Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It appears that work to continue construction of the Heritage Point project along Canalside in Downtown Buffalo will be commencing soon enough.
Just before the Buffalo Common Council went on recess at the last Community Development Committee meeting at City Hall, a representative from Sinatra Development met with city lawmakers and said the company is closing on the remaining balance of financing for the project. Once that is complete and those financials are closed, Fillmore District Councilman Mitch Nowakowski says Sinatra Development will take about a year for construction to be completed.
"We'll see that project up to the highest potential, and what it was designed for. Ultimately, that is the key to a lot of our successes, to complete that project so we can get moving with the North Aud Block, and then ultimately a transformation at Marine Drive," said Nowakowski in an interview with WBEN. "In the next five years, we'll start seeing a Canalside that is completely transformed, and bring a density of people living at Canalside and at our waterfront.
Despite the project sitting untouched for nearly 18 months downtown, developer Nick Sinatra said back in late May that the project was going to get finished under his company's watch.
Progress for the project shut down back in March of 2024 due to a lack of resources and unanticipated expenses that made the project more costly. The original target date for substantial completion of each tower for the project was the summer of 2024.
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Nowakowski feels this latest update from Sinatra Development regarding Heritage Point is a sigh of relief.
"It's reaffirming that, yes, there were a lot of snags at Canalside, but oftentimes when you fall down, you've got to get back up," he said. "We all have the common goal that our waterfront deserves to be developed, and it deserves to have people living at our waterfront. A mixed-use vitality will, ultimately, bring density down there to help revitalize Canalside, which is adjacent to downtown and our urban core."
Nowakowski believes a supply of residents to that part of downtown will bring a demand for amenities, and it'll ultimately lead to better economics and overall development of the waterfront in the City of Buffalo.
While Sinatra Development did not give Nowakowski or the Common Council an exact timeline of when construction will resume on site, he believes the company is in a position where they'll finally be able to close the loop on the last-minute financing and stay true to their word.