Buffalo Rising Online

Do you know of any successful waterfront district with that much parking right on the water? What a waste of space.

as we all know, Shangai Reds serves horrible drinks and crappy food; and they are being considered to run a hotel? please.

I wish the city would first figure out where a bridge from the outer harbor makes sense. If Erie Street was chosen such that the outer harbor could connect directly to the heart of downtown, this parcel would be impacted.

I am confused as well - there is always some covenant or some other bullshit that dates back to the turn of the century that prohibits growth or a good project.

Having said that, this would be a great location for a nice hotel, one is needed down there....

For now those parking lots keep options open. I'd hope they'd look at this whole are when designing the tie ins to the outer harbor and canal side.

The whole area is pretty wasted with parking lots and pure housing. But 20 years ago that is what was needed to even get things moving down there. Hopefully it can be tweaked to be a lot more.

For reasons "hodgepodge" noted, don't give to Shanghai Red's ownership.

And definitely don't give it to Wingate Inn! Have you checked out photos of their properties? Very uninspired, pre-fab Transit-road like.

By default, Ciminelli wins.

what conceivable reason would there be for a covenant like that

There is a plan and a good development scheme for all of Erie Street. It is a part of the Waterfront Corridor Initiative... It was paid for by the city and the office of strategic planning under Chuck Thomas put many many hours into this. It is or will soon be incorporated into the Queen City Hub Plan. Does the current administration even know about this!? I have my doubts they did their homework. Instead of putting our an RFP, we should be saying what kind of development is going to happn

The whole loss of institutional knowledge that goes on in and around the OSP is frustrating. I only hope that whatever is proposed for there is a smart design and doesn't inhibit the future development of Erie Street as one of the MAIN and MOST DIRECT connections from the downtown core to the water.

Erie Street Plan or for the transportation details (already figured out) about its redevelopment... Erie Street EPP

for easy access here is the proposed vision for Erie Street. Do any of these RFP submissions meet or hinder this vision. That should be the first and foremost question before the O.S.P. or politicians... since they tend to make the planning decisions around here.

2 story tall building? This is a city right?

Looking at the Erie Street Plan - As Erie Street meets the water it really is the best location to create a bascule bridge to the outer harbor. The alternative at the end of main street requires two separate bridges and negotiation with General Mills - it also puts all the outer harbor traffic directly on Main Street which will have limited capacity with the light rail line. Why was this not included in the Urban Design Project? - and does the city actually look at the Urban Design Project when making land use decisions?

sbrof: Thanks for the links to the Erie St. Plan. Very interesting stuff. Lots of proposals but definitely not a "master plan."

Looking at pages 54 and 55, etc., it doesn't appear the parcel up for grabs in this post would impede access across the river. Moreover, the Plan doesn't really address a car bridge across the river--it makes many references of intelligently extending Erie St. to 'the water' and a vague suggestion for 'other connections.' Plan says: 'Maintain future possibilities for pedestrian bridge or other connections from a reconfigured Erie Street to the Outer Harbor.'

nyc: Not sure a bascule bridge is best design to reach across the river. Our limited boating season aside, I would like to see a gateway design extend to the Outer Harbor---not just a functional conduit. I'm not sure a drawbridge would accommodate that desire.

I would like to see a very modern 30 story building go here. Possibly mixed use business and condo/apartments.

two story office building....lol

nyc the city of Buffalo funded the Waterfront Corridor Initiative. So in the end it is their plan, the problem is they often don't listen to what their own consultants or planners say they should do leaving the urban design decisions to politicians with little to no urban planning education or background.

The language relating to the actual connection to the water was left purposefully vague because of potential options for a bridge and since there never was a historic "foot" of Erie then there was little reason to impede any option for a bridge or tunnel to the outer harbor by stating such.

This plan was also done as a subset for a transportation study that looked at the entirety of Buffalo's waterfront. Erie Street was singled out as one of the most important / significant access nodes to bring the city to the water again. Also I would say take a closer look at page 60 and the render on page 53. Notice the straight access from main Street for cars & bikes & people. Is the city's RPF going to hinder this direct connection? Is it going to impede block the creation of bike lanes. Or the dividing up of those giant parking lots into separate parcels for development. I particularly like the last image because it shows you the huge square footages of these sites. And breaking up the site would create the potential for a live work community right on the waterfront, now with or without the skyway. Keeping the parcels the way they currently are arranged is only holding back Erie Basin from exploding in development.

Think of a denser higher Elmwood along that straight street, that is what this plan is calling for. A 2 story office building isn't that. A single use site, isn't that. When we want mixed use we want residential units. People who can walk to work, or go for a jog.

I say all this because when Shanghai Reds was being planned and rebuilt, this draft plan was in the hands of the mayor, and everyone in power. The company was contractually bound to build something on the waterfront. The ball was in our court to start this development and really capitalize on our existing waterfront. They dropped the ball. Somehow a contractually bound company strong armed the politicians to set aside this silly plan so they could build their single use, bring no life to the waterfront building. AND on top of that they refused to consider moving Erie street closer to their building thereby hindering Erie Street from becoming our access to the water it deserves to be. AND they refused to put ANY public access to the water edge leaving people to meander around their ugly building through parking lots if they wanted to go for a stroll along that side of the basin. The only saving grace is the building they built wouldn't interfere with the ROW needed but at this point the city would have to eminent domain to get the land. I end by simple asking if we going to give away more pieces to the puzzle? OR are we going to use this newfound waterfront demand to spur development in a way that not only benefits the tax rolls but also gives the rest of the city a small piece waterfront to be proud of.

I'm just curious, how many hotels does this bloody city need? every major project seems to include a hotel. i.e. city tower, restoration of federal building, seneca casino, the bass pro plan even includes a hotel....enough's enough...quit with the damn hotels and build up offices or residential, work to bring jobs back downtown....i hope they dont build a 2 story building on the site...i hope the multi-story building is something that will add to the skyline.

everyone who is complaining about the parking lots, i agree but where will all the employees of the office building and boaters at the marina park? it doesnt seem like there is much lee-way with the marina parking.

Why do we need hotel space? So we can host conventions and other large events. Buffalo doesn't have enough.

On the topic though, all of these plans seem to suck.

'The News' is reporting that Triangle (Biniszkiewicz) is representing the Tampa group in its plans for a two story office bldg on the site. Pathetic.

chiknill and Bini:

Oh, I know well who Bini works for. Apologies for my momentary lapse. I guess the pyramiding evil forces of Bini, and Jessie and Scot, equate to a triangle of evil for me.

* *

Bini:

That you would want to represent any entity that wants only a two story office bldg on prime waterfront land further confirms to me that your business practices follow those of a money pig. You probably will entice El Waseem Market to relocate to Birchwood's two story bldg. I bet you don't think that is an idea from an idiot.

Birchwood Properties of Tampa often represents the General Services Administration! Isn't that cozy!! Would love to know what sort of payola goes on between the two staffs, and more about the Birchwood principals!!!

This from 'Crains Detroit Business' (Aug 6 2007):

Homeland Security to lease new Detroit building

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will lease a 60,000-square-foot office building to be built on the site of the former Detroit Police 5th precinct building at 11411 E. Jefferson.

The property was bought by Tampa-based Birchwood Properties, a developer who works with the General Services Administration. Birchwood will remodel the building, then lease the space to the government, said Larry Balone, a sales associate with Southfield-based Colliers International who represented Birchwood. The sale price was $982,000.

— Daniel Duggan

This area is giving a speech without a podium and I guess that’s better then under a bridge. Its impossible to not see it as the best location for a 20-30 story tower! You would be widening the skyline and creating a new diagonal towards our most important resource. The city is already sprawling out and filling in its cheeks, so much of our city has been lost on this axis.

As a kid you alway put the best ornament on the branch that sticks out the most and would have the most space to hang from. Buffalo is no different, when we have just the hsbc tower, the artifice of our inner harbor shows through like a cheap artifical. Of course they cannot build mixed use residential, But i doubt people have to die in order for that to change. For me this location is emblematic of how to turn the city around and not because of its lucrative parking. You offer the city a new dimension and enhance the continuity of its sectors by investing a jaw dropping trust in the harbor.