Amherst, NY (WBEN) It's all about anticipation when it comes to a planned Costco store to be located in the western end of the Town of Amherst.
Town Supervisor Brian Kulpa says expect 2023 to be when groundbreaking will occur and both he and residents have legitimate concerns about traffic issues in the already busy area of the town.
Kulpa understands the anxiety about traffic on Ridge Lea, where the store is to be built. "Benderson and Pasco are going to be redoing North Bailey and Romney, which is the cross street that passes Trader Joe's and Ridge Lea," says Kulpa. He says they've hired a traffic consultant, and they'll be looking at improvements at the intersections of North Bailey and Maple. "Romney has a lot of potential, but we need to see improvements there and regionally as well. So that that effort is going to be borne on the back of the development. And that's good. And ultimately, the town of Amherst can make a case that we need that improvement now," notes Kulpa.
Kulpa says on the site there is demolition of former UB annex buildings. "There's asbestos abatement and lead abatement that has to happen before they can clear some of those buildings," explains Kulpa. Because of the hazardous materials in some of those buildings that need to be removed, an intentional demolition will take place. With zoning and site plan reviews, he says don't expect a groundbreaking until 2023.
Kulpa says when Costco comes up, he's been told don't screw this up. "It's introducing something that isn't completely dissimilar to Sam's Club or BJs, but brings a different level of competition to the market, offers people in Western New York access to some products, some brands that they haven't had access to before," says Kulpa. He adds the project will be big for the town's west side.
Kulpa also provided an update on Station 12, on the site of the former Northtown Plaza. "I talked to steel fabricators, the steel orders are in for the remaining buildings that they're going to be doing," says Kulpa. He says storefronts are also coming alive, and masonry has been delivered to the site.
Kulpa says it's now in full construction mode. "For the next six months, premium on that six months, which is their permit extension, we expect to see a lot of really intense work on that site," says Kulpa. He says he wishes it didn't come to that moment of cataclysm where the town would not renew the permits.
He says he's focusing on construction, not tenants, since empty buildings cannot be taxed.
