After more than two years of planning, all the Pennrose team needs to move ahead on its Canalside project is a review by the Buffalo Planning Board - and that’s scheduled for June 30.
Then, it's securing its financing for the $190 million project, and officials expect to see the first shovels in the ground by early fall.
Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. President Mark Wendel says the impact of the project goes beyond bricks and mortar.
“I believe that's going to be something that's going to help grow Buffalo,” Wendel said. “Canalside has been a destination, and will continue to be a destination, but it's also becoming a neighborhood. When you talk about having that many people now living in that district, combined with the expanded Marine Drive apartments.”
The three-building project is set for what is called the North Aud Block, where Main Street and Lower Terrace Street intersect just south of the Seneca One Tower.
Revised plans call for the development of three buildings. One building will be 12 stories, one five stories and one single story.
The multi-story buildings will house a combined 251 apartments, in varying rental ranges. The third building, a 17,000-square-foot single-story structure, will strictly be leased to retail or commercial tenants.
Nadine Marrero, Buffalo Office of Strategic Planning Executive Director, calls the project a development game changer for Canalside and the lower Main Street area.
“Everyone loves the visual progress, but I also love that the buildings are tall enough that when you're standing at Canalside, the Skyway behind it will be screened, really changing the vista of downtown from the waterfront,” Marrero said.
The Pennrose project is part of a greater effort to produce more than 1,300 new apartments in or near Canalside.
Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon thinks there could be more development ripple effects downtown because of the projects.
“That project and the one next door to it are key indications of where we're heading,” Scanlon said. “We can't have them sitting stalled out waiting for something to happen. We have to get them operational and completed. I talk about this all the time that pre-COVID, we were on a great trajectory here in the city, and we're going to get back there real quick.”
Pennrose was selected from an RFP initiated by the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp.
