. In 1993, the foundation helped buy and restore East Aurora’s Roycroft Inn, an $8 million undertaking. Douglas G. Swift, president of the non-profit Roycroft Revitalization Corporation, is a also CityView Properties partner.
Genesee Gateway will feature 50,000 sq.ft. of renovated space plus 10,000 sq.ft. of new construction, primarily in a new four-story structure to be built mid-block on a vacant parcel. A landscaped rooftop terrace for tenants may be added.
CityView hopes to attract retailers and restaurants to the project's ground floor. A bar in the Werner Building (99-101 Genesee) appears to be drink-ready. According to a previous owner, the bar was obtained from a closed suburban Charlie Bubbles restaurant (photo above). One lucky tenant is going to be occupying the space behind the waterfall windows in the Werner in what will be one of downtown’s most unique offices (below).
“We believe that there will be significant interest in this project due in part to its highly visible location, and, like LCo, tenants will be interested in being a part of a development that represents a positive step in Buffalo’s growth,” says CityView partner Douglas G. Swift.
CityView, which purchased the properties last fall, has retained Flynn Battaglia Architects, PC to prepare the restoration plan. The firm has overseen a number of local preservation and reuse projects including restoration work at the Guaranty Building, Babeville, Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Flynn Battaglia takes a contextual design approach which benefits the surrounding environment. According to the firm, the property must not only be functional for users and occupants, but it must also be a pleasing experience to the general public.
“We focus on the places between the places,” says partner Ronald Battaglia, FAIA. “Our goal is to make the project a place people are interested at being at.”
Get Connected: CityView's Donna Kostrzewski at 716.856.8400 x109
