Details on an ambitious $50 million redevelopment effort in the Larkin District are out. Seneca Exchange Larkin Partners, which recently received $5 million in Recovery Zone bond authorization, plans to renovate a pair of former Larkin Co. warehouses into a mix of office, light industrial and up to 60 residential lofts.
Business First’s James Fink has the impressive details:
Seneca Exchange Larkin Partners is preparing to invest as much as $50 million in a pair of century-old buildings in Buffalo’s Larkin District.
The developer wants to turn the 1.2 million-square-foot complex at 701 Seneca St. into a mixed-use building.
The developer wants to renovate a neighboring four-story, 120,000-square-foot building into a loft-style, residential complex. The work will be done in phases, likely over a five-year period, officials said.
Reger’s partners include Buffalo businessmen James Cornell and Peter Krog of Krog Corp., one of the region’s largest development firms.
For mammoth 701 Seneca Street (entry image):
Reger said the 701 Seneca St. building, an eight-story structure built in the early 1900s as part of the Larkin complex, will be renovated to attract commercial and office tenants. The building is about 60 percent leased with a mix of tenants. All will be asked to stay, he added.
“This building has all the attributes we were looking for,” Reger said. “It is attractive enough that we can bring in a broad base of tenants.”
A major selling point is wide-open floor plates, some of which approach 170,000 square feet. That makes the building attractive to call-center operations and others looking for open space.
For the four-story building at 635 Seneca (below):
The current plan is to renovate the building, part of the original Larkin complex, into a loft-style apartment complex with 50 to 60 units, depending on final architectural plans.
The project will include interior parking for building residents and a sliver of commercial space on the first floor.
Work on both buildings is expected to be underway this fall.