Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Armed with its final approval it needed from the City of Buffalo, renovation work on the Golisano Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship is underway and the downtown educational center is on pace to be student-ready by early September.
The Buffalo Planning Board on Tuesday unanimously backed the project that seeing the Golisano Institute turn the former Buffalo News building at 125 Washington Street into its Buffalo educational hub. The Buffalo project mirrors what Golisano created in Rochester.
Between acquisition and renovation costs, Golisano is investing more than $20 million in the Buffalo project - the latest in a series of investments the Rochester billionaire and Paychex founder has made in the immediate region.
Golisano owned the Buffalo Sabres from 2003 to 2011, before selling the team to Terry Pegula.
This fall, he also donated $50 million to the then-Oishei Children's Hospital that has been rebranded as the Golisano Children's Hospital.
In addition to creating the business and entrepreneurship training center, Golisano is bringing a new life and an influx of students and teachers into what has been a vacant, five-story, 155,000-square-foot building.
"I didn't want to be looking at another white elephant," said Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan. "This is a significant investment in the downtown core."
Initial plans, according to James Dentinger, Golisano Buffalo regional director and executive vice president, is to have the school use the building's first, fourth and fifth floors while the second and the third floors will be set aside for future expansion.
The school is expected to have as many as 100 students in its first year and seeing grow to more than 250 students within the next few years.
Students run the gamut from high school graduates to those with college degrees and some work experience.
"We want to nurture and grow their entrepreneurial spirit," Dentinger said.
The entire renovation project is a fast tracked pace with the admission office - located on a section of the first floor - open by April and the entire building transformed by late summer.
"In that regard, we are lucky because the building is laid out well for students," Dentinger said. "It had a lot of wide open floors."
The bigger picture, Ryan said, is the influx of students coming into the lower Main Street area to help develop even more critical mass in an area that neighbors Canalside and the LECOM HarborCenter/KeyBank Center complex.
"It brings new life," Ryan said.
Golisano bought the building from developer Douglas Jemal last fall, paying $10.2 million. Renovations are expected to cost another $10 million.
At $20 million, the project is one of the largest private sector investments underway in the downtown Buffalo core.
"We view this as a win-win for the entire area," Dentinger said.