Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN)....Just 48 hours after Canadian developer Harry Stinson thought he had secured the financial partner and backing he needed to advance his restoration plans for the long shuttered Buffalo Grand hotel, the deal has apparently fallen apart and put the fate of Stinson's project on thin development ice.
Stinson, Friday morning, said at midnight Thursday he heard from Perry Davis, the former Buffalo resident and Tampa real estate and entertainment industry businessman, had changed the perimeters of a previously agreed upon deal that centered on financing for renovating and re-opening the 486-room hotel, which has been closed for six years.
"It was a surprise,": Stinson said.
Davis could not be reached for comment.
The deal came on the eve of an April 29 deadline that Mayor Sean Ryan put on Stinson to supply the city with development timeline and financial backing package for the hotel.
Unless Stinson can resolved his issues with Davis - and his partners - he may run the risk of losing ownership of the Buffalo Grand.
"I know what's at stake," Stinson said.
Buffalo leaders are aware that Stinson's deal has hit a development road block. Stinson and city leaders are scheduled to meet Monday.
"The City of Buffalo is aware that the potential funding for the Buffalo Grand project did not materialize as expected," Buffalo leaders said in an email statement to WBEN.
Monday's meeting may offer more clarity.
"We expect a clearer understanding following that discussion," the city's email stated.
The fate of the Buffalo Grand is one of the key economic development issues facing the Ryan administration.
Re-opening the hotel would be a major boost for Visit Buffalo in its efforts to book more conventions and meetings.
"I understand what this hotel means to Buffalo," Stinson said.
Stinson bought the former Adam's Mark in 2018 and pledged to invest more than $30 million upgrading the hotel. Few, if any, of the upgrades were done before the hotel closed in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The hotel was slated to re-open on Dec. 31, 2021 but a fire earlier in that day gutted much of its back-of-the-office, special event space and three floors of rooms.
Stinson spent three years fighting with insurance companies over settlements but the hotel has remained dark and heavily vandalized.
In June 2025, then-Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon gave Stinson one month to pay overdue taxes and bills or come up with a development plan, or the city was going to be abandonment proceedings to take control of the property and find a new hotel operator.
Ryan, when he took office in January, gave Stinson 90 days to come up with his development plan and financing package.
"If you had asked me yesterday, I would have said we had all that," Stinson said.
Fate of vacant downtown hotel back in limbo
Fate of vacant downtown hotel back in limbo
