Construction is underway on the Buffalo waterfront for the $400 million dollar redevelopment of the Marine Drive apartments.
The first steel is going up on the current parking lot of the complex.
"We are super excited that we have gone vertical," said Gillian Brown, Executive Director of the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority.
"Visitors and residents alike will see a very large crane there for many months," he said."The steel is rising on the first phase of the redevelopment of the Marine Drive apartments. It's being built on the footprint of the current parking lot."
Currently, the site consists of seven brick housing towers. The plan is to replace them with a mix of town homes, three story buildings, seven story buildings, and one 12 story tower.
Brown said they are doing the project in phases so that no one is displaced from their home.
"We planned this so that people move from their old apartment to their new home seamlessly, without any need for relocation. For many, it will literally be just a move across the parking lot," he explained.
Brown added that they are not demolishing or moving anyone until the units are done.
The original buildings were built in the early 1950's.
Current Marine Drive apartmentsSusan Rose - WBEN
It's anticipated that construction for Phase one, the first four towers, will be finished in 2028.Then they will move to Phase two.
