BUFFALO (WBEN) - On Friday, Mayor Byron Brown unveiled proposals from six development teams to transform the city's Mohawk Parking Ramp into a mixed-use site.
"The 1.1-acre Mohawk Parking Ramp site will be our first step in the plan to create a new mobility and innovation zone in lower Main Street," said Brown.
Lisa Hicks serves as Buffalo's director of development, and she explained that the city is looking to address future demands for housing, parking, and general improvements to the public realm.
"The RFP that we issued outlines the city's preferences for mixed-use developments that incorporate affordable housing, that envision creative and cost-effective solutions for structured parking transportation centers, and reflect the objectives coming out of the Future of Mobility Study," said Hicks. "We're extremely pleased with the effort and forethought of developers who really went above and beyond with their designs."
Executive Director for the Office of Strategic Planning, Brendan Mehaffy, said it will take several months to select one of the projects, hopefully by August/September, and realistically, shovels won't be in the ground until 2023.
"I want to emphasize that this is not a pretty picture contest," said Mehaffy. "There is going to be a lot of work to make sure that the finances work on this project and that this is a project that is going to happen in Buffalo."
