Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - After a lengthy evaluation process of the Marine Drive Apartment complexes adjacent to the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park, the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) and their development team have determined to build entirely new affordable housing units, rather than overhauling the seven existing residential towers.
The decision by the BMHA, Duvernay and Brooks LLC, The Habitat Company, and Urban Design Associates follows several months of intense evaluation of the circa 1951 housing development’s physical condition.
"Often, when cities revitalize obsolete public housing, it is the residents who suffer. That will not happen here,” said BMHA Executive Director Gillian Brown in a statement. “Mayor Byron Brown, the BMHA Board, and I remain committed to the promise of keeping all 616 affordable units on this site. Every current resident will have the opportunity to live in the revitalized Marine Drive Apartments.”
The Executive Director explained he and the development team began engaging with Marine Drive residents in 2021 to collect their renovation ideas, anticipating a 2022 construction start. Instead, they were faced with a much longer than expected and costly list of essential physical repairs and system replacements. Those upgrades would not only be extremely disruptive for residents, but would make it impossible to deliver the quality of life upgrades tenants deserve.
“By starting with a clean slate, we can invest in structures that will serve BMHA residents for generations, while raising the bar for how public housing can contribute to the communities it serves,” Brown added.
The BMHA remains committed to a tenant-driven transformation of Marine Drive on the current footprint with no displacement of residents. BMHA leadership and development team representatives held two resident information sessions on Feb. 9 regarding the new build strategy, and announced a series of upcoming sessions where developers will gather information to begin the design of what will be a multi-phase project, as well as the formation of a tenant ambassador team.
The first phase of new construction will take place on the development’s surface parking lot, with an anticipated start by early 2024.
Pending the resident-driven design process, it’s anticipated the first group of residents will relocate to new units in late 2025. The existing towers will be demolished as they are vacated to clear the way for the next phase of construction.
With the new-build strategy, Marine Drive residents will be able to move directly from their current apartments to their new units. Under the original renovation plan, they would have needed to move twice, first to a vacant unit while their apartment was under construction, then back when the update was complete.
Other benefits of new construction may include:
- Integration of covered parking for residents,
- Construction of a variety of housing types, including accessible units,
- Options to build more than the current 616 units,
- Ability to increase the square footage of every type of apartment,
- Options to create space for retail, and health and human services, as well as other community spaces,
- Reconfiguration of Marine Drive to create new streets, green spaces.
Until there are preliminary designs and a timetable for what will be a multi-phase project, likely to not see completion until 2029, it isn’t possible to forecast exact costs, however, the transformation price tag is expected to, at least, $400 million.
The BMHA, City, and development team will work with a variety of government agencies and private funding sources to pay for the once-in-a-generation project.