Buffalo Rising Online

When do they plan for construction to begin? (the sooner the better IMO) What does "build-out" mean?

Will Benderson be using union labor?

Hurry! Someone must complain about a suburban "box store" opening in the city. Guess what cry babies...it is gonna be a one story structure and it will have a big fat parkiing lot in front of it. Grab your tissue boxes.

My eyes!!!!!!! That existing building is UGLY. Is that a former airport hanger?

What has become far more predictable on this site than those who critique development (one of the main purposes of this site) are the obnoxious people who like to make sure to type snide comments sarcastically predicting those critiques before they appear just to make themselves seem humorous or somehow of a higher intelligence than those who actually contribute something worthwhile to the discussion....

To add to my comment above.......

If what you desire is a direct report of the news, where you can happily just have things shoved up your ass by anyone just because they have money without any room for commentary or critique, stick to the Buffalo News.

The whole friggin point of this site is to have conversation about the news that is reported - what are you doing here if it is of so much bother to you???

Back to actual discussion - any word on the City providing some sort of financial incentive for this development?

Walmart in the future???

Congratulations pending actual tenancy in a Benderson development...

I love Kohl's and already can't wait to shop here. Up and running by the end of 2008 is pretty fast, too, by Buffalo standards. Less than a year between announcement, construction, and grand opening is awesome. Welcome to North Buffalo, Kohl's!

Apparently WalMart might be in the future according to Biz First... http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2008/01/14/daily8.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Pundit- I've seen pictures in Home Finder of town supervisors cutting the ribbon to open 10 new lots for development in a subdivision- they all love cameras and credit no matter the project. $3.4 million and redevelopment of a blighted site is newsworthy. Granted it is not earth shattering.

This is great news. A good store, with quality merchandise at affordable prices. Not only does this bring new life to a 5+ year old eyesore of a plaza (oh wait, 5yrs would imply it's only been an eyesore as long as is been empty, but it went down hill with Ames) but maybe, just MAYBE with the direct competition from Kohls, Target will be forced to actually invest in their N.Bflo store. Other Target stores have gone under the knife in a serious way with all their new layouts, face lifts and fancy hand-carry baskets, while the city store continues to get beat up with the amount of traffic this store sees. A new Kohl's and the thought of an updated Target (god willing) is just the kind of development N.Bflo and the city itself needs.

NOW if only we can get a pee brain of a city planner to make sure there is at the LEAST an island, tree lined, walkway from the Delaware sidewalk to the store that would be a plus. We know the store will be set back in the parking lot, but the least they can do is build a walkway. Wegman's in the city has one, yet Tops nor Target has one. Even Target in Amherst has an island walkway in its parking lot. We can debate stores being built to the sidewalk all we want, but we need to tell our Councill members that when these huge retailers build out in the back of their parking lots, that the least we want is walkways if not more. The complaining here that the Fleet Feet store is built on a parking lot and not accessible without a car is quite the stretch since that plaza is built sideways right to the sidewalk. The same holds true with New World. They are perpendicular to the Delaware sidewalk. These may be relatively suburban strip plazas, but at least there is a semi-attempt to bring clusters of buildings up to the sidewalk in front of huge parking lots.

As for "Sources in local real estate circles said Wal-Mart remains very interested in opening a store somewhere in North Buffalo, with the Delaware-Hertel shopping district its' preferred location. No deals have been struck, officials said. - Business First)... I would have to say that a Walmart would be welcomed somewhere on the corner of Elmwood/Hertel. They would certainly serve that niche of affordability in the surrounding neighborhoods, while rehabbing an intersection that is in atrocious condition. There is pretty much nothing from FWS to MWile. I'm not sure how financially sound the Hertel KMart is, but if they are like any of the others, Walmart may have a home right there. I'd rather see a Walmart do something with Elmwood/Hertel since Golombeck can't seem to find a single way to get that corner developed, if he has tried to do so at all.

Perhaps the lack of development of that corner has a bit to do with the porn stores in all directions? Maybe Wal Mart can come in and sell porn for the whole family... But then I think we would have to strong of a protesting contingent claiming that Wal Mart is going to drive the little porn store owners out of business..

Kidding aside, I have serious concerns about a Wal Mart entering this area. Certainly for its threat to smaller businesses - but probably even more so because the market will become over saturated with these department stores. The area already has Target, KMart, soon Kohls, Office Depot, Office Max, home depot, several grocery stores - I would be concerned that there is soon to become too much product between all of these big boxes and then we will be left with another vacant plaza - is that progress?

The people who shop on elmwood will continue to shop there....a new walmart will just afford city residents with affordable groceries goods without forcing them to drive to tonawanda or cheektowaga.

I agree, Downtown, most businesses on Elmwood likely don't have anything to worry about, its a different market. But I think the major concern is as these plazas seem to be coming about at a mile a minute, we will be left with more decrepit, old plazas that are no longer in the moment. Its just the natural progression for a region that is expanding in infrastructure while declining in tax base and economy. We're going to end up with more and more big empty holes. However, the positive here is that the Kohl's plaza is actually filling an old hole.

Over saturation... well I can see that in a way. Target, KMart, Kohls, Office Depot, Office Max, Home Depot, Tops, Wegmans. Sure seems like a lot. Add Wal-Mart in there. But really that is an incredible amount of choice and selection for the city consumer. It also shows the maturity of the North Buffalo market that these national retailers are coming in. They know they draw customers from all points of the city, Ken-Ton, Canada, etc... This Hertel corridor is very centrally located. What is the population and demographics of 14216/14222/14217/ and parts of 14223 that would be drawn here? That's a damn lot of people. And if over saturation does come into play, it's retail Darwinism. The retail Cage Match is nothing new and is the circle of life. And I've only been alive to see the Twin Fair/Gold Circle/Kmart/Hills-present era. Retail turnover is going to always happen.

At least these stores are coming to the city, providing a service and goods that people need/want and the CITY is getting the property/sales taxes from the retailers. If there are too many of them, the better of them will make it out alive.

In regards to "smaller businesses" losing out if a Wal-Mart comes; I don't think there are any within any distance from the Elmwood/Hertel corner to worry about. Kinda of a bonus there of having a wasteland strip of land. People that shop at mom and pop shops in the Elmwood Village or the Hertel/Parkside neighborhood will indeed continue to do so. Those people are not going to suddenly shop at Wal-Mart. If anything MAYBE small shops will pop up around any new development/rehabbed area a Wal-Mart would bring.

And as far as urban design goes, I've often wondered what are the design codes, hahaha if any, in the city outside of downtown? It seems to me the perfect design for urban big box retail would be the set up the Broadway Market has. Built to the sidewalk and street, with parking in a ramp above. That has to be the most convenient set up ever. There are a ton of locations like this in other cities. Or the reverse like the Etobicoke IKEA with the store bi-leveled with above and below grade parking.

It takes up let space, and in a climate like Buffalo, what could be better than never even going outside in the winter. Park your car and hop on the escalator. It's a win for walkers, public transportation takers and drivers alike. It's up to the city planners to encourage stuff like that.

well considering many of the people who like shopping at these types of stores constantly drive to the boulevard for them I doubt they are going to get over saturated you have all of NB, BR, Riverside, Tonawanda and Kenmore that will find this much more convenient than going to Amherst and the Boulevard.

Plus that plaza is in a pretty bad state, I am happy to see anything happening first off.

If there is anything to really talk about urban design wise is that it would be nice to really get some good connections to the street from the store, maybe even take over a part of Fleet Feet's Parking lot to create a sort of arcade past those stores to the new Kohls in the back. No one is disliking Kohls but with proper urban designing it could really be a win win for the city. Plus with the new developments in this area, the street is already mazed out many times of the day, ANYTHING that you can do to promote people to bike or bus out to here would only save money from further infrastructure improvements in the future. There isn't anywhere to widen those roads. We need to pack as much into one place a possible.

THE VACANT LOTS HERTEL/ ELMWOOD CORRIDOR ARE OWNED BY FRANK DENNY. The city and its lawmakers should force him to either develop or sell. THIS CORNER HAS BEEN AN EYESORE FOR TOO TOO LONG!!

The opening of this store will likely make me a Kohl's customer. I rarely shop at Kohl's now, because if I'm going to be doing any suburban shopping, I'll go to one of the malls. Kohls has standalone locations, and I'm not compelled to go even further out of my way to visit one. So in my case, the dollars that I'll now be spending at Kohl's will be those that were previously spent at suburban mall department stores, not existing businesses in the city. Regardless of the store's design (or lack thereof), I think the opening of this store is a very good thing for Buffalo. This is the closest thing we've had to a real department store since AM&A's closed downtown. I don't think Kohl's competes so much with stores like Target and Kmart as it does with stores like JCPenney, Bon Ton and to some extent Macy's. The biggest void that this store will fill in the city is the lack of reasonably priced 'professional' clothing. For those of us who can't afford The Ultimate Men's Shop and Lu Modern, the only other options are a few Target items, or picking through Marshall's for a few hours. Oh, and... Amvets?

Finally....and just when I was giving up hope

Hoss, if they can't unionize the Walmart in the People's Republic of Ithaca, they are not going to unionize a Walmart in Buffalo. Walmart hires lots of part timers who have no interests in unions. And believe it or not, many full timers also have no interset in unions.

Townline...sorry for my obnoxious "snide comments sarcastically predicting those critiques before they appear" Your comment about "family porn" was much more "intelligent and humorous."

The porn comment was done in good fun - but also a realistic concern about possible development at the Elmwood-Hertel corner.

You comments are specifically about attacking the integrity of the purpose of this public forum and the people who positively contribute to it.

FYI Pundit, Mayor Daily, does it all the time in Chicago. He has been doing it for years!! So the answer to your question is Yes, it's done in other places.

Townline...The purpose of this is to voice our opinions. I didn't personally insult/attack anyone. If you don't like what I have to say then don't read my posts.