Gov. Kathy Hochul acknowledges that the downtown Buffalo of 2024 is not the same central business district of 2019.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, downtown’s average daily workforce has dropped from more than 57,000 people to approximately 30,000 people and some development projects have either stalled or been outright scrapped.
Those were two of the primary reasons why, within a few days of each other, the Braymiller market announced it was closing as was the decision why the Westminster Economic Development Initiative said it was shuttering the Downtown Bazaar.
Yet, in a private Dec. 13 meeting with some key Buffalo business leaders, Hochul said she could see a light at the end of the tunnel.
"Think about some of the greatest companies in our country, a lot of it's just people getting together in the office," Hochul said. "We have to stimulate that innovative sense again, that possibility of solving problems, and that doesn't happen when people are working remotely"
There are development signs to back up Hochul’s belief include developer Nick Sinatra bringing 53 apartments to the Market Arcade complex and Douglas Jemal working on the first phase of his Electric District plan along Ellicott and Washington Streets.
