Real Estate: July 2011 Archives

A long vacant, Main Street building is on its way to new life.  Housing Opportunity Made Equal (HOME) is renovating the building at the northwest corner of Main and Ferry Street as its new headquarters.  An addition on the Ferry Street side will also be constructed.   Besides the offices of the civil rights organization, the project will create ten units of energy-efficient, barrier-free, affordable housing.

The 'Home for HOME' project is altering the face of one of Main Street's most visible intersections, replacing a decrepit

The road for the first phase of Colvin Estates is in.  The 126-lot subdivision is located off Colvin Avenue between Taunton Place and St. Lawrence Avenue.  Burke Homes had planned to have two model homes open by now but work was delayed until approvals to create larger lots was received. 

Original plans called for 26 homes sites in the first phase, each approximately 55' x 90'.  After receiving final City approvals, there will be 22 lots available, some up to 65 feet wide.  The builder expects to break ground on the model

The following comment was left by ECHDC Chairman Jordan Levy in the Benderson/Donovan site post:

Ok, I usually don't participate in these types of discussions, but since the attacks on my character and integrity are so specific here, I think that I need to defend myself.

For the record, Benderson was selected before I joined this Board. Second, we did go through a state mandated RFP process to get to this point and while people may have preferred that we select

Benderson Development today detailed plans to completely reinvent the former Donovan State Office Building as a mixed-use, LEED certified complex, with Buffalo law firm Phillips Lytle LLP, as the anchor tenant of new Class-A office space.

This morning Benderson Development was unanimously awarded the development rights for the critical Donovan Block of the Canal Side project by the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (EDHDC).

The Erie County Industrial Development Agency Board of Directors aided a Canadian company, Future Mobility Products, Inc., with plans to establish U.S. operations in a vacant industrial facility at One Buffalo River Place off of South Park Avenue.

The Mississauga, Ontario maker of innovative wheelchairs, walkers and related products for mobility-challenged individuals, plans to invest $2 million to make physical upgrades and equip the new plant.  Future Mobility expects to create 16 new jobs over the next two years. 

The Erie County Industrial Development Agency Board of Directors today approved a $2.6 million mix of property, sales and mortgage recording tax savings to aid conversion of an historic property at 2915 Main Street in to 87 market rate loft-style apartments. Ciminelli Real Estate plans to invest $15.5 million in the project to revitalize the long-vacant site as Bethune Lofts.

Upper-floor apartments in the much-anticipated three-story retail and residential building at the northwest corner of Elmwood Avenue and Bryant Street are finished.  The 20,000 sq.ft.,  $3.5 million project was developed by The Krog Corp, attorney Michael Ferdman and architect Karl Frizlen. 

Twelve apartments, each with two bedrooms and two baths, are located on the second and third floors of the building.  Units range in size from 1,052 square feet to 1,380 square feet.  There are six different floor plans available. 

Buffalo State College's new dorm complex is nearly complete.  The building is on the east side of Grant Street north of Rockwell Road.  It is one of many projects the college has underway or planned.

The $44 million building contains 507 beds.  1,200 sq.ft. student apartments contain four private bedrooms in suites with two bathrooms, a living room and kitchen. 

Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) officially broke ground this week on their new nursing home building on their Grider Street Health Campus. The new building will cost $103 million and will contain 390 beds. The facility is slated to open next December as the replacement for the 80 year old Erie County nursing home in Alden.

Changing the location from Alden to Buffalo is key in order to move residents closer to their families, reduce costs for ECMC, and move employees closer to their homes. "Moving our county home residents to a new, modern facility at ECMC will benefit residents, our

Ellicott Street is in line for two rehab projects.  Rocco Termini is looking to purchase 338 Ellicott Street and 437 Ellicott Street and convert each for restaurant use.  The projects would help link previous Termini projects east of the Theater District including IS Lofts, Ellicott Lofts and Ellicott Commons to his largest project to date, the rehab of the Lafayette Hotel. 

Termini is said to be working with the owners of Pearl Street Brew Pub on the new projects. The Termini partnership will convert the Golden Swan Café and Grille, at 437 Ellicott Street, the Golden

Kissling Interests has brought upscale loft living to North Tonawanda.  The developer's $20 million renovation of the former Remington Rand complex is nearing completion.  Remington Lofts on the Canal features 79 apartment units and commercial space overlooking the Erie Canal.  It is Kissling's first Niagara County project.

The NYC-based firm has built a portfolio of over 950 apartments in the City of Buffalo since buying its first local property in 1999.  Many of the properties are historic apartment buildings that

Aldi is proposing to demolish the vacant Kmart store at 998 Broadway across from the Broadway Market to construct a new store.  The new construction at what may be Buffalo's most famous retail address is raising questions on the impact on the Market where Save-A-Lot, an Aldi-like discount grocer, is the anchor tenant.

The vacant 90,000 sq.ft. Kmart building has been vacant since 2002.  A Sattler's store on the site was torn down in the late-1980s.  A proposal to use the vacant structure

Work is wrapping up at St. Martin's Village with residents moving into the complex this month. The project includes the rehab three historic buildings dating to 1927 and 1938 as well as new infill buildings. Located on Dodge Street, the complex is just steps away from the Buffalo Science Museum and Martin Luther King Jr. Park.  Community Action Organization of Erie County is the project developer.

St. Martin's Village is a 60 unit housing development at the site of what was once the German Roman Catholic Orphan Home and more recently

The City is hell-bent on selling School No. 36 on Days Park to Elmwood Village Charter School.  Never mind a competing offer, for the same use, and for $250,000 more.  The Buffalo Common Council is being asked to sell the shuttered school to Elmwood Village Charter School (EVCS) for $550,000.  Developer Sam Savarino, working with West Buffalo Charter School (WBCS), has offered $800,000. 

A sale to Elmwood Village has been in the works since early 2010.  Savarino

A rare new road in the city is nearing completion.  Located in the Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park, the street connects Ship Canal Parkway and Fuhrman Boulevard, parallel to and north of the Union Ship Canal.  Economic development officials will now have access to nearly 50 acres of investment-ready land that has been fallow for decades. 

The new road is the final phase of infrastructure in the business park.  Work is also underway on a new park surrounding the canal.  Ship Canal Commons will provide approximately 22

Benderson Development was the only firm that responded to an Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) request for proposals (RFP) to redevelop the Donovan Building at the foot of Main Street.  Ellicott Development is said to have expressed interest in the site but did not submit a proposal.  Ciminelli Development was also interested but objected to the submittal requirements