The Richardson Olmsted Campus has selected two development partners to work with the non-profit steward of the National Historic Landmark: McGuire Development Company and Savarino Companies. Following feedback about potential new uses for the Richardson Olmsted Campus at a public meeting in April, the Richardson Olmsted Campus chose McGuire Development Company and Savarino Companies to bring the community’s ideas for five of ten remaining historic buildings on-campus to life.
McGuire Development Company will partner with the Richardson Olmsted Campus to evaluate the feasibility of reusing three western wing buildings as the nation’s newest University-Based Retirement Community (UBRC). University-Based Retirement Communities are growing in popularity across the country and provide life-long learning opportunities for active seniors. With proximity to Buffalo State College and the cultural corridor, the Richardson Olmsted Campus is an ideal location for a UBRC in Buffalo.
“After serving as a consultant during the Richardson’s first redevelopment project, we are excited to continue our involvement in the complete rehabilitation of the Richardson Olmsted Campus,” said Megan Tafelski, Vice President of Marketing for McGuire Development Company. “We are passionate about this community and look forward to contributing as a catalyst to create a sustainable destination.”
On the eastern side of the Richardson Olmsted Campus, Savarino Companies aims to transform two buildings on-campus into live/work space, which combine professional work spaces and apartments for local artists.
“All of the members of our project team – from our employees to our designer and consultants – are excited to be part of the next phase of the adaptive reuse of a such an iconic community treasure,” said Sam Savarino, President and CEO of Savarino Companies. “There are many restrictions in any effort to repurpose a landmark structure without compromising its historic integrity. But sometimes – with a little ingenuity, perhaps, but certainly with a lot of luck – those very restrictions guide you towards the highest and best use for those structures. Such is the case here. The decision to develop an affordable artist live/work/exhibit community in two buildings at the Richardson now seems to have been inevitable. We have much to do in order to get the project planned out, financed, and built, but we are already working on it.”
Three buildings on-campus have already been rehabilitated as Hotel Henry Urban Resort Conference Center, 100 Acres: The Kitchens at Hotel Henry, and the future Lipsey Architecture Center Buffalo.
With the selection of McGuire Development Company and Savarino Companies, the Richardson Olmsted Campus will reactivate five more buildings, including four wing buildings from the late 1800s and a dining hall dating from the 1920s.