Benderson is pushing its Canal Side project at the annual national convention of retailers. Hard to believe it but contracts with tenants should start being signed in 6-10 months and building renderings should be out over the summer. Speaking of Canal Side, the basic elements of it are done and ready to open this weekend. I remember giving downtown a good look for the 1st time ever in 2003 and the whole area was fenced off and barren. Five years later there is finally something to be happy about at the site.

Nice to know things are actually coming together. Not just the infrastructure but the retail tenants. Curious to know what kind of buzz Canal Side is receiving amongst national chains.

And the Galleria is moving along with its expansion as the epic Regal Cinema has finally opened up. Honestly, when you look at the list of retailers to come to this part of the mall, most of them are chains I could never envision even thinking about coming here. I do believe people who are into high-end retail feel better about living in Buffalo knowing they can conveniently shop at Lucky Brand or Metropark, or Coach, or Urban Oufitters, and eat at Melting Pot, Cheesecake Factory, or Hyde Park instead of traveling to find these places…quality of life as they say.

Oh and the Maple Shooting Club retail project by Benderson is rumored to be anchored by Whole Food market (the perfect paradox for SWPL types in the city: “Whole Foods is here! But its in Amherst! Do I go or not?”). Word on the street is that PF Chang’s will also be there too. Interesting…those two tenants suggest more good stuff to follow.

Chipotle e-mailed me back, said that they aren’t looking at upstate NY right now but plan to in the future. Oh well.

Hopefully most of you have had the opportunity to eat at Chipotle at some point in your life. Good stuff…and something that Buffalo should have. A friend of mine told me a week ago about her father’s pursuit of bringing Chipotle downtown only to find out they don’t franchise. For shame.

But…

You can send them suggestions for sites to look into that follow certain guidelines.

I wrote them a lengthy letter suggesting Genesee Gateway and Canal Side and perhaps even Cobblestone Alive as potential sites.

I’d assume the more people send them letters asking for them to come to the region, the more likely they would…so go ahead and write them.

Stop laughing. No seriously, the Senecas seemed committed to the land they got from NYS to make it not just parking. According to the Buffalo Business Journal, the Senecas intend to build a new hotel and a mid-sized venue that would be able to host concerts, conventions, and other events.

As long as people keep gambling and staying at the hotels of the Seneca Gaming Corp, the chances of the Seneca’s 54 acres in downtown NF have a good shot at being developed.

The whole no taxes issue makes it a whole lot easier for the SGC no doubt but no matter how you look at it they are the only company that has obtained a large amount of land and done something about it. Larry Silverstein or Cordish surely could afford to do much better with what they have regardless of NYS high taxes in a risky market.

People say that a look around the surrounding area of the Casino shows that the Seneca Niagara was a failure but the new Niagara Falls Airport construction had $14mil of the $30mil funded by gaming revenue. Their high quality hotel also has put pressure on surrounding hotels to update their properties. You can’t turn NF around overnight…and the SGC is funding and influencing the surrounding infrastructure.

If no one else is going to do anything to take advantage of the fact 7 million people from all over the world come to visit one of the world’s 7 wonders in possibly America’s worst downtown-then they deserve much credit for their efforts to regenerate Niagara Falls.

I wish I had a picture of it but I walk by the AM&A’s building a lot and a few months back someone got inside and scraped the white paint off the windows in a reverse-graffiti look to spell out “BUFFALO BUILDS BAD CHARACTER”

Of course BuffaloRising turns it into a ‘cool artsy banner’ for their site that just says “BUFFALO”

Not a big deal, just thought it was fitting that they would do that.

For a while now, Carl Paladino has been floating around the idea of converting the former Baker’s Shoe store into luxury apartments. The project was announced at the same time of his intentions to redevelop the Courtyard Mall next door.

The Courtyard Mall ended up being the new NYS Parole Office and ideas were floated around last year for the office component (1st floor) of Baker’s Shoes to be a spot for institutionalized people with mental disorders AND luxury apartments on top (concept FAIL). I don’t think that is still in the works. Parolees and the mentally unstable deserve good facilities but it doesn’t quite fit in with what Main Street downtown should have.

Anyways, not much if any work has happened on Baker’s but now that the Courtyard Mall rehab is complete (and oh what a rehab it was!) it might be Baker’s turn now. Apparently a gutting of the facility is taking place now. Hopefully that actually is the case.

The Pearl Street side of the building is actually quite attractive and its a very deceptive structure-I never think of it as a 7-floor building when I see it on Main. Here’s hoping the rehab is underway and that it works-not sure how easy it will be to get people with money to live next to a parole facility.

The final phase of the “Cobblestone Alive” project is coming along as most of the windows above the 1st floor are in except for the ones that are interfered with by the electrical poles (seriously? 21st century and downtown still has some of these?!). Work is starting on the 1st floor exterior and some of the roof was removed for structural reasons.

Movement only beginning in the process of creating “Benchwarmers” at the remaining vacancy at the terminal building nextdoor. Probably no opening till late Summer.

Went to Cleveland and saw their Warehouse District (more on this in a future post). Makes our ‘Cobblestone District’ look like a joke. Nonetheless-this block will be an asset to downtown and should attain some attention since thousands of people from around the region park in front of it 50+ times a year anyways.

City View now has a website devoted to their newest and most exciting project.

Although scattered about and small in magnitude, there are a few new establishments downtown on various 1st floors adding a little vibrancy to each respective block.

The new fancy chocolate place on the 700 block help add some life to this part of Main that has been quiet for quite the length of time. Great investments by Avalon Development have and will help it be a better block. It will be interesting to see if development picks up on this block when traffic gets brought back. It has the potential to be an uppity residential area with low key 1st floor retail.

Fix Salon has opened up in the Ellicott Commons (finally! a retail tenant!) although its mostly tucked into the Commons alleyway it does bring a little bit of extra life to the Commons outside of the Washington Market. Hopefully the sushi restaurant rumors are real and we can see even more life brought to this part of Ellicott Street.

Its no fancy hair salon or chic chocolate establishment but the new credit union at 598 Main puts the humble building on a key downtown intersection at full occupancy-ground floor included! Good signage and although it won’t create a hustle and bustle by its doors-having 1st floor occupancy is a good step towards creating a downtown people can feel comfortable with and trust…leading to future investments.

Remediation process is moving along swiftly at the Aud (huge relief to see it finally happening) and the central wharf is nearing completion as the lighting fixtures and trees are being put in to complement the boardwalk that is almost entirely in place now.