HarborCenter on schedule to open this fall

Some five months before the first hockey players skate on to one of its two rinks, construction crews are diligently building the HarborCenter project.

The $172.2 million project — the largest private sector-financed in Buffalo’s history — is visibly taking shape and will be even more pronounced in the coming weeks.

“The whole will definitely be greater than the sum of its parts,” said John Koelmel, HarborCenter president.

Koelmel, along with Cliff Benson, Buffalo Sabres chief development officer and Michael Even, Visit Buffalo Niagara vice president, gave an overview Thursday of the HarborCenter project and its impact not only on downtown Buffalo, but the entire region, at the monthly meeting of the local Urban Land Institute chapter.

When it opens, HarborCenter will be home to a pair of hockey rinks, an athletic training center, 205-room Marriott hotel, 13,000-square-foot, two-story (716) restaurant, a Tim Hortons Cafe & Bake Shop and a 750-car parking ramp — all fit into the two-acre former Webster Block that neighbors First Niagara Center. Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula is financing the project.

The HarborCenter, which is slated to open this fall, will be connected via elevated walkways to First Niagara Center.

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