Buffalo Rising Online

The corner of Court St. and Franklin is perfect for this! The owners are willing to do the renovations as well.. They have already started.

Grevers is good, Genny block, Ellicott Commons, Howard Shoes old location, Market Arcade, Tishman Bldg., 598 Main, Electric Tower, anywhere on the 500 block, old McDonalds (not the farm) at Main and Mohawk

Didnt I hear that the Liberty Building was going to be converted to apartments and condos after the Statler, Greystone and Dulski?

If true...perhaps we need more than one Issa Bashar Office Tower in Buffalo. Hey Mr. Basha, it would be incredible if Buffalo has your three more of your towers: on the Eastside of the city (Filmore or Jefferson), the Southside of the city (perhaps on Furhmann, Ohio or South Park) and the northside (perhaps on Main Street or Niagara Street).

Every area of our city is begging fo office space with magnificent views, underground parking and close to good housing, retail and restaurants.

There is a nice retail area in the ground floor of the building at the corner of Court and Pearl. However, the windows are higher off the ground, so window displays would not be at the eye level of most pedestrians. It would be a nice fit in the center of the business district with much foot traffic though. It has been vacant for quite some time. This is the intersection where the Liberty Building, parking lot where the new office building is planned to be buiult, and the loading bay entrance to the Convention Center.

Also it would be nice to place this business in the Statler Tower, on the ground floor. Of course it would need to be once those floors have been renovated. However, I think that it would save this retailer from paying for the build out of her space.

Also, where the Radio Shack store used to be, in the brown building, next to the Liberty Building. Very heavy foot traffic there. That building had looked very nice when built. It would be nice to see the brown exterior removed, and the original stone facade restored.

There will never be traffic again on Main St. - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER -

retail had not worked in downtown period, not just main street and not just since the metro went in, but because the PEOPLE stopped going there to shop instead they went to the Malls and strip plaza's of the American Dreamland. Let's not blame the metro for deeper issues.

I think most of the best locations have already been mentioned. I would second Delaware Ave near Niagara Square or Main Street between Mohawk and M&T Plaza. Definitely the highest pedestrian traffic in downtown. If you want proof check out BuffaloPlace's pedestrian survey. It exists but I can't seem to find it anywhere right now.

It's tempting to suggest 665 Main Street where the Buffalo-Niagara Partnership has its offices. As far as I can tell, this 4-to-6 year old building has never had a ground floor tenant. The only reason I suggest this is that you might be able to derive customers in this location since this is where the Partnership is. On the other hand, it might be far cheaper to join the Partnership from some other location and network the female membership. I think there might be space in the ground floor of City Centre. I mention that location because a Dunkin Donuts is going to be next door at 598 Main-another traffic generator opportunity? Rocco's retail incubator at the Ellicott Commons would probably provide a cheap rent but no one knows for sure what the traffic will be like there in the beginning after the novelty wears off or how long it will take to become a regular and popular destination. At any rate, Good Luck and I really admire you for taking your dream and turning it into reality.

I found this comment interesting, "Many of the property owners are looking for long-term leases. That might not be so bad, but they are also asking me to pay for the build-out. Have you seen the condition of the storefronts down here?"

I recently had the same experience trying to find some quality office space when I opened a small regional office here a few months ago. Many of the landlords I spoke to wanted a 5-year lease. The condition of these offices was deplorable. Many have been vacant since the industrial revolution. Many of these buildings have a 50% vacancy rate, yet the landlords have the "take it or leave it" mentalitly. This isn't midtown Manhattan where you can have an attitude like that.. it's Buffalo, NY.

If the city wants a rennaisance, then it's going to need to invest in its assets before office and retail come here. Just look at how successful projects like Larkin at Exchange and the Cathedral Place rennovations have been. I've heard that Cathedral Place is close to 100% occupancy.

There's an old saying, "If you build it, they will come." However, if you expect others to fund this city's revival, you'll be waiting another lifetime.

I dont know how she big she wantas to go but what about lookin uinto the old Aud. a clothes store would do real good there then we could get that place fixed up.

i have one more suggestion for you. At one time this organization was a women's only organization for the betterment of downtown Buffalo. Now it has male members also. I think you could get some very good advice and also do some further networking with the organization called Working For Downtown at

http://www.workingfordowntown.org/about.asp

Buffalo should just bite the bullet and put the metro underground like a real subway system. Cars back on Main along with pedrestrian traffic. Stop wasting time and money and just do it.