Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Plans to replace the seven existing Marine Drive Apartment complexes by the Buffalo Waterfront downtown took another step in the right direction on Tuesday.
The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) was on-hand for Tuesday's Planning Board meeting at City Hall to present plans for a massive project that will see the demolition of all seven 12-story apartment complexes and see two new 12-story apartment buildings, four new six-story apartment buildings, a new three-story building, three five-story parking garages and a two-story community center.
Work on the Marine Drive Apartments is expected to continue into 2031, making it around an eight-year project.
Members of the BMHA and their development partners requested a Planned Unit Development (PUD) designation, as well as a major subdivision designation. Brown says it was just another step towards completely revitalize the Buffalo Waterfront, and maintain it as housing for people of low and moderate incomes.
"Right now, the site is composed of two very large parcels, we are asking for it to be subdivided into four smaller ones, which will help us recreate a grid pattern, make it a more walkable area," said Gillian Brown, Executive Director for the BMHA. "The Planned Unit Development designation makes it so that it's all sort of zoned at the same time in one cohesive way for the whole development. So there are various variances from the code that we are requesting, and that's part of the Planned Unit Designation."
While nothing was formally approved or signed off for the BMHA with the Marine Drive Apartments project on Tuesday, it was the first step towards getting the appropriate approvals regarding the PUD and zoning for the project downtown.
Related
"We'll be there in a few weeks for a Common Council public hearing, and hopefully we'll get their assent to the zoning that we've requested," said Nadine Marrero, President of Bridges Development, an affiliate of BMHA. "Then as we move forward into development with our development partners, Habitat Company and Duvernay and Brooks, we're really looking forward to creating a great walkable community for the residents that currently live there. That's something that everyone in Buffalo can look at and be proud of."
Marrero and Brown are both in agreement that the residents are their first priority with this project, ensuring they're not only given quality housing, but also an enhancement when it comes to quality of life down by the Buffalo Waterfront.
"The big difference is Marine Drive is affordable housing," Brown said. "We are, as far as we know, one of the very, very few cities in the United States - certainly around the Great Lakes - that is redeveloping a formerly working waterfront, and taking dilapidated public housing and turning it into modern affordable housing, where people of all income levels will be able to live. We believe strongly the waterfront is not just for rich people to live in the buildings that are already there. We need, we think the city needs, and the mayor is certainly committed to maintaining no fewer than the 616 units of affordable housing that are there, and hopefully building even more than that. It will be a much more diverse mixed income community than it is currently, and it will make sure there's equal access to the waterfront for everybody."
When it comes to the public input on a project of this scale, Brown says there is always going to be some fear and uncertainty from residents. However, he has been pleased with some incredibly positive reaction from tenants and other residents in that part of downtown.
"We've been really happy with all the meetings that we've had, and that's a testament to our developer partners," Brown said. "This was, really, a resident-driven design process. They were involved from the very beginning, we will keep them involved throughout this entire process. They have a sense of ownership, and we hope to foster that sense of ownership about the whole site. We've been really gratified by the positive feedback."
"The residents have been very supportive of the efforts and understanding of how we're trying to move forward, and make sure they continue to maintain their homes on the waterfront," Marrero added.
Another huge reason for the support from residents to tear down the existing apartment complexes is the fact the 70-plus-year-old buildings are falling apart.
"The buildings need to be torn down. They're not in very good shape," Brown said. "They're very, very small, and they're very, very difficult to maintain. They're not terribly comfortable, compared to what affordable housing that's built now is like, and the residents will all be very, very happy in the new units."
Hear more from Tuesday's presentation to the Buffalo Planning Board available in the player below: