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.

Foundation for the new courthouse slowly but surely continues to come along.

The stripping down of the old Dulski facade is pretty much done after a couple months of work.

The ‘Central Wharf’ area which was once pinned to be the site of Bass Pro about a year ago is seeing its use as a large boardwalk/wooden wharf type place come to fruition.

Its taken forever to get to this point for no apparent reason but it appears that since they’re 100% done with the Commercial Slip and west side of the project that they can start working this part at a fast rate in time for the a decent amount of summer.

I never realize just how large this project is until I’m at Main Street by the arena looking straight towards the water…far, far away.

Even if the retail is slow to come (which will probably be the case) Canal Side will serve as probably the most unique public space in the region-and a very tranquil, relaxing one at that.

In other news…the Aud is surrounded by poles suggesting that some serious gutting is about to get underway

Well we’ve all jumped on the Bashar Issa bandwagon and now most of us have jumped completely off it…but perhaps we should leave one foot on it.

The hysterics surrounding his financing of the Statler project falling through might just be an exaggeration. Issa insists he is merely applying for historic tax credits and that wait will take about 90-120 days. That makes sense…although I can’t figure out why he didn’t apply for them in the 1st place.

Issa adds that he is still going hard at making the City Tower a reality through ‘agressive marketing’.

” ‘We haven’t neglected the other proposition at all. We’ve invested heavily into marketing….I am in dialogue with several large hotel chains which are keen to me and the region.” He says wants a 40 percent occupancy before a shovel goes in the ground.”

The reality is that he has spent millions already on renovating the Statler and has an agreement with Wyndham to take up 70% of the tower. He purchased the land parcel for City Tower and has put serious efforts into marketing both his projects through two high-quality websites and even publishing a book about the history of the Statler.

His history is checkered and frustrating at best but I see the Statler project working out just fine by 2010 and although I doubt City Tower will get built at least at the height he wants…it has become clear that downtown has an underserved market that could withstand a couple mid-sized or one large-sized tower…with or without an out of town investor/savior.

There is an update about the Genny Block project in today’s Buffalo News business section.

I read earlier this year that it would be all office space-no residential and sadly that remains to be true. A significant residential element could have really helped the Theatre district become slightly more of a neighborhood and perhaps increase the chances of seeing retail that serves everyday needs of downtown residents.

Regardless, it is a great project-especially in a psychological sense. With new life coming to such an infamous block-it really legitimizes the things that seemingly only planners/planning fiends in Buffalo understand…there really is substantial investment going into making downtown decent.

Most exciting element of the project to me was this…

The redone buildings are expected to house a destination restaurant, offices and possibly a boutique hotel, but residences are not part of the plan. Although no tenants have signed onto the project, an out-of-town restaurant operator has expressed initial interest.

Good sign to see that an out-of-town ‘destination’ restaurant is interested in setting up shop in downtown without public handouts…

The old skin of the Dulski Building has almost shed entirely with crews working on it at a pretty fast speed (weekends as well). So far I believe 9 of the floors have been occupied with a law firm taking two and Embassy Suites taking 7.

Foundation is starting to become visible at the courthouse site finally. Got a long way to go.

The more the ‘Canal Side’ project comes along the more I like it. To walk the Commercial Slip is a pretty unique experience albeit a sterile interpretation of the seedy canal district Buffalo once had.

Some interesting views and really good signage.

The ruins are one of the more unique elements of the project although I can’t say it feels super historic-since we’ve never seen it before it feels a bit like it was put there with the rest of the project.

The ‘facade” of what was a Lloyd Street building looks weird no doubt but the map/timeline at the base of it makes the design a bit better.

This will without a doubt be the most interesting public space in Buffalo and probably in the region. Hopefully Benderson is able to make full use of that fact.

Walked by Clinton Brown’s office on Main Street today and saw a poster of a project they are working on…whether or not the developer has the means to make this project happen (or even who the developer is) remains to be seen but according to what they are working on…

This warehouse on Chicago Street, right off Ohio will be converted into lofts called “The Cooperage”

Its pretty close to the arena but its a pretty isolated location since there is no life around it and a decent amount of open space. City living only in name.

Which brings up an issue. All these lofts that have been going up downtown-its great-but they don’t flow together to create a downtown neighborhood. Outside of the theatre district area there really is no feeling of a community being created as these projects are so isolated from each other, preventing businesses from wanting to take a risk in making small retail establishments to serve downtown residents.

But I digress…as these scattered about abandoned buildings get developed, it makes it more likely that the vast open spaces between them might as well…finally creating genuine city living.