BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN).....A hat trick of residential-anchored development projects could see as many as 1,000 new apartments constructed within the Canalside footprint.
Combined the three projects - two of which are private sector-driven - represent nearly $500 million in investment dollars.
"Canalside has always been a great destination but now it is becoming a neighborhood," said Mark Wendel, Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. president.
Two of the projects are underway and the third is slated to officially start in the coming weeks, although some preliminary site work has already begun.
Underway:
* Nick Sinatra's Heritage Point dual building project.
The $45 million project had stalled for three years until this spring when Buffalo Sabres' owner Terry Pegula became one of Sinatra's development and financial partners.
Heritage Point is back under construction and its 64 apartments plus commercial space should be move-in ready by next summer, Sinatra said.
* The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority has started the first phase of a complete rebuild of the aging Marine Drive Apartments that date back to 1952.
The complex, located near the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, will see its towers demolished and replaced with a series of new buildings including two 12-story towers and one three-story building along with a five story parking garage.
In the $250 million project, a total of 686 apartments will be developed - up from the current 616 apartments in the complex.
Getting started:
Brooklyn-based PennRose Corp. has started preliminary site work on its $190 million project that will turn the last remaining former Memorial Auditorium parcel - the North Aud Block - into a complex with 251 apartments.
The North Aud Block apartments will be spread one 12-story tower with 199 units and a six-story building with 52 apartments.
A mix of market rate and affordable apartments will be offered in the development.
Also planned is an auxiliary 1,500-square-foot building.
The first units should be able to welcome tenants by mid-2028.
"It has been a pit for too long," Wendel said of the current North Aud Block site.
The last vestige of the Aud was demolished in 2008. The Aud closed in 1996.
PennRose, is finishing up the $200 million Perry Street apartments for the BMHA.
Wendel said all three developments will help the ECHDC create a live/work/play swagger witihin the Canalside footprint.
"We want (Canalside) to have that 24/7 lifestyle," Wendel said.
Three projects will balloon Canalside's residential base
Three projects will balloon Canalside's residential base
