After about two months worth of trips to the Buffalo Planning Board followed by adjustments to the construction plan, final approval was given Tuesday morning to renovate the former AM&A's building at 377 Main Street in downtown Buffalo.
The building, which has sat unused since the 1990s, will be converted into a facility that will mainly serve Chinese tourists who travel to Western New York to see destinations including Niagara Falls. When finished, the building will include 300 hotel rooms and two restaurants.
The final hurdles to clear were related to bus traffic and public works concerns. Even with those concerns, the process has moved swiftly, said the local architect overseeing the project on behalf of the building's new owners, New York City-based Landco H&L, Inc.
"This is a major project, and for a project this size we got approval in about two months. It's not a real big deal," said East Aurora-based John Schenne, who said the target date to complete renovations and open the hotel and restaurant space is December 2016.
First, though, comes the ambitious task of removing asbestos. Schenne expected that work to start very shortly.
"We're still just about ready to start the asbestos," he said. "Not much has changed in two weeks (since the last Planning Board meeting) other than some negotiations behind the scenes."
AM&A's operated a store at the site until 1994, when the department store chain was bought out by the Bon Ton, which closed the Main Street store a year later. The building was last used by Taylor's Department Store in 1999, which ran a women's fashion store there but created some controversy over its strict dress code for entering the store.
Landco H&L Inc. purchased the building last November.
