Sinatra & Company is gearing up to break ground at Canalside in a matter of weeks, for its South Aud Block development. The new “Heritage Point” buildings will be situated adjacent to the Explore & More Children’s Museum. Two six-story buildings feature 71,000 square feet of retail and office space along with 64 market rate and affordable apartments. They will be built on Parcels A2.2 and A2.3 below.
Heritage Point was originally set to be completed by now, but the pandemic has set the clock back on this project, as well as Sinatra’s other projects. That includes the West Utica townhomes project that would be well underway at this point if it were not for the skyrocketing cost and availability of materials, especially wood.
Developer Nick Sinatra says that we can expect to see a groundbreaking at the historic section of the former Children’s Hospital site this summer. Unfortunately, Duff’s is no longer going to occupy the former Casa di Pizza building on Elmwood (the decision was caused by the pandemic). “They are out but we are still going ahead with the development, starting in sixty days,” says Sinatra. “We will leave the space as white box. We’re looking for a tenant right now (there’s space for a beer garden in back). Elmwood Crossing is full speed ahead.”
As for Heritage Point, Sinatra notes that there is an aggressive 14 month construction schedule, in order to capture the summer season in 2022. “We will be moving dirt shortly after the formal groundbreaking in a few short weeks. We were hoping to get Southern Tier Brewery, but we lost it to Harborcenter due to the pandemic and a prolonged timeline. I am convinced that once this is built, it’s going to be the hottest space going – it will become our new entertainment district. It’s going to be bustling with people, many who will be living there. There will be plenty of restaurants, and we’re still considering the food hall concept… I think that that concept will still work down there.”
“The project is going to be tenant-driven. After the groundbreaking, we’re going to go after tenants, because at that point we will have a definite completion timeline. Our goal is to attract local businesses, and to have some fan favorites such as a chicken wing restaurant and a burger place (something like Ted’s). We will also be talking to the brokerage community about seeing what nationals might fit. But the charm will be the local food hall, which will help to attract Buffalonians and Canadians while supporting the local business community.”
Sinatra has a lot on his plate, that is certain. Thankfully, we’re going to see a lot of the construction logjam due to the pandemic breaking free, starting with Heritage Point.