BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing a $50 million investment in Buffalo's East Side to help spur development.
In his State of the State book, the governor's office said that the east side is a critical area for investment because it comprises over 40 percent of Buffalo's total land area and about 30 percent of total jobs and businesses. Despite these factors, the area lags behind the rest of the city's revitalization.
The goal, according to Lewandowski, is to restore the concourse to its originally 1929 look. Proposal requests for contractors were requested last month with responses due a week ago. Finalists will be selected on February 1 with the work scheduled to be complete by the end of the year.
Central Terminal remains one of the pillars of a bygone era. Once a train station utilized by thousands, it is primarily used now for small events that are weather-dependent between May and September.
"The ultimate goal of the Central Terminal is a commercial real estate development project," Lewandowski added. "It's 523,000 square feet and, as a result of this interest throughout Buffalo and, more so lately, the east side, there's development interest. There has been (interest) within the past two and a half years."
There was a heavy push in 2017 for the Central Terminal to be the site of a train station. That idea died after the train station site selection committee voted to place the new train street at Exchange Street.
"Don't be too quick to shoot the train station deal down," Lewandowski said by noting that Amtrak makes a significant amount of money via Lake Shore Limited and that some of the trains cannot make it to the Exchange Street Station.
Lewandowski said Amtrak mentioned plans to place a train stop at the Central Terminal, but that it needs to become a revitalized destination first.
"There's $736 million worth of public and private investment in the east side," he said. "There's a multitude of old manufacturing and existing business that's starting to reinvest in that...The downtown monopoly board is full and the east side is now, once again, the land of opportunity for redevelopment."
