It has been three years since Savarino Companies stepped forward with reuse plans for the White's Livery property at 428 Jersey Street.  With the last piece of funding was approved this morning by the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency, an official ground-breaking will take place sometime around October 1.

The circa-1889 structure was nearly completely leveled by the City after

Behind an unassuming storefront in the 400 block of Main St. big things are happening. Ellicott Development in partnership with McGuire Development is nearing the final stages of renovating the former Baker's Shoes building located at 456 Main Streeet, just behind the Lafayette Square Metrorail station. The complex spans the entire width of the block with an eight-story building on Pearl Street.

The top four floors will be used for  twelve

The three-story, mixed-use building at the northwest corner of Elmwood and Auburn is for sale.  Chris Malachowski of Hunt Commercial Real Estate has the property listed with an asking price of $725,000.  The building is fully-leased and contains two large one-bedroom apartments along with three retail spaces.

Completely renovated in 2004, 798 Elmwood was an important piece to the puzzle in the redevelopment and subsequent prosperity in this section of Elmwood.  

Larkin Development Group has once again breathed new life into an historic building. The Larkin 'U' Building at 239 Van Rensselaer has been transformed from a shuttered Romanesque beauty into new offices for rapidly-growing First Niagara bank. The project restored the building's exterior while adapting the interior spaces for a modern use.

The 60,000 sq.ft. building will be home to one hundred and eighty /real-estate/index.html

A dormant downtown development project is back on the front burner.  The Martin Group is reviving plans to renovate 477 Main Street as its new headquarters.  The three-year old proposal calls for the former downtown Wendy's restaurant to get a 1,500 sq.ft second floor addition, a new façade and a balcony overlooking Main Street.

The Martin Group, a  full-service marketing communications firm, purchased the building in January 2008.  A ceremonial

The 500 Block of Main Street has some long-overdue life as the Main Washington Exchange has opened in 523 Main Street.  Main Washington Exchange is a shared work space offering an environment for like-minded individuals to build a community through collaboration and creativity.

Developer Roger Trettel purchased the property early last year planning a small mixed-use project.  Trettel's original vision was for Cornucopia, an incubator of sorts providing small spaces for retail or service tenants on the ground floor and live/work

The Erie County Industrial Development Agency approved a request from developer Rocco Termini for a total of $131,000 in tax abatements for two downtown restaurant projects.

Termini plans to convert the Golden Swan Café and Grille, at 437 Ellicott St., to an affordable Italian, family-style eatery.  The building is just south of Termini's Ellicott Lofts, Ellicott Commons and IS Lofts projects.

The former Horton Coffee Co. building, at 338 Ellicott St., will be renovated into a reasonably-priced family restaurant.  Termini purchased the site last Thursday paying $70,000

Demolition work is underway on two sites marking the start of two development projects.  Ellicott Development demolished the former Allentown Athletix' racquetball courts along Allen Street just west of Delaware Avenue.  Ellicott is converting the remaining portions of the health club into ten apartments and possibly commercial space (rendering below).  The property neighbors the firm's Bellasara apartment building, the former University Club. 

Allentown Athletix Health and Racquet Club closed late last year after

The two-building, $2.7 million apartment project at 305 W. Utica Street held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday.  The development was undertaken by contractor Paul Johnson, attorney Michael Ferdman and architect Karl Frizlen.  It is located a half-block west of Elmwood Avenue.

The westernmost "A" Building will reach full capacity this month, with all eight luxury apartments and one studio apartment leased.  Interior construction of the twin "B" Building continues with two of the nine apartments pre-leased.

A West Side, two-story commercial building ripe for rehab is for sale.  65 Grant Street at the southeast corner of Arnold Street has a $295,000 asking price.  It is located one block north of W. Ferry Street.

The building has 10,440 sq.ft. of space and contains four storefronts and four, three-bedroom apartments of the second floor.  One storefront was a former medical office and is in good condition.  The balance of the building needs remodeling according to the listing.  The current owner recently spent $20,000 on a new roof.  Now it needs a new owner

1040 Delaware Avenue will soon be welcoming tenants.  The Lutheran Nursing Home, vacant for the past ten years, has been converted into a mix of 49 rental units along with 2,200 sq.ft. of ground floor office space.  1040 Delaware LLC's project carries a $5.5 million price tag and was designed by David Wylier and Associates.

A berm in front of the building was removed and a new main entrance has been created in what was previously the basement.  The building gained a parapet and a new brick façade with bay windows and stone and iron accents. 

Zaepfel Development has received initial approvals from the Town of Amherst to build student housing across from the Erie Community College's North Campus. This news comes on the heels of ECC's decision to construct a $30 million Health and Science building in Amherst rather than near the downtown campus which is steps away from the quickly expanding Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Zaepfel plans to construct the $18 million three-story complex at 205 Youngs Road, south of Lyndhurst

Here's a neat brick building that is situated right down the street from Left Bank, Prime 490, and located directly across the street from Five Points Bakery and Urban Roots. It's also close to a new Small Built Works neighborhood park, a rebounding neighborhood, and further urban advancements in the form of a series of nearby home rehabs. For years the neighborhood has hoped that the owner would invest in the property, though that never panned out. With the right owner, and the right amount of investment, this building could be

Rocco Termini's ambitious Hotel Lafayette redevelopment project is progressing quickly.  At least two components are likely to be completed by the time the National Trust for Historic Preservation conference is held.  Work crews are hurrying to ready the Dutch Grill and much of the Crystal Ballroom for the October event.

The 367-room Lafayette Hotel, in its prime, was considered one of the 15 finest hotels in the country. It was designed principally by Louise Blanchard Bethune, the first professional woman architect in the country, the first female member of the American Institute

The dust is just starting to settle from this weekend's announcement that First Niagara Bank  reached agreement to purchase 195 retail branches, primarily in Upstate New York, from HSBC.  The $1 billion all-cash purchase is expected to close in early-2012 subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions.  As of May 31, the branches held approximately $15 billion in deposits, $15 billion in gross assets including $2.8 billion in loans, and held $4.3 billion in assets.

First Niagara is going to be required to sell or close some of the branches to meet antitrust requirements. 

This six-unit apartment building is looking for a loving new owner.  The 6,200 sq.ft.  rooming house is located at 83 Prospect in the Historic West Village.  It needs a full rehab and is priced accordingly at just $150,000. 

From the Hunt Commercial Real Estate listing:

Building is currently set up as a rooming house but could easily be turned back to a 5-6 unit apartment building.  Each floor has two 1000 sq. ft. 2 bedroom units.  All units are in need of full rehab.

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).