Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Come April, developer Doug Jemal can brag about a towering accomplishment a decade in the making. He says Seneca One Tower will be at full capacity.
Bill Heussler of Hanna Real Estate says he was quite surprised by the development.
"It's a large building with odd floor plates and for them, they will fill that up. It's fantastic news for Buffalo," said Heussler in an interview with WBEN.
He says Jamal's model made the difference.
"His whole focus was to have a place you could go work, live, play, and really not have to go outside if you get some bad weather, but also a place that's central that you can do everything you want, and what a great location down by the waterfront," noted Heussler.
That's something James Morrell of the Buffalo Planning Board notices too. He says there's a brewery over there, which he says was important for people who live and work there.
"Then having a strong tenant, like M&T, I think was really important. I think the developer did the right thing, in terms of moving forward with the outbuildings and setting that up for success. Then moving into the main tower, I think that was really interesting on the developer's part," added Morrell in an interview with WBEN.
Morrell says the right developer was needed to turn Seneca One Tower into something thriving.
"It's in prime location in terms of activating Canalside. So it's a really important great location, right on the spine of the rail. A lot of stuff happening down at Canalside are DL&W station is coming about. So there's a lot of activity, there's going to be a lot of destination, that's going to happen right there. And they're right in the shadows of that," said Morrell.
But Heussler says there's one concern he compares to moving deck chairs on the Titanic.
"We've emptied some buildings, like the building where Highmark was over on Genesee Street is now empty. What we've done is we've put a lot of those people into that tower. So good news, bad news," added Heussler.
He believes an out-of-town developer has to be recruited to fill those buildings.
Morrell believes it will take time to fill the other buildings, because it is market driven.
"I never thought that all the housing units that are going up in the core of the city being built are being occupied. So I think it's a great thing. It's just going to take time," Morrell explained.
Seneca One was constructed between 1969 and 1974.