First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. is kicking off a comprehensive plan to dramatically and visibly enhance homes, public spaces and business properties in the Larkin District and surrounding neighborhoods in 2010, as part of the bank’s long-term commitment to partner with the Larkin Development Group and the public sector to revitalize the resurgent urban community.
During 2010 alone, over $2 million will be invested in spectacular streetscape improvements, redevelopment of a long vacant building into commercial space and rental apartments, and a financial assistance program that will underwrite residents’ and small-business owners’ remodeling and renovation projects in the neighborhood.
“This community and the whole Buffalo Niagara region deserves bold action,” First Niagara President and CEO John R. Koelmel said. “The plan we unveil today will show tangible results well before this time next year, and yet it’s just the beginning of First Niagara’s long-term commitment to being a good neighbor and a positive force for change in the city’s Larkin District. We look forward to collaborating with all who make their homes and livings here to realize this neighborhood’s incredible potential.”
Larkin District Streetscape Improvement
First Niagara will donate $1.5 million toward the Larkin District Streetscape Improvement project, which in 2010 will include new streets, sidewalks, bike lanes, curbs, landscaping, lighting, benches, bus shelters and crosswalks over a half-mile stretch of Seneca Street between Fillmore Avenue and Larkin Street.
“When we began the process of renovating the Larkin building earlier this decade, we knew it was the first piece of a much-larger puzzle requiring collaboration and partnerships with both the private and public sectors to reach its full potential,” said Larkin Development Group Principal Howard Zemsky. “The streetscape project has been in planning for more than a year and through First Niagara’s generous donation we will be able give a gift back to the residents and tenants of the area by improving the public rights of way in the Larkin District.”
New York State Senator William Stachowski also pledged $150,000 to the streetscape project which will also include the completion of a new Larkin Square Park at the triangular intersection of Seneca, Swan and Emslie streets.
“The continued investment in the Larkin District neighborhood is a perfect example of how to revive a business district. This most recent investment builds upon that success by moving into the residential section, a critical component in revitalization efforts. I will continue to work with developers and tenants to make improvements to the Larkin neighborhood and look forward to the next phase of development for this area,” Stachowski said.
Work will be fully underway in the spring and completed by the third quarter of 2010. Project engineers are Wendel Duchscherer Architects & Engineers and Architectural Resources.
“On behalf of the City of Buffalo we want to thank First Niagara for their extraordinary commitment to the Larkin District and the community,” Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown said. “Their commitment of dollars for infrastructure, community development and jobs make them a role model for corporate citizenship we can all be proud of.”
New Seneca Street Housing
Complementing the streetscape project will be renovation of a long vacant commercial building at 740 Seneca Street at the corner of Emslie Street. Larkin Development Group will invest over a quarter of a million dollars in the renovation of the 8,000 square-foot property to create at least four units of stylish rental apartments that will be designed to appeal to artists and/or young professionals. The first floor will initially be commercial space for a Larkin District Information Center serving as a clearinghouse of resources for established and new residents, visitors, area businesses and their employees. Future use of the first floor is planned for studio space for the residents living above. The project will begin in early 2010 and will be completed during the same year. The project is being designed by Young + Wright Architectural.
Larkin Community Improvement Fund
In addition to First Niagara’s $1.5 million donation, the bank has partnered with the Larkin Development Group to establish a $100,000 Larkin Community Improvement Fund through The Old First Ward Community Association. The bank and Larkin Development Group will each provide $50,000 for improving the appearance, livability and market value of residential and commercial properties in the Larkin District.
Qualifying homeowners are eligible for a grant that pays for up to 60% of the cost of repairs to their home, up to $25,000 per unit. The Larkin Community Improvement Fund makes an additional amount available, up to $5,000 per home, to help low-income homeowners make necessary repairs. Eligible commercial properties will be able to access matching grant funds for exterior improvements, up to $5,000 per property, for improving signage, painting or surfacing buildings, and for making permanent improvements to the appearance of commercial building exteriors. The commercial improvement effort is modeled on the successful efforts of NHS South Buffalo on Seneca Street.
The companies expect at least 15 single family homes, multi-unit buildings and commercial properties will be renovated during 2010 alone through the Larkin Community Improvement Fund.
“First Niagara’s longstanding commitment to the communities where the bank operates has never wavered, and we are leading the charge to affect positive change in the Larkin District for future generations,” Koelmel said. “Five years from now, we want to be able to look back and know we played an integral part in providing the means for someone to renovate their home or business, and that we were at the forefront for breathing life into one of the City’s historic neighborhoods.”
Residential and commercial property owners who wish to participate in the Larkin Community Improvement Fund program can contact the Old 1st Ward Community Association, Inc. Director Laura Kelly at (716) 856-8613 or lkelly@old1stward.org.
Koelmel and Zemsky unveiled their 2010 plan in the Larkin District today with Mayor Brown, Senator Stachowski, the Old 1st Ward Community Association’s Kelly, as well as and other community and business leaders.
First Niagara and Larkin Development also marked the occasion with a giant 125-foot banner that will visible from Seneca Street and large-scale architectural renderings of the streetscape project that will be placed throughout the Larkin District. The signage will be in place throughout the 2010 streetscape project. First Niagara moved its corporate headquarters to the Larkin building in September.