A dramatic transformation of the downtown Buffalo waterfront could begin in the next year, under an ambitious $1.4 billion plan to be unveiled today.
The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation, confident that it will land the promised Bass Pro Shops store for Memorial Auditorium, will introduce a master plan that remakes the surrounding neighborhood into a vibrant place to live, work, shop and play.
The plan calls for the Harborfront Market, similar to Boston's Faneuil Hall. A two-lane, lift bridge would link the foot of Main Street to the outer harbor, opening the way for a new residential neighborhood. Where the Donovan State Office Building stands will be a four- to five-story mixed-use structure, with first-floor retail, apartments, offices and parking for 900 cars. A similar multiuse complex will be built on the vacant Webster Block.
These are just some of the elements of the proposed Lower Main Street makeover, designed to harness the drawing power of the long-promised Bass Pro Shops in Memorial Auditorium. Bass Pro President Jim Hagale called the master plan "very exciting and dynamic." "This plan lays out significant waterfront redevelopment with a dynamic mix of components. We're working very closely with the master plan designers and see a great fit for our project and the larger waterfront effort," Hagale said. Bass Pro has yet to sign a binding contract on the Aud development, but that has not stopped planners from envisioning what Lower Main Street could become with the retail giant as a catalyst.
Hagale downplayed the lack of a contract, saying significant progress has been made. And Anthony Gioia, chairman of the harbor development panel, said he has "no fear" the retailer will fail to commit to Buffalo. "This is a very complicated thing that takes a lot of detail. At this point it is a documentation thing that will be accomplished," Hagale said.
An area to draw people
The blueprint envisions a three-block corridor of "people-friendly" development along Main Street, from Exchange Street to the foot of Main. Anchoring the corridor will be an overhauled Aud, which will be home to a 250,000-square-foot Bass Pro store, along with a 250-room hotel and a 20,000-square-foot Great Lakes theme museum. The cost of the Aud renovation is put at $73 million.
If things go according to plan, some $212 million in public funds will be bait for more than $1.2 billion in private investment along the harbor district corridor over the next decade or so. "We're proposing a phased approach that leverages early stage investment of public dollars to attract very substantial private capital," Gioia said. "We purposely start small, only a few blocks, with nearly immediate impact." The first phase of the project, which is scheduled for completion in late 2008, will cost an estimated $134.5 million, including $64.2 million in public funding and $70.3 million in private expenditures.
Bass Pro grand entrance
The master plan depicts a "grand tower entrance" to Bass Pro on the southeast corner of the former arena, at the intersection of Main and Scott streets, serving as the visual anchor to the new harbor district. As the Bass Pro complex takes shape, the following developments would spring up nearby over the next 2 1/2 years. Two large, mixed-use Two large, mixed use buildings, combining retail, parking, office and residential space, would be built on the current site of the Donovan State Ofice Building and on the adjacent, vacant Webster Block ($53 million).
Main Street would be reconfigured to accommodate both vehicular and Metro Rail from South Park Avenue to Seneca Street ($5 million). A section of the South Basin, on the west side of Main Street, below Perry Street, would be excavated to bring the Buffalo River up to the street ($4 million).Interpretive elements for the 12-acre Erie Canal historic site ($4 million). The development corporation also plans to bring in an architect specializing in historic development to guide future construction on the actual canal terminus site.
Mayor Byron W. Brown said he is encouraged by the similarities between the Buffalo waterfront plan and successful urban waterfront development strategies employed in Baltimore, Manhattan and elsewhere. "Having just come back from Baltimore and meeting with government officials, developers, bankers and others about the great success of the Baltimore Harbor, I'm convinced that providing public investment upfront will leverage significant private dollars," Brown said.
Connecting to the water
The multiphase master plan would harness the long-awaited Bass Pro store as a "means to an end," according to its designer, Stanton Eckstut, of Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects in New York City. "We want to use Bass Pro to rebuild a great city," Eckstut said. "This project will bring people back to Main Street and re-establish Buffalo's connection to the water."
Eckstut, a consultant to Buffalo's Horizons Waterfront Commission in the 1990s, said an underlying principal of the master plan was to create a place local residents will enjoy. "Of course we want out-of-towners to visit and spend money, but foremost we want a place locals will spend time in on a Tuesday afternoon or a Sunday morning, even when there's no specific event going on. This will be a people place." Among the ways the Main Street corridor will become a round-the-clock destination is through new housing and work space planned for later phases of the development. A $70 million, two-lane lift bridge connecting the foot of Main Street to the outer harbor, will lead to a new residential development. [SIZE=3]The bridge, which is expected to be funded by state and federal transportation funds, is slated to be in place by 2011, creating direct access to outer harbor housing, bike paths and other waterfront activities. Over the next 10 to 20 years, dozens of privately developed, loft-style commercial/residential buildings will be developed on what are now surface parking lots, reaching from Main Street, east to Michigan Avenue.
Broad plan draws praise
The sweeping waterfront redevelopment plan has drawn favorable reaction from elected officials who have been briefed on the blueprint. "It appears for the first time in my life, waterfront development in Buffalo is real," said Erie County Executive Joel A. Giambra. "My generation has been hearing about the possibility of it for our entire lives, but now we'll really see it happen." Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said he is excited about the proposal's similarity to what has taken place at Manhattan's Battery Park City. He also credited the 5-month-old harbor development corporation for its quick work. "The waterfront corporation has all its oars in the water, pulling in the same direction, and this phased approach is the best recipe for the success of Buffalo's waterfront," Schumer said.
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Originally Posted by Jim Ostrowski
