Demolition of a non-descript parking ramp would generally be applauded, but is a surface lot any better? In a preservation district? In a downtown where most development has involved adaptive reuse and not ground-up construction? Can it be saved and is it worth saving? Those are a few of the issues the Preservation Board will likely be considering when it reviews a proposal by Ellicott Development to demolish 40-48 Swan Street, across from Sahlen Field and between ECC’s City Campus and the Ellicott Square Building. From Ellicott Development’s application to the Preservation Board: The three-story commercial parking ramp, fronting on…
Author: WCPerspective
Work continues on People, Inc. and Sinatra & Company Real Estate’s on a $31 million affordable and supportive housing development at 1140 and 1162 Jefferson Avenue. Jefferson Avenue Apartments will include 89 affordable residences in two buildings with 16 units set aside for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The ground floor of both buildings will contain a total of 16,500 square feet of commercial space. Amenities will include community rooms with kitchens and laundry rooms in both buildings, balconies for all apartments, a playground, and outdoor green space. The Arts Commission of Buffalo will provide art installations at the…
In a significant win for the East Side, The Peyton Barlow Company is proposing renovations to the former Pollack & Blakemore furniture store at the northeast corner of Broadway and Madison Street. Plans call for restoration of three buildings on the site (below), construction of an infill building on a vacant lot at 584 Broadway, and construction of a parking lot at 588 Broadway. A mix of office, retail and residential space is planned along with 22 parking spaces. Ashwood Architectural is designing the project. According to architect Jason Bennett, the exact number of tenants and occupancy types is still…
Uniland Development has an anchor for its redevelopment project at 505 Ellicott Street- itself. Uniland is branching into the co-working space market that with a business center that will encompass 32,000 sq.ft. of space. There will be an additional 3,000 sq.ft. of space in the building earmarked for a deli, coffee shop or restaurant use, along with two apartments. Uniland expects to open the facility by the end of the year. Uniland has begun renovations to the former warehouse building where it will add a mezzanine level and overhaul its exterior. Uniland officials say they’ve seen a need for flexible…
Dash’s on Hertel is opening next Wednesday. The 47,500 sq.ft. new grocery store at the corner of Hertel and Starin avenues replaces a smaller Dash’s that was demolished next door. The first floor of the building has 32,000 sq.ft. and will house the new grocery store’s retail space and the second floor’s 15,500 sq.ft. contains an open eating area, offices, a community room, and virtual office space that will be able to be rented by the community. The building façade is intended to complement the current Hertel Avenue neighborhood design. The building features a radius corner façade, with brick corbelling,…
Redevelopment of the C.W. Miller Livery Stable at 73 W. Huron Street as a second Emerson School of Hospitality is in high gear. Mark Croce’s Buffalo Development Corporation is teaming up with McGuire Development on the nearly $40 million project that was designed by Kideney Architects. The C.W. Livery Stable, designed by Buffalo architects Lansing and Beierl and constructed between 1892 and 1894, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building features unusual engineering due to it being constructed on an historic creek bed. The weight of the building’s floors are supported by roof girders; each floor is…
Ciminelli Real Estate Corporation’s revised plans for its project at 201 Ellicott Street were a disappointment to some but the company’s modifications were made based upon feedback from City officials, downtown area stakeholders, and changing market conditions. Original plans for 201 Ellicott called for 40,000 sq.ft. of retail including a 12,000 to 15,000 sq.ft. Orchard Fresh market, 110,000 sq.ft. of office space, four and twelve-story buildings with 200 apartments and condo units, parking for 800 cars, and a public plaza. The revised design includes 201 affordable apartments in a building with five floors along Ellicott Street and seven floors along…
Uniland Development has ventured into the Medical Campus with the purchase of a Main Street property. The firm purchased 899 Main Street from Excellus Health Plan Inc. yesterday for $4.335 million. The 31,713 sq.ft. building is located at the southeast corner of Main and Carlton streets and has been vacant since late last year. When it was constructed by Health Care Plan and opened in 1993, it was seen as a ‘win’ for a sleepy stretch of Main Street. It looks sorely out of place today as historic properties on the west side of Main have been rehabbed and the…
A trailblazing Theater District property has traded hands. Legacy Development purchased Theater Place from Acquest Theater Place LLC for $3.25 million on Friday. The 41,000 sq.ft. complex at 622-640 Main Street was a pioneering redevelopment project in the Theater District when it opened in 1980. The complex was redeveloped by a partnership between the City and Theater Place Associates, a group of 21 investors that included Alan Dewart, Irv Weinstein, and Irving Korn, with a heavy subsidy dose of UDAG funding. It consists of two buildings. The Otto-Kent Building, a five-story structure adjacent to Shea’s opened in 1896. In 1923,…
Downtown development this year was not one for the record books. The bar was set high last year when several large projects including the Oshei Children’s Hospital and UB Medical School opened their doors. Ten projects were completed in 2018, fourteen were announced, and eighteen are currently under construction. With the curtain closed on 2018, below is a recap of the development activity that occurred in the downtown area last year. Map Pdf here Residential There were 213 residential units brought online in the downtown area last year while another 519 are under construction and plans for 430 units were…