HARBORCENTER President John R. Koelmel today unveiled the project’s revised retail plan that will create upwards of 10,000 sq.ft. of new space by the end of the calendar year and as much as 20,000 sq.ft. more. Original HARBORCENTER plans called for just 4,500 sq.ft. of retail space along Main Street.
The preliminary design contemplates a “Mercantile Exchange” concept, with multiple vendors and stores providing a variety of products and amenities to HARBORCENTER guests and visitors.
In the first phase of the plan, as much as 10,000 square feet will be available facing Main Street on the southwest side of the project. While design plans have yet to be finalized, that assumes the footprint immediately available is expanded to include a mezzanine level.
Future phases of the plan involve additional storefronts moving further south on Main Street, along the west side of First Niagara Center, extending the retail presence to the southern edge of Canalside. That would include spaces that currently house HARBORCENTER and Mortenson Construction offices. In total, the project would add close to 30,000 square feet of retail along the Main Street corridor, overlooking Lake Erie, the Niagara River, and the Buffalo River.
“While the amount of space that we will have available is limited, we want to ensure that we create a solid retail foundation for Canalside,” says Koelmel. “We are committed to creating a multi-faceted, first-class experience for all of our guests and visitors. We have already had tremendous interest from a wide-variety of vendors who want to be part of HARBORCENTER and the District. They realize this is a unique opportunity to be part of a must-see destination in downtown Buffalo.”
New retailers will join (716) Food and Sport restaurant and Tim Hortons on the ground floor of the $172 million complex that also includes two NHL-size rinks, a 750-space parking ramp, and a 205-room Marriott hotel. All but the hotel are expected to open in late-October. The Marriott opens next spring.
Tim Hortons will be accessible from the street level at the intersection of Main and Scott streets, across from the site of the former Memorial Auditorium. The restaurant will pay tribute to the life and career of Tim Horton. It will be designed in a historic nature, with brick walls that will remind patrons of Buffalo’s industrial history on the Erie Canal.
(716) Food and Sport is HARBORCENTER’s 13,000 square foot dining establishment. It will feature a 38 foot video screen, the largest restaurant screen in the continental United States. An additional 55 big screen televisions will be on display throughout the two-floor establishment, including individual in-booth televisions with dedicated sound. There will be seating for 360 guests, including 135 bar stools.