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BUDC greenlights downtown projects
by chocieniSignificant renovations for a pair of downtown Buffalo buildings have moved one step closer to reality and, at the same time, much-discussed upgrades to a entranceway into the central business district cleared another hurdle.
In separate action Tuesday
afternoon, the Buffalo Urban Development Corp. okayed potential allocations of
$1.35 million from the Buffalo Building Reuse Program — pending formal loan
applications and underwriting actions occur.
In the second year of the
BBRP funding process, six downtown project developers sought a slice of the
program's funding pie, but once the BUDC Selection Committee reviewed the
proposals, selected for the current financial support round were:
• Kissling Interests,
through its Main & Cathedral Development LLC affiliate, which will receive
$750,000 in BBRP funds to help transform vacant office space in the historic
298 Main St. Building into 26 market-rate apartments. The conversion will bring
new life to a building that has, in recent years, lost such tenants as the law
firm DamonMorey.
"There is a deep-rooted
history with BUDC," said Brandye
Merriweather, the agency's downtown development coordinator.
• Developer/real estate
investor Fred LoFaso was approved for a $600,000 allocation
that will see seven vacant or under-utilized buildings along Ellicott, Oak and
Genesee Streets renovated, anchored by 21 market-rate apartments. Among the
buildings is the former Curve restaurant that sits just across Oak Street from
Catholic Health's newly opened headquarters. The buildings had been owned by
out-of-town interests.
"This gets the buildings
back into the hands of someone who really understands downtown Buffalo,"
Merriweather said.
• Also, the BUDC directors
approved a $750,000 allocation as a local match for oft-discussed and
anticipated transformation of a stretch of Genesee Street — between Oak and
Washington streets — into a more inviting and pedestrian-friendly boulevard.
The work parallels similar projects along Ohio Street and what has been
completed along downtown's 700 block of Main Street.
New, decorative lighting,
more plantings and green infrastructure.
The work could start later
this year and dovetails not only the opening of Catholic Health's headquarters
but several other private sector investments including the Genesee Gateway
Building and those by developer Rocco Termini.
The entire project carries
a $2.1 million development price tag.
"Given what's happening
there, this project is so important and ready to go," Merriweather said.