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’ve been against this project but as long as the airport only takes flights that physically can not use the BNIA’s runway. The falls is enough of a destination to land large carriers on occasion I assume. The renderings are nice and should be a good asset to the region-making it more marketable to outsiders.

From the official website:

New Terminal Initiative

The NFTA Board of Commissioners is currently pursuing funding to construct a new 65,000 square-foot terminal at the NFIA. The proposed two-gate facility would accommodate near term demand without excess capacity. The state-of-the-art design would provide for efficient, customer friendly passenger processing, two level layout for jet bridge boarding, food/beverage concessions, federal inspection station and in-line baggage screening. The new facility has an estimated cost of $27.5 million.

The creative design of the proposed new terminal reflects the grandeur of the Niagara community, promoting a positive “Gateway Image” to the region.
Desgined to make a great first impression

Gross Floor Area: 69,430 square feet

Floors: 1-1/2 stories

Facility: Designed to process a fully loaded B-747 International flight in 1-1/2 hours. The holdroom will be able to handle two 757-300 simultaneously at 90% seating or an international flight and a domestic flight simultaneously.

Outgoing flight processing time (terminal front door to gate): 757-400 is 90 minutes, 757-300 is 60 minutes.

Amenities:

Curbside check-in facilities

Eight stationary ticket counter stations and additional electronic check-in positions

Two security check-in lines

Two gates: one jet-bridge and one ground loading

International & domestic facilities

Simultaneous Operations capability/capacity for International & domestic flights

Fully functional TSA facilities

Customs & Border Protection facilities for International travelers

Multi-modal Metro transit center

Car Rental, Information, and Eatery facilities

We had a planner from Niagara Falls, NY come to our Buffalo-Niagara By Design class on Monday. Oh my. It makes me feel a whole lot better about the future of Buffalo.
There are some pretty extensive and well intentioned plans in place for the Catarac City but it can very easily be labled as a pipe dream as well.

The Niagara Falls Experience Center, a new Amtrak Station, promenades of upscale restuarants and shopping, new and contemporary housing for cool young people…so on and so forth.
Based on location only-it makes perfect sense that one of the world’s 7 wonders be a successful busy tourist mecca. Sadly, everything is tied up in politics that makes Buffalo City Hall look like something Aristotle had in mind.
The plan as a whole has not been approved (politics) and with a new election coming up, it could continue a long life of not coming to fruition.
For every question asking why things are the way they are in NF, his answer was “politics”.

It really is a crime that Niagara Falls is such a dump. To make matters worse they get a daily slap in the face from Canada who has made it the Vegas of Canada. Although that isn’t the most appealing souding thing to me, it does mean some big $$$.

None of the major projects mentioned during the presentation of the Master Plan are under construction or will be in the neear future but to their credit they have started to make downtown more accessible to the Falls but good God there is a looooooong way to go.

When I walked back to my room from class I kept thinking to myself that Buffalo’s good future is very realistic thanks to its resources, history and existing businesses. Sadly for Niagara Falls, its all a pipe dream, just like it has always been.