Niagara Falls, N.Y. (WBEN) - The push to revitalize the U.S. side of Niagara Falls continues with a new plan from Mayor Robert Restaino and other leaders in city government.
As reported by Buffalo Business First, the City of Niagara Falls and the Niagara Falls Urban Renewal Agency are seeking to acquire a total of 23 properties along Main Street. The city is negotiating with lenders to buy the properties out of foreclosure.
Mayor Restaino says the city is in negotiations with Niagara's Choice Federal Credit Union and CNB Bank, BankOnBuffalo's parent company, in an attempt to buy the Rapids Theater and 22-of-35 properties in foreclosure that were obtained by Niagara Falls North Development Fund One L.P., an affiliate of the Buffalo-based firm Blue Cardinal Capital.
If they are, in fact, going to foreclose, once that's done, the city will be able to acquire the properties through its Urban Renewal Agency.
"The idea will be that in partnership with Niagara University, along with state and county partners, we're gonna take university housing and put that on to Main Street," said Restaino in an interview with WBEN. "We've had quite a bit of interest in the development. We're not reinventing the wheel, there's university housing. We've just never taken advantage of it. It's really been sort of spread out into the community, which, in and of itself, has created its level of difficulty in some neighborhoods. So we're going to eliminate that issue and try to use that asset to revitalize that portion of Main Street."
Mayor Restaino says this part of the city is also part of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) area, where the state previously awarded $10 million to Niagara Falls. He believes this particular type of development, along with the funding from DRI, will help draw a bit more improvement to the area.
"We're talking about the area from Michigan Avenue to Niagara Avenue, from Main Street to Whirlpool. And with all the work that's already been done on the Whirlpool Trails, we just think this will start creating a different sense, vibe down in that area of the city," Restaino said.
Restaino says both financial institutions, Niagara's Choice Federal Credit Union and CNB Bank, have been amenable and willing to assist the city in this development.
As for the Rapids Theater, Restaino believes the venue plays an important part to the overall development, to the extent that it's a venue already known by university students.
"Niagara University has used that venue for entertainment, for events. We think if we're going to bring the students into that section of our Main Street and this venue - which is something they're already familiar with - is really in the hands of a responsible owner/operator, something that can start creating, at least, a recreational site for the students that are there, it'll spur some of those other storefronts that are along the Main Street corridor to also begin to provide those kinds of locations for students, and for all of us, really," Restaino said.
Related
While the talk now is about university housing along Main Street, Restaino feels that stretch can also be utilized in other ways for students, as well as their families.
"I think once we get started, the location, that area that we're talking about could include vacation rentals, it could include market rate apartments. There's one developer who's talking about putting in a boutique hotel, because as the students' parents come in, [it's] a place for them to stay among where their students may be residing," he said.
Restaino believes if this plan catches on and the city is able to accomplish what its looking to build, it will attract regional developers who have already expressed some interest in the area to make Main Street in Niagara Falls a hub for business and other entities.
"When you're talking about 100-150 students in an area, there's really an interest in bringing things like lounges or coffee shops. So we've had a number of regional developers come in and take a look at it, and see the possibilities," Restaino noted. "If that should happen and when - we're very, very hopeful that happens - I think what we do is we stretch the city. It no longer becomes just that six-, eight-, 10-block area right down in the Entertainment District. We start stretching the interest all the way up Main Street. And ultimately, with some of the other development that we're bringing to the City Market area, we start stretching it out more into the city, which is really the goal of our administration."